What is the meaning of: (There is no compulsion in religion)?

Question:
What is intended by the saying of Allah the Exalted: (There is no compulsion in religion)?

Answer:
Answer: There is no compulsion to enter the religion. No one is forced to enter the religion; no one enters except out of conviction. If he is not convinced, he is taken under the covenant of the dhimmi (a non-Muslim under Muslim protection), and he pays the jizyah (the tax on protected non-Muslims) and is left alone if he is a People of the Book. If he is not a People of the Book, he must either enter Islam or be killed for his shirk (associating partners with Allah). As for if he enters it and then apostatizes from it, he must be killed: "Whoever changes his religion, then kill him." He must be killed because he knew the truth, acknowledged that it was the truth, entered it, and then left it while acknowledging that it was the truth. Also, this misleads others who would follow his example, so he must be killed. Religion is not a thing to be played with, no, religion is not to be played with: (And a party of the People of the Book said, "Believe in [what is revealed] in the morning and disbelieve in the evening so that you may be exempt from the war tax). So the apostate becomes an example for others, so he must be killed to prevent his harm. But before he enters Islam, he is not forced; however, the legal ruling other than killing is applied to him. Some of the scholars say that the jizyah is taken from every disbeliever, whether he is a People of the Book or not, and this is the stronger position.