Commentary on the verse “And insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allah, lest they insult Allah wrongfully without knowledge” [al-An‘aam 6:108]

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation
of the meaning):

“And insult
not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allah, lest they insult
Allah wrongfully without knowledge. Thus We have made fair-seeming to each
people its own doings; then to their Lord is their return and He shall then
inform them of all that they used to do”

[al-An‘aam
6:108]”. 

Allah, may He be glorified, forbade the Muslims to insult or
revile the gods of the polytheists whom the latter worshipped besides Allah,
even though they are false, lest that be a cause of the polytheists reviling
the True God, may He be glorified, in support of their false gods and in
retaliation against the Muslims for what they said. 

Then Allah tells us that He, may He be glorified, has made
fair-seeming to each nation its deeds, then they will all be brought back to
Him on the Day of Resurrection, and He will inform them of what they did and
bring them to account for their deeds: if they were good then the outcome
will be good, and if they were evil then the outcome will be bad. 

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Allah, may He be exalted, forbade His Messenger (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) and the believers to revile the gods of the
polytheists, even though there was an interest to be served by that, lest
that result in a greater evil, namely the polytheists’ responding by
reviling the God of the believers, namely Allah besides Whom there is no
other god. 

As ‘Ali ibn Abi Talhah said, narrating from Ibn ‘Abbaas,
concerning this verse: They said: O Muhammad, either you stop reviling our
gods or we will speak ill of your Lord. So Allah forbade them to revile
their idols, “lest they
insult Allah wrongfully without knowledge.” 

Qataadah said: The Muslims used to revile the idols of the
disbelievers, so the disbelievers would revile Allah, wrongfully and without
knowledge. So Allah revealed the words interpretation of the meaning):
“And
insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allah”
[al-An‘aam 6:108]. 

Similar to this principle – which is refraining from pursuing
one interest so as to avoid an evil that is greater than it – is the report
in as-Saheeh according to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Cursed is the one who reviles his
parents.” 

They said: O Messenger of Allah, how could a man revile his
parents? He said: He reviles the father of a man, so (that man) reviles his
father; and he reviles (that man’s) mother, so (that man) reviles his
mother” – or words to that effect. 

The words of Allah, may He be exalted, “Thus
We have made fair-seeming to each people its own doings”
mean: just as We made fair-seeming to those people the love of their idols
and of standing up for and supporting them, so too We made fair-seeming to
each of the past, misguided nations the deeds that they used to do. And
there is great and perfect divine wisdom in all that Allah wills and
chooses. 

“then to
their Lord is their return”
that is, their ultimate destination. 

“and He
shall then inform them of all that they used to do”
that is, He will requite them for their deeds; if they were good then the
outcome will be good, and if they were evil then the outcome will be bad. 

End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer (3/314) 

Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Allah, may He be glorified, forbade the believers to revile
the idols (of the polytheists), because He knew that if they reviled them,
the disbelievers would be put off and would increase in disbelief. 

The scholars said: 

This ruling remains in effect among this ummah in all
circumstances. So when the disbelievers are in a position of strength and it
is feared that they will revile Islam, or the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him), or Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, it is not
permissible for the Muslim to revile their crosses or their religion or
their churches, and he should not do anything that would lead to that (i.e.,
their insulting Islam), because that comes under the heading of provoking
others to sin. End quote. 

Tafseer al-Qurtubi
(7/61) 

As-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said; 

Allah forbade the believers to do something that had been
permissible and, in fact, is basically prescribed, which is to revile the
gods of the polytheists which were taken as idols and gods alongside Allah,
and this is a means of drawing closer to Allah by disrespecting them and
reviling them. 

But because reviling them is a means that may lead to the
polytheists reviling the Lord of the Worlds – Who should be declared to be
far above all faults, defects, insults and aspersions – Allah forbade
reviling the gods of the polytheists, because they would seek to protect
their religion and show fanatical devotion to it. That is because Allah has
made fair-seeming to every nation its deeds, so they regard them as
something good and defend them by all possible means, to the extent that
they would revile Allah, the Lord of the Worlds – Whose greatness is
something instilled in the hearts of all people, righteous and evildoers
alike – if the Muslims were to revile their gods. 

But the return and ultimate destination of all people is to
Allah on the Day of Resurrection, when they will appear before Him and their
deeds will be exposed, and he will inform them of what they used to do, both
good and evil. 

This verse offers proof for the shar‘i principle which says
that means are to be judged by the outcomes to which they lead, and that the
means that lead to something haraam, even if they are permissible (in and of
themselves), become haraam, if they lead to evil. End quote.

Tafseer as-Sa‘di
(p. 268) 

And Allah knows best.