Hi @zainabsikander problem with these verses is that they are widely believed to have been cancelled out by later verses within the muslim concept of abbrogation which tries to explain all the contradictions by suggesting that the verse revealed later supersede the earlier ones
If they contradict each other . We are told by the major exegets of the Quran , that this verse has been abbrogated by later verses which command the killing of non believers . We only need to look at how Islam's biggest scholars interpreted them :
Here is what Imam Tabari reprts for the infamous " There is no compulsion in religion " verse . It says : " There is no compulsion in religion" means that the Arabs who had no (monotheist) religion , were forced into religion by the sword . Whereas the jews , christains 
and Magians ( zoroastrians) are not forced if they pay jizya .
So in other words there is no compulsion for other monotheists to join Islam , if they are willing to pay the jizya tax . For the rest of the non believers , the options are to join Islam or be killed .
So in other words there is no compulsion for other monotheists to join Islam , if they are willing to pay the jizya tax . For the rest of the non believers , the options are to join Islam or be killed .
The quran contains a number of peaceful verses which were revealed when Islam was weak and tried to establish itself . The more violent and aggressive verses all came when the muslims had grown in number and power . I think this quranic verse sums it up pretty neatly( refer pic)
It says : " And be not slack so as to cry for peace and you have the upper hand (quran 47:35)
This verse clearly tell us , that muslims should not be calling for peace , when they are in a position of strength . This explains why ISLAM BEGAN WITH PEACEFUL VERSES , BUT WHEN THEY ALL GOT CANCELLED OUT , WHEN THEY WERE EMBOLDENED ENOUGH THROUGH STRENGTH .
