لَستَ عَلَيهِم بِمُصَيطِرٍ

And not a taskmaster over them.

EXEGESIS

The term muṣayṭir was originally musayṭir (with the Arabic letter sīn instead of ṣād) and is based on saṭr, a line in a book or writing. To rule the lines in a book is called suṭūr and an instrument with which a book is ruled is called misṭarah.^{‎[1]Lane, under s-ṭ-r.} By implication, it alludes to one who seeks to hold absolute authority (salṭah) and control over a thing or a person and dictate its manner of dispensation (see, for example, 52:37) or action, coercing and compelling others to act in a particular manner even unwillingly and under duress. Hence a taskmaster and enforcer.

EXPOSITION

And not a taskmaster over them continues from the previous verse, clarifying and emphasising: your duty, O Muhammad, is only to remind, and not to overwhelm or prevail over mankind. It is similar to the words: and you are not to be a tyrant (jabbār) over them (50:45). Or, as Ibn Kathīr puts it: you cannot create faith in their hearts or force them to believe in you.^{‎[2]Ibn Kathir, 8/380.} Similarly, Qummī explains: ‘You are not a guard over them nor a scribe to record their deeds.’^{‎[3]Qummi, 2/419.}

This verse echoes the message in numerous other verses including 2:272, 3:20, 4:80, 5:92, 5:99; 6:52; 6:69; 6:107, 10:99, 13:40, 16:35, 16:82, 18:29, 28:56, 29:18; 36:17; 42:48; 43:83, 64:12, and 70:42.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Many past exegetes felt the need to reconcile this verse with later revealed Medinan verses that allowed the Prophet and Muslims to go for battle and engage in jihad. Warfare in the name of religion, or jihad, in itself, is a provision to defend Islam and counter obvious threats rather than a justification for expansionism of a Muslim empire or compelling others to faith. Its misuse came about after the Prophet, largely at the hands of family dynasties that falsely claimed their own rule as Islam’s rightful heirs to the Prophet. And this had an influence on the understanding of combat with non-Muslims even on the minds of scholars. And hence, exegetes and hadith scholars, from Ālūsī, Thaʿālabī, Rāzī, and Zamakhsharī to Tirmidhī and Abū Dāwūd, have all opined that this verse was later abrogated to permit jihad.^{‎[4]Suyuti, 6/343, from Abū Dāwūd’s Nāsikh, from Ibn Abbas, that this verse was abrogated by 9:5; Razi, 31/146; Tabari, 30/106.} Rāzī tells us: ‘The majority of the exegetes have said this verse was abrogated by the fighting verse (āyat al-qitāl).’^{‎[5]Razi, 31/146.}

Furthermore, as evidence, a number of them have quoted the following tradition as authentic (ṣaḥīḥ), including Bukhārī, Muslim, and all major Sunni sources of hadith and tafsīr:

From Jābir, that Allah’s Apostle (s) said: ‘I have been commanded to fight the people until they declare “there is no god but Allah (la ilāha ill-allāh)”. So if they say that, they have safeguarded their blood and wealth from me – except for what is rightfully due from it – and their reckoning is with Allah, the mighty and majestic.’ Then he recited: ‘So admonish – for you are only an admonisher and not a taskmaster over them [88:21-22].’^{‎[6]Tabari, 30/106; Thaalabi, 5/584, from Tirmidhi; Ibn Kathir, 8/380, quoting from Muslim (Kitāb al-Īmān), Tirmidhī, and Nasai in the Kitāb al-Tafsīr of their respective Sunan, and also from Bukhari and Muslim but without mention of this Quran verse; Suyuti, 6/343, quoting from Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ahmad, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah, Tabari, Hakim, Ibn Mardawayh, and Bayhaqī, al-Asmāʾ wa al-Ṣifāt, all reporting from Jābir.}

The implied interpretation then is that the Prophet is not a taskmaster over what they conceal in their hearts – because he obviously cannot enforce faith in their hearts – but it does not deny him the ability to still fight them to establish faith. And this allowance is then accommodated with the argument that this verse was abrogated with verses that permitted jihad.^{‎[7]Thaalabi, 5/584.}

There are several issues with this understanding that is, unfortunately, commonly found in past exegetical works. Firstly, there is nothing in this set of verses or in the words And not a taskmaster over them to suggest it is only concerning what they conceal in their hearts.

Secondly, if we understand jihad in its original intent and purpose, which is a call to arms only in defence of and to stand up to aggression against Islam and the continued oppression of Muslims (as was the case with the polytheist Meccan Quraysh who continuously attacked the Muslims until the liberation of Mecca in 629 ce), then the Prophet not being a taskmaster does not invalidate the allowance for jihad when required. Defence of Islam is one thing whereas compelling others to submit as a taskmaster is quite another. The two are completely unrelated. And in that sense, this is no different from the false argument that the verse There is no compulsion in religion (2:256) was abrogated by the verses permitting combat. See Review of Tafsīr Literature for 2:256.

And thirdly, all exegetes would agree that this verse is not an independent statement, but rather it is directly connected to the previous verse that calls the Prophet to remind and admonish God’s servants. Makārim Shīrāzī rightfully argues that if this verse was abrogated then so would the previous verse have been. This would mean reminding and admonishing was also no longer required.^{‎[8]Tabari, 30/106, does attempt the argument that the reminding was not abrogated but offers no proof for this partial abrogation.} Yet the Prophet continued to remind and admonish and preach his message until the last moments of his earthly life. And thereafter, his rightful heirs and even the scholars after them have continued to remind to this day.^{‎[9]Nemuneh, 26/433.}

The contention in this verse continues in the next. Here, we have focused on rejecting the idea that this verse was abrogated. In the next verse, we shall counter the argument that the Prophet was meant to be a taskmaster over those who turn away and disbelieve in him. See the Review of Tafsīr Literature for verse 23.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.^{‎[10]John 12:47.}
2. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.^{‎[11]John 12:48.}

[1] Lane, under s-ṭ-r.
[2] Ibn Kathir, 8/380.
[3] Qummi, 2/419.
[4] Suyuti, 6/343, from Abū Dāwūd’s Nāsikh, from Ibn Abbas, that this verse was abrogated by 9:5; Razi, 31/146; Tabari, 30/106.
[5] Razi, 31/146.
[6] Tabari, 30/106; Thaalabi, 5/584, from Tirmidhi; Ibn Kathir, 8/380, quoting from Muslim (Kitāb al-Īmān), Tirmidhī, and Nasai in the Kitāb al-Tafsīr of their respective Sunan, and also from Bukhari and Muslim but without mention of this Quran verse; Suyuti, 6/343, quoting from Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ahmad, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah, Tabari, Hakim, Ibn Mardawayh, and Bayhaqī, al-Asmāʾ wa al-Ṣifāt, all reporting from Jābir.
[7] Thaalabi, 5/584.
[8] Tabari, 30/106, does attempt the argument that the reminding was not abrogated but offers no proof for this partial abrogation.
[9] Nemuneh, 26/433.
[10] John 12:47.
[11] John 12:48.