Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 2: Surah al-Baqarah
alted is He, (There is no compulsion in religion…): “The woman of the Helpers whose boys never survived
used to vow that if a boy of hers survived, she would raise him as a Jew. When the Banu’l-Nadir were
driven out of Medina they had among them children of the Helpers. The Helpers said: ‘O Messenger
of Allah! Our Children!’ Allah, exalted is He, therefore revealed (There is no compulsion in religion…)”.
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: “Those who wished to leave with the Jews did leave, and those who wished to embrace
Islam embraced Islam”. 94
Said Mujahid: “This verse was revealed about a man of the Helpers who had a black boy called Subayh
whom he used to coerce to become Muslim”.
Al-Suddi said: “This verse was revealed about a man from the Helpers called Abu’l-Husayn. This man
had two sons. It happened that some traders from Syria 95 came to Medina to sell oil. When the traders
were about to leave Medina, the two sons of Abu’l-Husayn called them to embrace Christianity. These
traders converted to Christianity and then left Medina. Abu’l-Husayn informed the Messenger of Allah,
Allah bless him and give him peace, of what had happened. He asked him to summon his two sons. But
then Allah, exalted is He, revealed (There is no compulsion in religion…). The Messenger of Allah, Allah
bless him and give him peace, said: ‘May Allah banish both of them. They are the first to disbelieve’. This
was before the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was commanded to fight the
people of the Book. But then Allah’s saying (There is no compulsion in religion…) was abrogated and the
Prophet was commanded to fight the people of the Book in Surah Repentance”. 96
Masruq said: “A man from the Helpers, from amongst the Banu Salim Banu ‘Awf, had two sons who had
converted to Christianity before the advent of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. [After
the migration of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to Medina,] these two sons came to
Medina along a group of Christians to trade in food. Their father went to them and refused to leave them,
saying: ‘By Allah! I will not leave you until you become Muslim’. They refused to become Muslim and
they all went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to settle their dispute. The
father said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! How can I leave a part of me enter hell fire while I just sit and look’
Allah, glorious and majestic is He, then revealed (There is no compulsion in religion…) after which he let
them go”. 97
Abu Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Muqri’ informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abdus>
Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Mahfuz> ‘Abd Allah ibn Hashim> ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi> Sufyan>
Khusayf> Mujahid who said: “There were some people who were nurse-wetted among the Jews,
the Banu Qurayzah and Banu’l-Nadir. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded
that the Banu’l-Nadir be driven out of Medina, those sons of the Aws who were nurse-wetted
by the Jews said: ‘We will leave with them and follow their religion’. Their families stopped them and
wanted them to coerce them to embrace Islam. Then the verse (There is no compulsion in religion…) was
revealed”. 98
(And when Abraham said (unto his Lord): My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead…) [2:260].
The commentators of the Qur’an have mentioned the reason why Ibrahim asked his Lord to show him
how He brings the dead back to life. Sa‘id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far informed us> Shu‘bah
ibn Muhammad> Makki ibn ‘Abdan> Abu’l-Azhar> Ruh> Sa‘id> Qatadah who said: “It was mentioned
to us that Ibrahim passed by a corpse of a beast which was surrounded by beasts of the sea and of the
land, and so he said: ‘O Allah! Show me how you bring the dead back to life!’ ” 99
94
Tabari, :14.
95
This area includes present day Syria, Palestine, Jordan and part of Lebanon.
96
Durr, :21; Tabari, :15.
97
Durr, :21.
98
Cf. Durr, :20-21; Tabari, :15-16.
99
Tabari, :47.
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