60. Surah Al-Mumtahanah
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا لَا
تَتَّخِذُوا
عَدُوِّي
وَعَدُوَّكُمْ
أَوْلِيَاء ...
60:1. O ye who believe!
take not My enemies and yours as friends (or protectors) --
... تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِم بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِمَا جَاءكُم مِّنَ الْحَقِّ ...
offering them (your) love, even though they have rejected the Truth that has come to you,
C5409. The immediate occasion for this was a secret letter sent by one Hatib, a Muhajir, from Madinah, to the Pagans at Makkah, in most friendly terms, seeking for their protection on behalf of his children and relatives left behind in Makkah.
The letter was intercepted, and he confessed the truth. He was forgiven as he told the truth and his motive did not appear to be heinous, but this instruction was given for future guidance.
This was shortly before the conquest of Makkah, but the principle is of universal application. You cannot be on terms of secret intimacy with the enemies of your Faith and people, who are persecuting your Faith and seeking to destroy your Faith and you. You may not do so even for the sake of your relatives as it compromises the life and existence of your whole community.
... يُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّاكُمْ أَن تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ ...
and have (on the contrary) driven out the Prophet and yourselves (from your homes), (simply) because ye believe in Allah your Lord!
C5410. Such was the position of the Muslim community in Madinah after the Hijrah and before the conquest of Makkah.
... إِن كُنتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَادًا فِي سَبِيلِي وَابْتِغَاء مَرْضَاتِي تُسِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِم بِالْمَوَدَّةِ ...
If ye have come out to strive in My Way and to seek My Good Pleasure, (take them not as friends), holding secret converse of love (and friendship) with them:
... وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِمَا أَخْفَيْتُمْ وَمَا أَعْلَنتُمْ ...
for I know full well all that ye conceal and all that ye reveal.
وَمَن يَفْعَلْهُ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاء السَّبِيلِ ﴿١﴾
And any of you that does this has strayed from the Straight Path.
إِن
يَثْقَفُوكُمْ
يَكُونُوا
لَكُمْ أَعْدَاء
وَيَبْسُطُوا
إِلَيْكُمْ
أَيْدِيَهُمْ
وَأَلْسِنَتَهُم
بِالسُّوءِ ...
60: 2. If they were to get the better of you, they would behave to you as enemies, and stretch forth their hands and their tongues against you for evil;
C5411. Besides the question of your fidelity to your own people, even your own selfish interests require you to beware of secret intrigues with enemies. They will welcome you as cat's paw. But what will happen when they have used you and got the better of you and your people! Then they will show you their hand. And a heavy hand it will be! Not only will they injure you with their hands but with their tongues! The only words they will use for you will be "Traitors to their own"! If they intrigue with you now, it is to pervert you from the Path of Truth and righteousness and win you over to their evil ways.
... وَوَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ ﴿٢﴾
and they desire that ye should reject the Truth.
يَا أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا لَا
تَتَوَلَّوْا
قَوْمًا غَضِبَ
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ ...
60:13. O ye who believe!
turn not (for friendship) to people on whom is the Wrath of Allah.
C5429. So we come back to the theme with which we started in this Surah: that we should not turn for friendship and intimacy to those who break Allah's Law and are outlaws in Allah's Kingdom.
The various phrases of this question, and the legitimate qualifications, have already been mentioned, and the argument is here rounded off.
Cf. also 58:14.
... قَدْ يَئِسُوا مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ كَمَا يَئِسَ الْكُفَّارُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْقُبُورِ ﴿١٣﴾
Of the Hereafter they are already in despair, just as the Unbelievers are in despair about those (buried) in graves.
C5430. The Unbelievers, who do not believe in a Future Life, can therefore have no hope beyond this life. Miserable indeed is this life to them; for the ills of this life are real to them, and they can have no hope of redress.
But such is also the state of others- People of the Book or not-who wallow in sin and incur the divine Wrath. Even if they believe in a Future Life, it can only be to them a life of horror, punishment, and despair.
For those of Faith the prospect is different. They may suffer in this life, but this life to them is only a fleeting shadow that will soon pass away. The Reality is beyond; there will be full redress in the Beyond, and Achievement and Felicity such as they can scarcely conceive of in the terms of this life.
Asad’s Version:
THE KEY-WORD by which this surah has been known from earliest times is based on the
injunction "examine them" in verse 10. Revealed some months after the conclusion of the Truce of Hudaybiyyah (see introductory note to surah 48) - that is, not earlier than the year 7 H. and probably as late as the beginning of 8 H. - Al-Mumtahanah is in its entirety devoted to the problem of the believers' relations with unbelievers. Although, as was quite natural, most of the Prophet's Companions visualized these problems under the aspect of the historical events of which they were witnesses, the import of the injunctions laid down in this surah cannot be restricted to that particular historical situation but has, as always in the Qur'an, a definite bearing on how believers of all times should behave.
In The Name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace:
60:1 O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not take My enemies - who are your enemies as well 1 - for your friends, showing them affection even though they are bent on denying whatever truth has come unto you, [and even though] they have driven the Apostle and yourselves away, [only] because you believe in God, your Sustainer! 2 If [it be true that] you have gone forth [from your homes] to strive in My cause, and out of a longing for My goodly acceptance, [do not take them for your friends,] inclining towards them
in secret affection: for I am fully aware of all that you may conceal as well as of all that you do openly. And any of you who does this has already strayed from the right path. 3
60:2 If they could but overcome you, they would [still] remain your foes, and would stretch forth their hands and tongues against you with evil intent: for they desire that you [too] should deny the truth. But [bear in mind that] neither your kinsfolk nor
1 Lit., "and your enemies" - implying that people who deliberately reject God's messages are ipso facto inimical to those who believe in them.
2 Historically, this is a reference to the forced emigration of the Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Medina. In a more general sense, however, it is an allusion to the potential persecution of believers of all times by "those who are bent on denying the truth", i.e., those who are averse to religious beliefs as such.
3 As is shown inverses 7-9, this prohibition of taking unbelievers for friends relates only to such of them as are actively hostile towards the believers (cf 58:22 and the corresponding note 29).
60:13 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be not friends with people whom God has condemned! 22 They [who would befriend them] are indeed bereft of all hope of a life to come 23 - just as those deniers of the truth are bereft of all hope of [ever again seeing] those who are [now] in their graves. 24
[[Asad’s version - 22 Cf. 58:14 and the corresponding note 25, which explains the reference to those "who would be friends with people whom God has condemned" .
23 I.e., only people without any real belief in a life to come can remain "neutral" between right and wrong.
24 I.e., because they utterly reject the idea of resurrection. ]]