Surah Ale-Imran (The Family Of Imran ) 3 : 118

Overview  (Verses 118 -120)

The Sort of Friends Unbelievers Make
 
Believers, do not take for your intimate friends men other than your own folk. They will spare no effort to corrupt you. They love to see you in distress. Their hatred has already become apparent by [what they say with] their mouths, but what their hearts conceal is even much worse. We have made revelations plain to you, if you will only use your reason. See for yourselves how it is you who love them and they do not love you. You believe in all revelations. When they meet you they say: “We, too, are believers.” But when they find themselves alone, they bite their fingertips with rage against you. Say: ‘Perish in your rage. God is fully aware of what is in the hearts [of people].” When good fortune comes your way, it grieves them; and if evil befalls you, they rejoice. If you persevere and fear God, their machinations cannot harm you in any way. God encompasses all that they do. (Verses 118-20)
 
The picture so drawn in these three verses vividly delineates, with full details, people’s innermost thoughts. It records inner feelings and apparent reactions. It captures every little movement. It is a picture of a certain type of person who can be seen in every age, in every society, professing friendship with the Muslims when the Muslims are strong and victorious. Their claims, however, are belied by their every thought, every feeling and every organ. Muslims may be deceived by them, placing their trust in them when they wish nothing but trouble and confusion for the Muslims and spare no effort to inflict hardships on them. They most determinedly seek to undermine the Muslims, whenever they have a chance to do so, at any moment of day or night.
 
This remarkable picture drawn by the Qur’ān applies, in the first place, to those followers of earlier religions who lived close to the Muslim community in Madinah. It depicts their strong hatred of Islam and the Muslims, as well as their treachery and evil schemes against the new Muslim community. Nonetheless, some Muslims continued to think well of these enemies of God. Such Muslims were very friendly towards them and even passed them information which should have been treated as secret, belonging only to the Muslim community. They developed close friendships and intimacy with them, which meant that they grossly underestimated the consequences of their friendly gestures. The Qur’ān, therefore, issues this warning so as to open the eyes of the Muslim community to the reality of the matter and to make it aware of the machinations of its natural enemies. This warning is not limited to any particular period of history. It applies at all times. It deals with a situation which may exist at any time, as it does indeed in our present time.
 
The Muslims though remain heedless of their Lord’s directive not to develop any intimate friendship with anyone other than their own people. All other people are inferior to the Muslims in their way of life, methods and nature. God tells the Muslims not to make any such people their advisors and confidants. Yet the Muslims do not heed this directive. They continue to refer to such people in every matter and situation and look up to them for guidance in every system, method and philosophy.
 
The Muslims, even nowadays, maintain their friendship with people who reject God and His Messenger. They pay little heed to God’s words which apply to them in the same way as they applied to the first Muslim community: “They love to see you in distress. Their hatred has already become apparent by [what they say with] their mouths, but what their hearts conceal is even much worse.” (Verse 118)
 
God also says to the Muslims: “See for yourselves how it is you who love them and they do not love you. You believe in all revelations. When they meet you they say: ‘We, too, are believers.’ But when they find themselves alone, they bite their fingertips with rage against you.” (Verse 119) God also points out to the Muslim community the true feelings of such people: “When good fortune comes your way, it grieves them; and if evil befalls you, they rejoice.” (Verse 120)
 
Time after time we go through bitter experiences but none of these seem to wake us up. Time after time we discover the unbelievers’ evil intentions, cleverly masked, but we do not seem to learn our lesson. Yet they make many slips of the tongue which reveal their deep hatred of Islam. This which cannot be dispelled by any measure of friendliness shown to them by the Muslims or by the tolerance Muslims are taught by their faith. But we nevertheless open our hearts to them and treat them as close friends throughout life. Our courtesy, or indeed our spiritual defeat, reaches such proportions that we even avoid mentioning our faith in front of them. We refrain from taking Islam for our way of life and we distort our own history so as to avoid any mention of past conflicts between our forefathers and those enemies who work for our ruin. It is only to be expected then that we receive the punishment of those who disobey God. It is only natural that we find ourselves weak, defenceless and humiliated, suffering the distress which they love to see us in, and weakened by the corruption they spare no effort to spread among us.
 
God’s revelations teach us, as they taught the first Muslim community, how to forestall the plots of the unbelievers, repel the harm they try to cause us and avoid the evil intentions they harbour against us and which they betray by what they say: “If you persevere and fear God, their machinations cannot harm you in any way. God encompasses all that they do.” (Verse 120) The message is clear. We have to equip ourselves with perseverance and resolve and stand up to their might if they are powerful, and to their machinations and designs if they try to deceive us and sow division in our ranks. It is such perseverance and resolve which will set us on the road to success. The other requirement is to fear God alone and to watch Him alone. It is through this fear of God that our hearts will establish our bond with Him, seeking no other bond and making no ties with anyone except on the basis of God’s Divine method. When a heart establishes its bond with God, it will look down upon every power other than His.
 
This, then, is the way: perseverance and fear of God, coupled with steadfastness and maintenance of the bond with God. Throughout their history, the Muslims have always been able to raise their heads high, achieve victory, repel the machinations of their enemies and achieve supremacy only when they fostered their bond with God alone and implemented His method in their lives. Conversely when the Muslims revive their bonds with their natural enemies who try in public and in private to suppress their faith, and when the Muslims listen to their advice and take friends, assistants and advisors from among them, then they always bring upon themselves defeat and subjugation. The unbelievers gain the upper hand and the Muslims are left humiliated, feeling regret when regret is of no use. History testifies to the fact that God’s words remain always true and His law is always operative. Anyone who overlooks God’s law, will be made to experience only humiliation and defeat.
 
Thus this passage ends, bringing the first section of the sūrah to its conclusion. The lesson has been driven home. We stand at the point which separates the Muslims from their enemies; a separation which is total, complete and final.
 
As we bring our own commentary on this passage to an end, we should note that Islam meets all this hostility with tolerance. It simply commands the Muslims not to take such people as their intimate friends. It does not, however, encourage a policy of measure for measure with the unbelievers. It does not require them to return the unbelievers’ hate, grudges and evil schemes with similar feelings and attitudes. It seeks only to provide protection for the Muslim community. It simply warns the Muslims of the danger presented by other people.
 
A Muslim treats all people with the tolerance characteristic of Islam. He is motivated by his love to do good to all mankind. He tries to foil the evil schemes of others against him, but he does not scheme against anyone. He does not harbour grudges although he takes care not to fall victim to other people’s grudges. Only when a Muslim faces aggression which aims to turn him away from his faith and from following and implementing the method of life God has laid down, is he required to fight back and break down all barriers which prevent people from following Divine guidance and implementing the Divine law. His fight is a struggle for the cause of God. It is not a fight in pursuit of revenge. He fights because he loves what is good for mankind, not because he nurses a grudge against those who have caused him harm. He struggles in order to remove the barriers which prevent the goodness of Islam from reaching mankind, not to win power and dominion over others. His aim is to implement the perfect system under which all mankind enjoy justice and peace. He is not after raising any national banner or building any empire.
 
Many a statement in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah confirm this fact. Furthermore, the history of the first Muslim community proves this.
 
This method of life is absolutely good. Only the enemies of mankind try to turn them away from it. It is those enemies who must be chased and kicked out of every position of leadership they occupy. This is the duty God imposes on the Muslim community. It once fulfilled it as it should be fulfilled. It is called upon to fulfil it all the time. Struggle under this banner and for the cause of God will continue until the Day of Judgement.