What is meant by God's rope in His Almighty saying: (And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah)?

The Salaf differed in their interpretation of "the rope of Allah." Some said it is the Qur'an, some said it is the religion of Islam, and some said it is the covenant of Allah. These interpretations are not contradictory. Ibn al-Arabi and Ibn Kathir favored the view that what is meant is the Qur'an, and this is supported by the hadith in Muslim: "Indeed, I am leaving among you two weighty things: one of them is the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, which is the rope of Allah. Whoever follows it will be guided, and whoever abandons it will be astray."