Al-An'am: 70
{And leave those who took their religion as amusement and diversion}
Meaning: Their religion, which they ought to have adhered to, they took as amusement and diversion. This is because the idolaters—and what they practiced regarding the prohibition of the baḥā’ir and sawā’ib (sacrificial animals) and the like—was a matter of play, diversion, following the whims of the soul, acting upon desire, and of the nature of jest rather than seriousness. They took what is play and diversion—such as idol worship—as their religion. They also took the religion they were charged with and called to—which is the religion of Islam—as amusement and diversion, by mocking and ridiculing it.
It is said: God appointed for every people a festival which they venerate, pray in, and fill with the remembrance of God. All people—from the polytheists and the People of the Book—took their festival as amusement and diversion, unlike the Muslims, for they took their festival as God legislated it.
{And leave them}
Meaning: Turn away from them, do not concern yourself with their denial and mockery, and do not occupy your heart with them.
{And remind with it}
Meaning: With the Qur’an.
{Lest a soul be given up to destruction}
Meaning: For fear that it be surrendered to ruin and torment, and be held hostage for its evil earnings. The root of ibsāl (giving up/surrendering) is man‘ (prevention/withholding), because the one surrendered is prevented from [returning to] the one who surrendered him. As the poet said:
And my being surrendered, O my sons, without a crime,
Neither for a helper nor for blood shed.
From this comes: "This is basl upon you," meaning forbidden and prohibited. The bāsil (brave man) is so called because of his ability to fend off his opponent, or because of his intense busūr (frowning). It is said: "A man basara" when his frowning intensifies; when it increases, they say "basala." The ‘ābis (frowning one) is one whose face is contracted.
{And if it offers every ransom, it will not be accepted from it}
Meaning: If it offers every compensation. ‘Adl (ransom) is the fidyah (redemption), because the one who ransoms equates the ransomed with an equivalent. Kulla ‘adlin is in the accusative case as an absolute object (maṣdar). The subject of {will not be accepted} is {from it}; it is not a pronoun referring to ‘adl, because ‘adl here is a maṣdar (verbal noun), and the act of "accepting" cannot be attributed to it. However, in His saying: {Nor will any ransom be accepted from it} (Al-Baqarah: 48), it refers to the thing being ransomed with, so it is correct to attribute the acceptance to it.
{Those are the ones}
This is a reference to those who took their religion as amusement and diversion. It is said that this was revealed regarding Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may God be pleased with him) when his son, Abd al-Rahman, invited him to worship idols.
{Say: "Shall we call upon other than God that which neither benefits us nor harms us, and be turned back on our heels after God has guided us? Like one whom the devils have enticed in the earth, confused, while he has companions calling him to guidance, 'Come to us.' Say: 'Indeed, the guidance of God is the [only] guidance, and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds.'"}
