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Ayah
Word by Word
إِنَّمَا
Only
يَنۡهَىٰكُمُ
forbids you
ٱللَّهُ
Allah
عَنِ
from
ٱلَّذِينَ
those who
قَٰتَلُوكُمۡ
fight you
فِي
in
ٱلدِّينِ
the religion
وَأَخۡرَجُوكُم
and drive you out
مِّن
of
دِيَٰرِكُمۡ
your homes
وَظَٰهَرُواْ
and support
عَلَىٰٓ
in
إِخۡرَاجِكُمۡ
your expulsion
أَن
that
تَوَلَّوۡهُمۡۚ
you make them allies
وَمَن
And whoever
يَتَوَلَّهُمۡ
makes them allies
فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ
then those
هُمُ
[they]
ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ
(are) the wrongdoers
إِنَّمَا
Only
يَنۡهَىٰكُمُ
forbids you
ٱللَّهُ
Allah
عَنِ
from
ٱلَّذِينَ
those who
قَٰتَلُوكُمۡ
fight you
فِي
in
ٱلدِّينِ
the religion
وَأَخۡرَجُوكُم
and drive you out
مِّن
of
دِيَٰرِكُمۡ
your homes
وَظَٰهَرُواْ
and support
عَلَىٰٓ
in
إِخۡرَاجِكُمۡ
your expulsion
أَن
that
تَوَلَّوۡهُمۡۚ
you make them allies
وَمَن
And whoever
يَتَوَلَّهُمۡ
makes them allies
فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ
then those
هُمُ
[they]
ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ
(are) the wrongdoers
Translation
Allāh only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies1 of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers.
Footnotes
1 - See footnote to verse 1 of this sūrah.
Tafsir
God only forbids you in regard to those who waged war against you on account of religion and expelled you from your homes and supported [others] in your expulsion, that you should make friends with them (an tawallawhum is an inclusive substitution for alladheena, 'those who'). And whoever makes friends with them, those - they are the wrongdoers.
Perhaps Allah will make a Friendship between You and Those, whom You hold as Enemies
Allah said to His faithful servants, after ordering them to be enemies with the disbelievers,
عَسَى اللَّهُ أَن يَجْعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ عَادَيْتُم مِّنْهُم مَّوَدَّةً
Perhaps Allah will make friendship between you and those, whom you hold as enemies.
meaning affection after animosity, tenderness after coldness and coming together after parting from each other,
وَاللَّهُ قَدِيرٌ
And Allah has power (over all things),
Allah is able to gather opposites and bring together hearts, after feeling hostility and hardness. In this case, the hearts will come together in agreement, just as Allah said when He mentioned His favor on the Ansar,
وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُم أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً وَكُنتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُمْ مِّنْهَا
And remember Allah's favor on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His grace, you became brethren and were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. (3:103)
Also the Prophet said to them,
أَلَمْ أَجِدْكُمْ ضُلَّلاً فَهَدَاكُمُ اللهُ بِي وَكُنْتُمْ مُتَفَرِّقِينَ فَأَلَّفَكُمُ اللهُ بِي
Did I not find you misguided, and Allah guided you through me; and divided, and Allah united (your hearts) through me?
Allah the Exalted said,
هُوَ الَّذِى أَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِهِ وَبِالْمُوْمِنِينَ
وَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ لَوْ أَنفَقْتَ مَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ جَمِيعاً مَّأ أَلَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِنَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
He it is Who has supported you with His help and with the believers.
And He has united their hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them. Certainly He is Almighty, All-Wise. (8:62,63)
And in the Hadith:
أَحْبِبْ حَبِيبَكَ هَوْنًا مَا فَعَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ بَغِيضَكَ يَوْمًا مَا
وَأَبْغِضْ بَغِيضَكَ هَوْنًا مَا فَعَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ حَبِيبَكَ يَوْمًا مَا
- Love your loved one moderately, because one day, he might become your enemy.
- Hate your hated one moderately, because one day, he might become your loved one.
Allah's statement,
وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
means, Allah forgives the disbelief of the disbelievers if they repent from it, returned to their Lord and surrendered to Him in Islam. Surely, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful to those who repent to Him from their sins, no matter what type of the sin it is.
The Permissibility of being Kind to Disbelievers who do not fight against the Religion And Allah's statement;
Allah command's,
لَاا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ
Allah does not forbid you with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes,
means, those who did not have a role in your expulsion. Therefore, Allah does not forbid you from being kind to the disbelievers who do not fight you because of the religion, such as women and weak disbelievers,
أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ
to deal kindly, (to be gentle with them),
وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ
and justly with those, (to be fair with them),
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ
Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Asma' bint Abu Bakr said,
My mother, who was an idolatress at the time, came to me during the Treaty of Peace, the Prophet conducted with the Quraysh. I came to the Prophet and said, `O Allah's Messenger! My mother came visiting, desiring something from me, should I treat her with good relations'
The Prophet said,
نَعَمْ صِلِي أُمَّك
Yes. Keep good relation with your mother.
The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Abdullah bin Zubayr said,
Qutaylah came visiting her daughter, Asma' bint Abi Bakr, with some gifts, such as Dibab, cheese and clarified (cooking) butter, and she was an idolatress at that time. Asma' refused to accept her mother's gifts and did not let her enter her house. A'ishah asked the Prophet about his verdict and Allah sent down the Ayah,
لَاا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ
Allah does not forbid you with those who fought not against you on account of religion until the end of the Ayah.
Allah's Messenger ordered Asma' to accept her mother's gifts and to let her enter her house.
Allah's statement,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ
(Allah loves those who deal with equity), was duly explained in the Tafsir of Surah Al-Hujurat.
We also mentioned the authentic Hadith,
الْمُقْسِطُونَ عَلى مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ عَنْ يَمِينِ الْعَرْشِ الَّذِينَ يَعْدِلُونَ فِي حُكْمِهِمْ وَأَهَالِيهِمْ وَمَا وَلُوا
The just, who are fair in their decisions, families and those under their authority, will be on podiums made of light, to the right of the Throne.
The Prohibition of being Kind towards Combatant Disbelievers
Allah's statement
إِنَّمَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ قَاتَلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَأَخْرَجُوكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ
وَظَاهَرُوا عَلَى إِخْرَاجِكُمْ أَن تَوَلَّوْهُمْ
It is only as regards those who fought against you on account of religion, and have driven you out of your homes, and helped to drive you out that Allah forbids you to befriend them.
means, `Allah forbids you from being kind and befriending with the disbelievers who are openly hostile to you, those who fought against you, expelled you and helped to expel you. Allah the Exalted forbids you from being their friends and orders you to be their enemy.'
Then Allah stresses His threat against being friends with them, by saying,
وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُمْ فَأُوْلَيِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ
And whosoever will befriend them, then such are the wrongdoers.
As He said;
يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَـرَى أَوْلِيَأءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَأءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى الْقَوْمَ الظَّـلِمِينَ
O you who believe!
Take not the Jews and the Christians as protecting friends, they are but protecting friends of each other. And if any among you takes them (as protecting friends), then surely, he is one of them.
Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the wrongdoers. (5:51)
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