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Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran - 2:217

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Translation for 2:217

They1 ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about fighting in the sacred months.2 Say, “Fighting during these months is a great sin. But hindering ˹others˺ from the Path of Allah, rejecting Him, and expelling the worshippers from the Sacred Mosque is ˹a˺ greater ˹sin˺ in the sight of Allah. For persecution3 is far worse than killing. And they will not stop fighting you until they turn you away from your faith—if they can. And whoever among you renounces their own faith and dies a disbeliever, their deeds will become void in this life and in the Hereafter. It is they who will be the residents of the Fire. They will be there forever.”4

Foot notes

76451

 The pagans of Mecca.

76452

 See footnote for 2:194.

76453

 Persecuting Muslims to abandon their faith.

76454

 While many traditional scholars maintain that apostates are to be first invited to re-enter the fold of Islam then executed if the invitation is turned down, some traditional and modern scholars (like Sufyân Ath-Thawri, the late Grand Imâm of Al-Azhar Sheikh Maḥmûd Shaltût, and Dr. Jamal Badawi) are of the opinion that the Quran (2:256) guarantees freedom of religion and (2:217) promises no worldly punishment for leaving Islam. It is reported in a ḥadîth collected by Imâm Muslim that a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in Medina and retracted the allegiance he had pledged to him (ﷺ)—leaving Islam. The Prophet (ﷺ) did not punish the man. The narrations that command the killing of apostates refer only to those who fight against Muslims—so they are killed for treason, not for apostasy. Other aḥâdîth are meant to deter those who conspired to accept Islam then leave it soon after only to shake the faith of early Muslims, as mentioned in 3:72.