A Verse and a Hadith

Question: What is the authenticity of the hadith that says: , and what is its meaning?And how do we combine it with His saying (the Exalted): [al-Baqarah: 256],And with His saying (the Exalted): [Yunus: 99],And with the hadith that says: .
Is it understood that embracing the religion is by choice, not by compulsion?

Answer: First, the hadith is an authentic hadith, narrated by al-Bukhari and others from the people of the Sunnah with this wording: , and as for combining it with the evidence mentioned, there is no contradiction between the evidence, praise be to Allah;Because his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):, this is regarding the apostate who disbelieves after his Islam, so he is given the opportunity to repent, and if he repents, otherwise he is killed.

And as for His saying (the Exalted): [al-Baqarah: 256],and His saying, the Exalted: [Yunus: 99], so there is no contradiction between these evidences because entering Islam cannot be compelled; entering Islam is something in the heart, and it is a conviction in the heart, and we cannot manipulate hearts or make them believe; this is in the hand of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He is the Turner of hearts, and He guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills. But our duty is calling to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), explaining, and jihad in the path of Allah against those who are stubborn and know the truth but are stubborn after knowing it; so we must fight them. As for compelling them to enter Islam and forcing faith into their hearts, that is not for us to do; rather, it is referred to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). But we call to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with wisdom and good instruction, and we explain this religion to people, and we fight the people of stubbornness, disbelief, and denial, so that the religion is for Allah alone (Mighty and Majestic), and so that there is no fitnah (trial, discord or temptation).
As for the apostate, he is killed; because he disbelieved after his Islam, and left the truth after
knowing it, so he is a corrupt member that must be amputated and the community relieved of him; because he is corrupt in creed, and it is feared that he will corrupt the creeds of the others. This is because he became corrupt and his heart became unstable, so he must be killed because he left the truth not out of ignorance, but out of stubbornness and after knowing the truth, and therefore he is not fit to remain, and he must be killed,There is no contradiction between His saying (the Exalted): [al-Baqarah: 256], and the killing of the apostate; because this is at the time of entering Islam, whereas the killing of the apostate is at the time of leaving Islam after knowing it and after entering it,As for the verse, which is His saying (the Exalted): there are opinions of the exegetes,Some of them say: that it is specific to the People of the Book, and that the People of the Book are not compelled, but rather they are asked to believe or pay the jizyah (the tax on protected non-Muslims), so they remain on their religion if they pay the jizyah and submit to the rule of Islam, and it is not general for every disbeliever. And some of the scholars hold that it is abrogated,because of His saying, the Exalted: [al-Tawbah: 5], so it is abrogated by the Verse of the Sword.
But the correct view is that it is not abrogated, and that it is not specific to the People of the Book,And its meaning is: that this religion is clear and obvious, accepted by the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) and the minds, and that no one enters it out of hatred, but rather out of conviction and love and desire. This is the correct view regarding the meaning of the verse.