Surah Al-Mumtahanah 60:1-13 - Quran Translation Commentary

1. O you who believe! Do not take my enemies and your enemies as friends¹ You are extending friendship with them ² even though they have denied the Truth that has come to you. They drove the Messenger and you (from your abode) because you believed in Allah, your Lord.³ If you have come out to fight in My way and to seek My pleasure (then do not make friendship with them). ⁴ You are getting friendly with them secretly ⁵ While I know all that you do secretly and openly. And whosoever among you will do like that has strayed from the straight path.⁶

2. If they overpower you, they will become your enemies and will badly stretch out their hands and their tongues against you and will want that you become disbelievers.⁷

3. Your kindred and your children will not avail you on the Day of Resurrection. ⁸ He will judge between you and Allah sees what you do.

4. You have the best example in Ibrahim and his companions.⁹ When they told their community that “We are absolutely clear of you and of your deities whom you are worshipping besides Allah. We have rejected you and there has arisen hostility and disgust between us and you for ever until you believe in ALLAH alone.”¹⁰ But Ibrahim’s saying this to his father (is no example) that “I will pray for your pardon ¹¹ and I have no power in your favour from Allah.¹² “Our Lord! Only in Thee we put trust and only toward Thee have we turned and the return is toward Thee alone.¹³

5. Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the disbelievers.¹⁴ And O Lord! pardon us. Verily you are the Mighty, the Wise.

6. Verily there is the best example in them for you; for every one who has hope in Allah and the Last Day.¹⁵ Whosoever turns away from this Allah is Self- Sufficient, the Worthy of Praise.¹⁶

7. It may be that Allah will create friendship between you and those whom you hold as enemies ¹⁷ Allah is Omnipotent and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

8. Allah does not forbid you to deal kindly and equitably with those who did not fight against you in the matter of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Allah love those who deal justly.¹⁸

9. Allah forbids you from making friendship with only those who fought with you on account of religion and drove you out of your homes and who helped in driving you out.¹⁹ And whoever shall befriend them, then they are the wrongdoers.²⁰

10. O Believers! When believing women come to you as migrants, examine them ²¹----Allah knows best their faith²² ----If you find them true believers send them not back to disbelievers. ²³ Neither they are lawful to them.(to disbelievers) nor are they lawful to them.²⁴And give them (the disbelieving husbands) what they have spent upon them.²⁵ It is no offence for you to marry these women when you pay up their Meher (dowers) to them.²⁶ Do not detain the disbelieving women in your marriage bonds.²⁷ Demand (from the disbelievers) whatever you had spent upon them and let them demand (from you) what they had spent.²⁸ This is Allah’s judgment which He ordains between you. And Allah is the Knower, the Wise.²⁹

11. And if anything from your wives dower remains due on the disbelievers and then it is your turn, then pay to those whose wives have left them equal to what they have spent.³⁰ And fear Allah in Whom you believe.

12. O Prophet! When believing women come to you for giving you the pledge that they will not associate (in worship) any thing with Allah and will neither steal nor commit adultery, (fornication) nor kill their children, nor fabricate any slander in front of their hands and feet nor disobey you in what is just then accept their pledge ³¹ And pray to Allah for their Forgiveness³² Verily Allah is forgiving, Merciful.

13. O Believers! Be not friendly with those against whom Allah is wrathful.³³ They have despaired of the Hereafter, just as the disbelievers despair of those who are in the graves.³⁴

Commentary

1. The enemy of Allah means the enemy of His religion. It means those fellows who become enemies of Muslims. They must be regarded as your enemies and should be dealt with in the same way an enemy of the community ought to be treated. Neither the enemies of Islam can be loved from heart nor can any leniency be shown toward their violent behaviour. It is not permitted to do any work which, compared to Muslims, may serve the interests of the disbelievers. The Muslims must always be extra cautious about this during the course of war activities.

For clarification of the directive banning friendship with disbelievers please see Surah Maidah, note 164, and also Surah Aal-e- Imran note: 41

2. This is a stricture against those Muslims who, hoping that it would provide some safety to their relatives in Makkah, were maintaining apparent friendly ties with the polytheists of Makkah. Though their attitude was not based on any bad intention it was anyway a weakness which could affect actions against the disbelievers. Hence it has been strictly prohibited.

3. This is a description of the enmity of Makkan disbelievers that they are the deniers of the True Religion and that they were so much oppressive that they forced the Prophet and the believers to leave Makkah, that the only reason for this high handedness is that Muslims accept ONLY ONE ALLAH as their God and deny to deify anything else besides Him. This belief of Faith (Imaan) was a crime in the eyes of those idol-worshippers. How can those people be worthy of friendship who Faith a crime?!

4. That is: When you have stood up for the Jihad-struggle in the Path of Allah and you desire nothing except Allah’s pleasure, you must always be very straightforward in dealing with disbelievers. There is no question of showing any leniency toward or any concession to them.

5. This is mentioned in general terms which shows that it was not a matter of any particular person but that such weakness was shown by several fellows and also that it was not about communicating any secret but of merely maintaining friendship in various ways. As regards the events of Hatib bin Abee Baltaa, it also falls in this category. Therefore the narrators have mentioned it as a cause of the revelation of these verses. It happened after the breach of the Treaty of Hudaibiyah. This Surah was revealed before that. The summary of it is that a companion (of the holy prophet)named Hatib bin Baltaa, who had also the honour of having migrated for Islam from Makkah to Madina and who was also fortunate to participate in the holy war of Badr, wrote a letter to the disbelievers of Makkah that the holy prophet was preparing to invade Makkah. He dispatched that letter through an old woman. The Messenger of Allah came to know of it through Divine revelation. He sent Ali, Zubair and Miqdad to follow her and informed them that they will see an woman at a place called Rauzah Khakh; and instructed them that the letter which she was carrying should be brought back. Those gentleman rode horses and approached that woman, recovered the letter from her and returned it to the holy prophet. He called for Hatib and inquired about it. Hatib said: “O Messenger of Allah! Please do not act hurriedly in my matter. I am not from the tribe of the Quraish. The migrants who are with you have their relatives in Makkah and they are taking care of their family members and their properties. Since I have no relations with them, I wished that I may do some good to them so that they may take care of my relatives. I did not do this work due to disbelief or blasphemy.”

The holy prophet believed this narration and pardoned him in view of his great sacrifices which testified to his faithfulness.

(Please see Bukhari, Kitabut Tafseer, Suratul- Mumtahinah).

6. Making friendship with the enemies of Islam and Muslims has been termed deviation or going astray which shows the seriousness of the crime. Those Muslims of today who walk over to make the camps of the enemies ignoring the interests of Islam and Muslims must see their faces in the mirror of this ayah.

7. These enemies of Islam are so staunch that if Muslims happen to fall in their trap they would never leave them unpunished but would oppress them in every way besides putting them to mental torture and they will try to make Muslims give up their faith and become disbelievers. Hence, looking to their evil intentions you should not become an easy pray for them.

8. If you have family or blood relations with the disbelievers they must not be dearer than Islam to you. You should never risk the interest of Islam to maintain those relations. These relations will be of no avail to you on the Day of Resurrection. The only thing which will have any weight on that Day will be your sincerity and your sacrifices for Islam.

9. This shows that some people had put Faith (believed) in Ibrahim even before this declaration of “Baraa’at” (disavowal or disassociation or repudiation), and that his companions had furnished the best example.

10. This announcement by Ibrahim and his companions was made after putting forth all the proofs and arguments in favour of Truth. Each and every word of this announcement is full of dislike and disgust and the straightforwardness in which it was made is a very great example of courageous determination.

The aim of pointing to this example is to caution those Muslims who were befriending the disbelievers (polytheist enemies of Islam).

Today too, if the Muslims invite the polytheist people in a straight forward manner to Islamic monotheism and explain the falsehood of polytheism their stand will be correct and many wayward people would find the true path.

11. That is: The prayer of Ibrahim for pardoning his father is no example which you may follow. Quran has prohibited the praying for pardon in favour of polytheists and, regarding Ibrahim’s prayer, ayah 114 of Surah Taubah has clarified that he did so because he had promised his father to do so but when, it became clear to him that he (his father) was an enemy of Allah, he stopped praying for him. For explanation please see Surah Taubah notes 209, 210, 211.

12. Even a great personality like Ibrahim did not have any authority before Allah, who else can ever be great enough to get anyone definitely pardoned?

13. This is the prayer which Ibrahim had recited while announcing his disavowal, (Baraat).

14. That is: Do not give so much allowance to the disbelievers that they may make us their target and then think that had these people been on the right they would not have suffered oppression.

15. Only that fellow can be fortunate enough to follow this good and noble example who hopes to get reward from Allah and who awaits Resurrection. Those who will go after only worldly interests can never be so much courageous.

16. If you turn your face from guidance it will not harm Allah. He is not in need of anything. HE is by himself worthy of all praise.

17. The Instruction prohibiting friendship with the enemies of Islam does not mean that their hatred for Islam would never end. It is possible that they may realise their mistake and Allah Almighty may guide them and they may become your true friends. Accordingly when Makkah was conquered these very enemies of Islam converted to Islam and became friends of Muslims.

18. This ayah clarifies that it is not prohibited to deal gently and equitably with those non-muslims who are not aggressive and who do not show their hatred against Islam and Muslims. They should be treated nicely. Efforts must be made to remove their troubles and calamities just as prophet Yusuf had provided help to general public of Egypt during a draught. They ought to be given benefits from public welfare works and above all their lives, their wealth and their honour should never be encroached upon. Every good, within the limits of Shariat, should be done to them. Similarly justice must be maintained in every deal agreed upon with them. An example of such people, at the times of the revelation of this ayah, was Khuza’aa and other tribes like them, They were not aggressive towards Muslims nor they had helped Quraish in oppressing Muslims.

It should be kept in mind that, in these ayaat, permission is not granted to Muslims to love and befriend and to be intimate with non- Muslims who are not aggressive. But it has been permitted to deal fairly with them. The Muslims are also directed to act justly while dealing with them. Hence it is necessary to keep this instruction in its well-known limits. Other relevant ayah must also be before our eyes, for example, Surah Aal-e- Imran, ayah 28, note 41, Surah Maidah, ayah 51, note 164, Surah Taubah, ayah 23, note 44.

Here there is a guidance for Muslims residing in un-Islamic states as to what should be the manner of their relation with non-Muslims, as to how should they deal with them. Particularly Dawatul Quran 697 S. 60 it should be borne in mind that no excess of any kind is permitted in relation with those non-Muslim whose attitude is not aggressive against Muslims. Of course if any non-Muslim community, as a whole, is aggressive, then the general attitude of the entire community will be kept in mind and not only of some individuals while adopting a policy of behaviour with them.

19. Means also those tribes who have aided Quraish in their hostilities.

20 . It is now clear that it is a big sin to cultivate friendly relations with those elements which have been oppressing Muslims and who have been hostile toward Islam.

21. It was agreed under Hudaibiyah treaty that if a man leaves Makkah and goes to Madina he would be returned (extradited) back to Makkah. Nothing was decided about women. Their problem was also of a different kind. Hence the said articles of treaty could not be applied in cases of women. When women began to convert to Islam and to migrate from Makkah to Medina it posed a problem as to what should be done. It was at this time that Almighty and Omniscient Allah revealed these commandments. This guidance solved the problems of the Muslim migrant women and also fulfilled the demand of justice and fairplay with the disbelievers.

In this connection, first of all it was ordered that Muslim women may be examined to ascertain whether they have converted to Islam sincerely and whether their migration is solely for Allah and His Prophet or they have come to Madina to achieve worldly aim or serve personal interest. If they are sincere Muslims they must not be returned to the disbelievers. But if is otherwise, there is no reason to detain them.

22. That is: It is only Allah WHO knows the condition of hearts and hence HE alone is the knower of the Faith. Your work is to form an opinion on the basis of circumstances and evidences. You are not responsible for more than that.

23. After making necessary inquiries if you find that they are sincere. Muslims then do not return them to the disbelievers but accommodate them in your society.

24. Such Faithful Muslim women must not be returned to disbelievers because neither they are lawful for the disbelievers nor the disbelievers are lawful for them. This commandment in itself is a directive principle whereby neither a Muslim woman can remain in the wedlock of a disbeliever nor a disbeliever has any right to keep such Muslim woman in his wedlock. If the wife accepts Islam and the husband does not convert to Islam it will make them depart from one another and after the lapse of the Iddat duration, the wife will be free to get into another wedlock.

25. Whatever Mehr the disbeliever husbands of these Muslim women had paid may be returned to them. This order was issued in view of the Hudaibiyah Treaty to fulfill the demands of justice. To return such Mehr was the collective responsibility of the Muslims.

26.That is: The Muslims of Madina can marry these migrant Muslim women, provided they enter into wedlock with a new Mehr.

27. That is: The disbeliever women still in your wedlock may be divorced (released). It is recorded in Ahadith that Umar freed two of his wives who had stayed back in Makkah and who had not converted to Islam. He did so after the revelation of this ayat. This is a directive principle according to which if a man has become Muslim and if his wife is still a disbeliever he cannot keep her in his wedlock except that she belongs to the People of the Book (Jew or Cristian). (Please see Surah Maidah, ayah 5). Disbelieving women include polytheist women as well as atheist women.

28. Muslims may demand from the disbelievers the return (repayment) of the Mehrs which were paid by the migrating Muslims to their wives who remained in Makkah and who were discarded (by the Muslim) due to their disbelief. Similarly, the disbelieving husbands (who remained in Makkah) of the Muslim migrating women may ask for (from Muslims) the return of the Mehr which they had paid to their wives who have now become Muslim. This makes the responsibilities in the matter of the return of Mehr equitable between Muslims and Non-Muslims. This arrangement for return of Mehr must be on the community level or the state level.

29. The problem connected with the return of the Muslim migrant women which had arisen consequent upon the Hudaibiyah treaty was thus solved in the form of this Divine ordinance. This Divine decision is based on Allah’s Knowledge and Wisdom. Therefore, now there need not be any kind of quarrel between the parties concerned.

30. If it so happens that a disbelieving wife of a migrant Muslim remains with the disbelievers with whom the treaty is made or if she goes back to Makkah after coming to Madina and the Mehr which is payable to the Dawatul Quran 701 S. 60 converted Muslim is not returned by the disbelievers, what you should do is that when it is your turn and it becomes necessary to return the Mehr of a migrating Muslim woman to the disbelievers, its adjustment should be made in such a way that an amount equal to the Mehr amount due from the disbelievers may be given to the Muslim husband who may be in Madinah.

31.This ayah demands that a pledge (Baiyat) may be taken from those migrant women who were required to be examined so that they may not carry with them those evils of their earlier ignorant society and may keep the new Islamic society clean by purifying themselves. This had particularly become necessary because, unlike other Muslim ladies, they did not get a chance of training themselves in an Islamic society. Moreover, those ladies who had converted to Islam earlier were the forerunners in virtue. Those entering Islam afterwards were not likely to reach the rank of the formers.

This pledge (Baiyat) had to be taken only on the hand of the holy Prophet and, as explained earlier, the directive was issued on a particular occasion to take pledge from the Muslim women. This ayah makes it quite clear that this pledge-taking was reserved only for the prophet. It is ordained: WALAA YAASEENAKA FEE MAAROOF” (they will not disobey you in what is right).Obviously the status of the holy prophet cannot be held by anyone else. Therefore, there is no question of taking a pledge of not indulging in sins etc on the hand of someone else. Hence the system of Peeri Mureedi which has entered in Islam through Tasawwuf (Soofism) according to which a Peer take Baiyat from his Mureed, is but an innovated Bida’at. For further explanation please see Surah Fatha Note. 17.

It is recorded in hadith that while taking pledge from women the holy prophet did not touch their hands but was merely saying that I have obtained pledge from you. (Bukhari, Kitaabul Tafseer).

Refraining from polytheism has been given pre-eminence in this ayah. Under the influence of and illiteracy, polytheism and polytheistic superstitions easily enter female minds. Therefore they should be extra cautions in this matter.

Stealing is more common in women and in order to attract male folk they also indulge in adultery and fornication. Muslim women should be careful not to slip in such great evils.

Once of the forms of infanticide was that they used to kill their children for fear of poverty. Secondly children were being sacrificed on the alters of Devis and Devtas owing to their polytheistic superstitions. Besides, there was a third kind which still prevails in our modern age. It is to strangulate the illegitimate child and threw it away. This is also homicide which is clearly unlawful. To fabricate slander in front of hands and feet means to ascribe one’s offspring to her husband. It means that when she gets pregnant through illegitimate affair she may say that it is her husband’s child.

Not to disobey the prophet in what is just does not mean that the obedience to the prophet is conditioned with ‘just’, because, a prophet never orders which is not just and right. The Holy Quran says: “Atee ur Rasool” (Obey the prophet) without any conditions. Hence there is no reason to mistake it with any condition here. Above an order was issued to refrain from several evils. Now a collective commandment is being issued which includes all matters of obedience and worship which may be ordered by the prophet. Salat, Zakat, Hajj etc everything comes under this just and right.

32. Means pray for the pardon of their earlier mistakes. Such a prayer of the holy prophet was a source of peace of mind and contentment for the faithful Muslim ladies.

33. Means Jews upon whom Allah’s wrath came down. It is forbidden to befriend them Just as it is prohibited to make friendship with disbelievers. In view of these instructions, today, too, the Muslims should be very careful in the matter of having relations with Israel. No friendship should ever be established with them.

34. Just as the disbelievers have no hope of the resurrection of the dead, the jews too, despite having faith in the hereafter, are totally hopeless regarding the certainty of success in the Hereafter because of their misdeeds. They do express hopes and longings but their hearts S. 60 702 Dawatul Quran are turned away from Hereafter and they are fully drowned in world worship. Therefore, rejecting their claim of belief in Hereafter, the holy Quran has declared:

“Say (to them): “If the abode of the Hereafter with Allah is exclusively for you and not for the rest of the mankind (as you claim), then you should long for death, if you are truthful (in your claim).” But they will never desire it (death), on account of (the sins) which their own hands have sent (for the hereafter)—- And Allah is aware of the transgressors.” (Baqarah: 94-95)