Al-Ma'idah 5:51–54

Explanation in Brief

The verses cited above take up three important subjects which are the basic principles of unity among Muslims as a collectively organized community.

1. Muslims can deal with non-Muslims in the spirit of tolerance, sympathy, goodwill, equity, justice, favour and kindness, almost every-thing within that line of conduct. In fact, they should do that for they have been taught to do that. But, what is not permitted is the kind of fast friendship and indiscriminating intimacy which may garble the distinctive hallmarks of Islam. This is the issue known as the ` Tack al-Muwalat' to refrain from deep (friendship) in Islamic terminology.

2. The second principle stressed upon is that should the Muslims of any time and place shift away from the first principle stated above and develop an intimacy of this nature with non-Muslims, then, let them not be under the impression that their conduct could harm Islam in any manner whatsoever - because Allah Almighty has Himself taken the responsibility of seeing that Islam remains duly protected. It cannot be eliminated by anyone. However, if a set of people still go out of their minds, break the limits of Islamic modality of doing things and, let us presume, decide to leave the very pale of Islam, then, Allah Ta` ala will bring in another set of people who will uphold and establish the principles and laws of Islam.

3. Once we know the positive and negative aspects in perspective, it becomes evident that the real friendship of a Muslim - deep, intense, profound and reliance-worthy - can only be with Allah, the Highest of the high, His Messenger, and with those who believe in them.

After this brief introduction of the subject, we can now move to the detailed explanation of the verses.

Commentary

In the first verse (51), Muslims have been commanded not to enter into "Muwalat" (deep friendship) with Jews and Christians as is the customary practice of non-Muslims in general and, of Jews and Christians in particular, who reserve deep friendship for their own people only. They do not deal with Muslims at the same wave length.

After this clear instruction, should a Muslim do otherwise and en-ter into an intimate friendship with a Jew or Christian, then, in the sight of Islam, he is fit to be counted as one of them - and not as a Muslim.

The Background of Revelation

Reporting from ` Ikrimah, Ibn Jarir ؓ has said that this verse was revealed in the background of a particular event. After the Holy Prophet ﷺ had settled in Madinah, he had entered into a treaty with Jews and Christians living nearby which required that they would neither fight against Muslims nor help any other tribe at war with them, rather, they would join Muslims to fight against them. Similarly, Muslims will not fight them nor help anyone against them, rather, would de-fend them against the aggressors. For some time, both parties kept adhering to the treaty. But, the Jews could not observe the terms of the treaty any longer because of their conspiratorial nature and anti-Islam temperament. They made a secret deal with the pagans of Makkah against Muslims and wrote them a letter inviting them to their fortress. When the Holy Prophet ﷺ came to know about this conspiracy, he dispatched a posse of Mujahidin to confront them. These Jews from Banu Qurayzah were, on the one hand, conspiring with the disbelievers of Makkah, while on the other, having infiltrated among Mus-lims, they had succeeded in making pacts of friendship with many of them. This was their front of spying for the disbelievers of Makkah against Muslims. Revealed thereupon was this verse which stopped Muslims from indulging in deep friendship with Jews and Christians, so that they could be deprived of having access to sensitive information about Muslims. At that time, some noble Companions, including Sayyidna ` Ubadah ibn Samit ؓ ، openly announced the cancellation of their treaty obligations as well as their support for abandonment of any close friendship in the future. As for the hypocrites who had their pragmatic relationship with Muslims, or people whose hearts had yet to taste the sweetness of genuine faith, they apprehended dangers in breaking relationships with Jews and Christians lest the conspiracy hatched by the disbelievers and the Jews succeeded and Muslims were overpowered in which case it would be necessary that they keep their relationships balanced both ways to avoid any problems Tor them later on. It was on this basis that ` Abdullah ibn Ubaiyy ibn Salul ؓ had said that he saw danger in cutting off relationship with these people and, therefore, he cannot do that. Revealed thereupon was the second verse (52):

فَتَرَ‌ى الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَ‌ضٌ يُسَارِ‌عُونَ فِيهِمْ يَقُولُونَ نَخْشَىٰ أَن تُصِيبَنَا دَائِرَ‌ةٌ

Now, you see those who have disease in their hearts race to-wards them saying, "We apprehend that some misfortune may overtake us."

It means that after hearing the religiously binding injunction of the abandonment of close friendships, people who have the disease of hypocricy in their hearts started racing towards their disbelieving friends saying that cutting off relationships with these people is dangerous for them.

Answering them, Almighty Allah said:

فَعَسَى اللَّهُ أَن يَأْتِيَ بِالْفَتْحِ أَوْ أَمْرٍ‌ مِّنْ عِندِهِ فَيُصْبِحُوا عَلَىٰ مَا أَسَرُّ‌وا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ نَادِمِي

So, it is likely that Allah may bring victory or a command from His own side, whereupon they become regretful over what they concealed in their hearts.

It means that these people are under the impression that the disbelievers and the Jews will overcome Muslims. But, Allah has decided that it will not happen. Rather, close is the conquest of Makkah. Or, even before the conquest of Makkah, Allah may, by exposing the hypocrisy of the hypocrites, put them to disgrace. Then, at that time, these people will regret thoughts they had concealed.

This has been clarified further in the third verse (53) where it was said that once the hypocricy of the hypocrites has been exposed and the reality behind their claims and oaths of friendship comes out in the open, Muslims would wonder if those were the people who used to assure them with sworn claims of their friendship and there they were all ruined as everything they did just to pretend had gone to waste. That Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu has mentioned the conquest of Makkah and the disgrace of the hypocrites in these verses was something which everyone saw only after a few days with their own eyes.

The fourth verse (54) tells us that the prohibition of intimate friend-ship and intermingling with non-Muslims is for the good of Muslims themselves. Otherwise, Islam is the particular religion the responsibility to protect which has been taken by Almighty Allah Himself. The crookedness or disobedience of an individual or group is self-destruct in its place. However, should some individual or group from among Muslims were to really abandon Islam itself, turn into an apostate (Murtadd) totally and become a part of non-Muslims, even that too could bring no harm to Islam because Allah who is Absolutely Powerful is responsible for its protection and He will immediately bring in some other nation into action which will carry out the duties of protecting and spreading the Din of Allah. Things He must do depend neither on an individual nor on the largest of the large party or institution. When He so wishes, He can make straws work for beams and logs, otherwise beams and logs sit in forests turning into compost any-way. As referred to elsewhere in this Commentary, how well this was put in an Arabic couplet:

اِنَ المقادیر اذاساعدَت

اَلحَقَتِ العَاجِزَ بالقادرِ

When Divine decree helps - it can make the weak overtake the mighty.

When it was said in this verse that should Muslims become apostates, it does not matter, for Allah will make another set of people rise to take their place, then, right there, some virtues of this set of people have also been enumerated saying clearly that they can be marked out by such and such distinguishable qualities. Those engaged in the service of their religion should keep these qualities foremost in their minds because these verses tell us that people who have such quality and character are welcome and dear in the sight of Almighty Allah.

1. Their first quality identified by the Holy Qur'an is that Allah will love them and they will love Allah. There are two parts to this quality. The first one is the love of these people for Almighty Allah. This could be taken, in one or the other degree, within one's control since one can, even if one does not love someone emotionally or naturally, at least make his intention and determination to work for him in loving intellectually. And even emotional or natural love is though not in one's control, yet its causes are, for instance, the meditation of the greatness and majesty of Almighty Allah, the conception of His most perfect power and the recapitulative survey of His authorities and blessings over human beings. This would definitely generate even natural love for Almighty Allah in the heart of a man or woman.

But, as far as the other part is concerned, that is, the love of Allah will be with these people, it obviously seems to indicate that this is a matter where human choice and action play no role. So, what is beyond our control and choice hardly warrants a description and is obviously fruitless - one may be tempted to wonder.

But, by pondering over some other verses of the Holy Qur'an, one will discover that the causes of this part of love too are within human control. If someone uses these means, the love of Allah will necessarily be with him or her. Those means of achieving this end have been mentioned in the verse of the Qur'an which appears in Surah 'Al-` Imran قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ (Say [ 0 Prophet ], "If you do love Allah, follow me; Allah shall love you" ... 3:31).

This verse tells us that one who wishes to have Allah love him or her should make the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ the very pivot of life and develop a committed habit of following Sunnah in whatever one does in each and every department of one's life. If so, the promise of Allah is there - He will love that person. And this very verse also tells us that the only group of people which can stand up and meet the challenge of Disbelief and Apostasy (Kufr and Irtidad) shall be the group of people which follows the Sunnah conscientiously and habitually - neither falling short in obedience to the injunctions of the Shari` ah, nor initiating and introducing on their own, deeds contrary to the Sunnah.

2. The second quality of this group has been identified as: أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِ‌ينَ (...soft on the believers, hard on the disbelievers ...). Here, the word: ` adhillah' could be, as explained in Qamus, the plural of both dhalil or dhalul. Dhalil means low or despicable while dhalul means soft and tractable, that is, easily controlled, docile. According to the majority of commentators, this is the meaning of ` adhillah' at this place, that is, these people will be soft with Muslims. Even in matters of dispute, they can be controlled and mollified easily. They would set the dispute aside, even if they are right in it - as said by the Holy Prophet ﷺ in an authentic hadith: اَناَ زعیم ببیت فی رَبصِ الجنۃِ لِمَن تَرَکَ المراَء و ھو مُ حِقُ ;that is, ` I am the guarantor of a home in the middle of Paradise for one who abandons dispute despite being in the right.' Thus, the essential meaning of this word comes to be that these people will have no dispute with Muslims in matters relating to their rights and dealings.

The second word is 'a'izzah' in: أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِ‌ينَ , it Ai (hard on the disbelievers). Here too, 'a'izzah' is the plural of ` Aziz which means dominant, strong and hard. So, the sense is that these people are hard and strong against the enemies of Allah and His Din who would be unable to control or manipulate them. Now, by combining both sentences we can arrive at the essence of the statement - that this will be a set of people whose love and hate, friendship and enmity will be, not for their person or their rights and dealings, but only for Allah, His Messenger and His Din. Therefore, when comes the time to fight, it will not be against the obedient servants of Allah and His Messenger, instead of that, it would be against those who are hostile and disobedient to Allah and His Messenger. The same subject appears in a verse of Surah Al-Fath where the words are: أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ‌ رُ‌حَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ (severe against disbelievers, merciful between themselves - 48:29).

3. The essence of the first quality was the most perfect fulfillment of the rights of Allah, and the essence of the second quality was moderation in the fulfillment of the rights of the servants of Allah by remaining accommodating in dealings. Now, the third quality of these people mentioned here is: يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ that is, they shall keep carrying out Jihad to spread and establish the True Faith. In essence, it means that fighting against forces of disbelief and apostasy is no easy task. In this confrontation, traditionally known devotion to worship in seclusion or a simple softness or hardness of attitude is not enough. Also necessary here is a feeling and fervour for the mission of establishing Din دین .

4. To ensure that this feeling and fervor achieves its desired perfection, the fourth quality of these people has been identified as: وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ that is, they will not care for any blame, censure or derogatory criticism directed against them while they are engaged in their efforts to upraise the true word of Allah and establish His Din. A little reflection will show that the leader of a movement usually faces two types of impediments in his efforts which are the power of the adversary and the vilification of his own people. Experience bears out that people who lead a movement resolutely would stand firm against any adversary, even go through arrests, jail sentences, beatings and tortures, yet, when it comes to facing blames and vilifications from their own people, even the most determined leaders tend to falter. Perhaps, it is to stress the importance of this trying situation at this place, that Allah Almighty has considered it sufficient to say that these people go on with their Jihad without taking notice of any blames directed against them.

Finally, towards the end of the verse (54), it was added that these good qualities of character are nothing but rewards from Almighty Allah. It is He who gives them to whom He wills. A human being can-not acquire these by dint of his own effort and deed without Divine grace.

The Fitnah of Apostasy

Through the explanation of the words of this verse, it has already been clarified that the incidence of some from among Muslims turning into apostates will not harm Islam as a religion because Allah will raise a set of people with high morals and superior deeds who would defend and support it. However, the majority of commentators have dwelt further on the Fitnah (trial) of Apostasy (Irtidad). According to them, this verse is actually a prophecy of this Trial and at the same time a good news for the group of people who will fight against it and eliminate it successfully. This coming Fitnah of Apostasy was a serious problem the germs of which had already started spreading to-wards the lattermost period of Prophethood. But, after the departure of the Holy Prophet ﷺ from this mortal world, this became an epidemic spreading all over the Arabian Peninsula. The group blessed with the good news was that of the noble Companions ؓ who confronted this onslaught of Apostasy under the command of the first Khalifah of Islam, Sayyidna Abu Bakr As-Siddiq ؓ .

Chronologically, Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab (the Liar) was the first to claim prophethood along with the Holy Prophet ﷺ and was so audacious that he returned his emissaries back with the threat that he would have killed them had it not been for the protocol which prohibited killing of envoys and emissaries. Musaylimah was a liar in his claim. The Holy Prophet ﷺ did not get the time to wage Jihad against him and he left this mortal world.

Similarly, Aswad al-` Ansi, the chief of the tribe of Mudhhaj in Yaman announced his prophethood. The Holy Prophet ﷺ ordered the Governor of Yaman appointed by him to fight against him. But, the very next day after the night he was killed, the Holy Prophet ﷺ departed from this mortal world. The news about his being killed reached the noble Companions ؓ at the end of Rabi' al-Awwal. Another event like this was reported concerning the tribe of Banu Asad whose chief, Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid laid a claim to his own prophethood.

Groups from these three tribes had turned Apostates during the last sickness of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The news of his passing away took the lid out of this storm of Apostasy. Seven tribes of Arabia from different places turned against Islam and its legal authority.

They refused to pay Zakah as required by Islamic law to the Khalifah of the time, Sayyidna Abu Bakr As-Siddiq ؓ .

After the passing away of the Holy Prophet ﷺ the responsibility of the country and the community fell on the shoulders of Sayyidna Abu Bakr As-Siddiq ؓ . There was the great shock on the one hand, and the flood of trials and rebellions on the other. Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ says that the shock faced by her father, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ ، after the passing away of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، was so great that had it fallen on high mountains they would have been reduced to powder. But, Almighty Allah had blessed him with the high station of patience and fortitude by virtue of which he fought against all odds with full determination and courage, and did succeed finally.

Rebellion, as obvious, can be quashed by use of force only. But, conditions had reached a point of danger and Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ went into consultation with the noble Companions. None of them approved of a hard-line against rebellions. The danger was: If the Companions ؓ were to be committed to internal warfare, foreign powers would run over their new Islamic country. But, Allah Almighty made the heart of His ` True one' strong and settled for Jihad. He gave an eloquent Khutbah before the Companions ؓ of the Holy Prophet ﷺ which opened up their hearts too in favour of Jihad. The power and perfection of his determination and fortitude is reflected through his words:

"People who, after they have become Muslims, turn back and reject the injunctions given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، and the Law of Islam, then, it is my duty that I should wage a Jihad against them. If, against me, they decide to bring along the combined force of all Jinns and human beings, and all trees and rocks of the world, all together, and I have no comrade in arms to support me, even then, I would, all by myself, put my neck on the stake and carry out this Jihad."

After having said this, he mounted his horse and started moving ahead. Then, the noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, came forward and made Sayyidna Siddiq al-Akbar ؓ sit at his place. In no time, a battle plan was drawn with fronts assigned to different people and the time of their departure set for action.

Therefore, Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ ، Hasan al-Basri, Dahhak, Qatadah and other Imams of Tafsir have said that this verse has been revealed about Sayyidna Abu Bakr As-Siddiq ؓ . He was the first one of the promised people about whom it was said in this verse that they will appear to defend Islam at the command of Allah.

But, not contrary to this, is the possibility that some other group could also be included in the sense of this verse. Therefore, respected elders who have pointed out to Sayyidna Abu Musa al-Ash` ari ؓ or other noble Companions ؓ as being included in the sense of this verse cannot be really taken as contrary to this suggestion. In fact, the most sound and safe position is to believe that all these blessed people, rather every single Muslim due to come right upto the Last Day of Qiymah, who will keep confronting disbelief and apostasy in accordance with the commands of the Qur'an - they all shall be considered as included under the purview of this verse.

Let us now resume our description of how the moving exhortation of Sayyidna Siddiq Alkbar made a group of Sahabah rise to the occasion and meet the challenge of this trial of Apostasy under the leadership of the first Khalifah of Islam. Assigning an army of fighting men, he sent Sayyidna Khalid ibn Walid ؓ to Yamamah to fight against Mu-saylimah the Liar who had become very poweful in his area. The encounters were tough, but Musaylimah the Liar was ultimately killed at the hands of Sayyidna Wahshi, may Allah be pleased with him. His group repented and returned to the fold of Islam. Again, it was Sayyidna Khalid ؓ who went to fight against Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid. He escaped and went out to some other area. Then, Allah gave him the ability to repent and return to Islam once again. He came back as a Muslim.

The news that Aswad al-'Ansi had been killed and his group had surrendered had reached Madinah toward the end of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, the first month of the Siddiqi Caliphate. This was the very first news of victory which reached Sayyidna Siddiq al-Akbar ؓ under such trying circumstances. So, from this point onwards, the noble Companions ؓ of the Prophet ﷺ were also blessed with more clear victories on every front against other tribes which had refused to pay Zakah.

Thus, the practical demonstration of the truth of the word of Allah mentioned towards the end of the fifth verse (56): فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ (then, the people of Allah are the ones to prevail) was seen by the whole world. Speaking historically and objectively, it is a proven fact that the problem of Apostasy did affect some tribes of the Arabian Peninsula after the passing away of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Then, the group that Allah made to rise and fight against the challenge was that of Sayyidna Siddiq al-Akbar ؓ and his colleagues among the Sahabah ؓ . So, it also stands proved from this very verse that the qualities of the promised set of people given in the Qur'an were all present in Sayyidna Siddiq al-Akbar and the Sahabah with him. To restate these, we can say:

1. Allah loves them.

2. They love Allah.

3. They are soft with Muslims and hard against disbelievers.

4. Their Jihad was in the way of Allah in which they were not afraid of any blame.

Pointing out to the reality of realities, it was clearly stressed that all these high qualities of character, their timely use and the ultimate success in the Islamic expedition through them were things which are not achieved by simple reliance on planning or power or numbers. This is nothing but the grace of Allah. It is He who bestows this blessing upon whom He wills.