(And who doth greater wrong than he who forbiddeth the approach to the sanctuaries of Allah lest His name should be mentioned therein…) [2:114].
This was revealed about Titus the Roman and his Christian army. When the latter invaded the Children of Israel, they killed their soldiers, enslaved their women and children, burned the Torah, sacked Jerusalem and then threw carrions in it. This is the opinion of Ibn ‘Abbas according to the narration of al-Kalbi.
Qatadah and al-Suddi said: “This refers to Bukhtunassar and his army who conquered the Jews and destroyed Jerusalem. They were helped in this by the Roman Christians”.
And Ibn ‘Abbas said, according to the narration of ‘Ata’: “This verse was revealed about the idolaters of Mecca who prevented the Muslims from mentioning Allah in the Sacred Mosque”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou