“Whenever I hear this verse being quoted as evidence of Islam being a peaceful, tolerant religion, I feel mixed emotions - anger at the Muslim disrespect of my intelligence and amusement at their delusion that this line will somehow cause us to ignore the hundreds of hate-mongering verses littered across the Qur’an. However, I also wished to analyze this Qur’anic verse to understand what exactly it means. After some study, I have realized that instead of giving Islam any respectability, this verse exposes its true nature - and the evil verses that characterize the entire Qur’an.
It should be noted that the verse “there is no compulsion in religion” is:
(1) A “Meccan” verse - adopted in the days that Prophet Mohammed lived at the mercy of the tribes of Mecca, commanded no significant followers and enjoyed the reputation of being a cult leader who skated often too close to insulting the Meccan religion, only to be saved by his influential uncle and wealthy wife.
(2) Overruled by Allah’s revelation that any fresh verse can directly contradict/reject any early verse and issue different verses on the same topic. Hence no Muslim can follow this verse as there are hundreds of other, later verses that call for the suppression, humiliation and extermination of non-Muslims and all things non-Muslim. On the debate of following the Meccan or Medinian Qur’an, Islam’s Prophet and the Islamic God have already ruled in favor of the Medinian Qur’an.
(3) Characterized by “Taqiyya” - the Islamic principle and Qur’anic teachings of lying in order to protect/advance the fortunes of Islam -Muslims are permitted to lie, deceive and betray non-Muslims if it helps to advance the cause of Islam and its eventual domination over all societies and the entire world. The Qur’an instructs Muslims to never take non-Muslims as friends nor have any bond with them. If a Muslim is in a non-Muslim land, the Qur’an instructs that he or she may publicly appear friendly but should fill their hearts with hate and enmity towards the non-Muslim society, religion and its followers. This best describes Mohammed’s beginnings as a prophet in Mecca - appease, lie and deceive to protect oneself but secretly aim to destroy non-Muslims.”
Vickie