Reconciling the verse "There is no compulsion in religion" with fighting the disbelievers
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner asks: How do you reconcile the saying of Allah the Exalted,[Al-Baqarah 2:256], with the permissibility of fighting the disbelievers?
Answer:
What is jihad for the sake of compelling them to accept the religion? Religion is not something one is compelled to accept; a person does not enter it except by his own choice. No one is ever forced into it. Hearts are in the hand of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. So there is no contradiction between the command to fight and the saying of Allah the Exalted,[Al-Baqarah 2:256]. We do not fight them to compel them to accept the religion, but we fight them to stop their harm, to prevent them from blocking the path of Allah, and to stop them from preventing those who want to enter Islam, and to stop their aggression against Muslims. This is what we fight for. As for us putting faith into their hearts, that is in the hand of Allah. [Al-Qasas 28:56] Guidance is in the hand of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Some people misunderstand this verse, and it is not what they imagine. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh,
This questioner asks: How do you reconcile the saying of Allah the Exalted,
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِAnswer:
What is jihad for the sake of compelling them to accept the religion? Religion is not something one is compelled to accept; a person does not enter it except by his own choice. No one is ever forced into it. Hearts are in the hand of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. So there is no contradiction between the command to fight and the saying of Allah the Exalted,
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِIndeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills
إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُThe presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh,
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، فصل ومن أنواع مكايده ومكره : أن يدعو العبد بحسن خلقه وطلاقته وبِشْرِه إلى أنواع من الآثام والفجور — islamhouse.com (1:09:31)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.