Surah al-Ma'idah (The Table) 5 : 51

Overview (Verse 51)
 
This passage confirms that not all the verses of this sūrah were revealed after Sūrah 48, The Conquest, or al-Fatĥ, which was revealed after the peace agreement signed at al-Ĥudaibiyah between the Muslims and the unbelievers of the Quraysh in the sixth year of the Islamic calendar. Indeed, several passages in this sūrah were, most probably, revealed well before that, perhaps before the evacuation from Madinah of the Jewish tribe of the Qurayżah in the fourth year, if not even earlier, i.e. before the evacuation of the al-Nađīr and Qaynuqā` Jews. A number of verses in this sūrah refer to events and situations that took place within the Muslim community in Madinah as also the circumstances and attitudes adopted by the Jews and hypocrites. These could not have taken place after the power of the Jews was finally broken with the evacuation of the Qurayżah.
 
We have, for example, a clear warning against taking the Jews and the Christians as allies. The warning states that whoever establishes an alliance with them actually belongs to them. There is another reference to the fact that those who were sick at heart maintained an alliance with them protesting that they feared a change of fortune. The Muslims are warned against maintaining an alliance with those who mock their faith. There is a clear reference to the fact that the Madinah Jews did mock the Muslims’ prayer, making a jest of it. None of this could have happened unless the Jews enjoyed a degree of power and influence in Madinah. Otherwise, there would have been no call for such a clear warning and a threat. Nor would there be any need for exposing the true nature of the Jews, condemning them and denouncing their scheming in such a manner which uses a variety of styles and expressions.
 
Some reports suggest that certain verses in this passage directly relate to specific events. Some referring to the confrontation with the Jewish Qaynuqā` tribe which followed the Battle of Badr. At that time, `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy was keen to demonstrate his special relationship with the Jews, and declared, “I am a man who fears a change of fortune, and, therefore, I will not disown my alliances.” Even without these reports, an objective study of these statements in relation to the events that took place in Madinah at the time of the Prophet is sufficient to support our view concerning its time of revelation.
 
Verses in this passage provide a few glimpses of the Qur’ānic method in educating the Muslim community and preparing it to assume the role God assigned to it. They also explain some of the constituent elements in this method as well as a few principles Islam likes to see established in the minds of individual Muslims as well as in the Muslim community. These elements and principles are constant and apply to all generations, since they influence the very making of the Muslim individual and the Muslim community.
 
The cornerstone of the Qur’ānic method of moulding a true Muslim is to instil in him that his allegiance must be given, pure and total, to his Lord, God’s Messenger, his faith, and the Islamic community. This is coupled with the need to instil in one’s consciousness the complete distinction between the Islamic camp and any camp that does not raise God’s banner, follow God’s Messenger or belong to God’s party. The Muslim is also to be made to feel that he is chosen by God to be a means of accomplishing His will in human life and history. Such a choice, with all its attending duties, is a demonstration of God’s limitless bounty which He bestows on whom He wills. To be in alliance with a community other than that of the Muslims is to turn away from God’s faith and reject His choice and bounty. This message is clearly given in several places in the forthcoming passage, such as verses 51 and 54-6.
 
The Qur’ān also cultivates a Muslim’s understanding of the true nature of his enemies and the war they wage against him. It is a battle of faith since faith is the permanent issue between a Muslim and all his enemies. They take a hostile attitude towards him primarily on account of his faith and because they have deviated from Divine faith. Hence, they hate everyone who follows it with diligence and a clear conscience: “Say: People of earlier revelations! Do you find fault with us for any reason other than that we believe in God [alone], and in that which has been revealed to us as well as that which has been revealed previously, while most of you are transgressors?” (Verse 59) This is, indeed, the crux of the matter.
 
This method and its essential directives are of great importance. To be totally dedicated to God and His Messenger, to faith and the Muslim community and to know the true nature of the battle and the enemies are conditions of vital importance in the fulfilment of the conditions of true faith. They are also a prerequisite in the moulding of a true Muslim and the organisation of the Muslim community. Those who claim to be advocates of this faith do not truly believe in it and are not able to accomplish anything of value on earth unless they come to feel that they are a community apart. They are different from all other communities and camps except for those who raise the same Islamic banner, dedicate their total allegiance to God and His Messenger and have a leadership who shares their belief in God and His Messenger. They will also have to know the true nature of their enemies and their motives, and the nature of the battle they have to fight against them. They also need to know that all their enemies are in actual alliance against them and that they patronise one another in fighting the Muslim community and the Islamic faith.
 
In this passage, we are not only told of the true motives of the Muslim community’s enemies. Instead, the very nature of those enemies and the extent of their transgression are also exposed so that every Muslim is aware of whom he fights and is reassured as to the justice and the inevitability of this fight. Verses 51, 57, 58, 61 and 64 describe these enemies very clearly, highlighting their main characteristics. Those who take such an attitude towards the Muslim community, mock at its faith and prayer and make a jest of them, must be repelled by every Muslim.
 
This passage also defines the outcome of this battle and points out the value of faith in the destiny of communities in this life as well as in the life to come: “Those who ally themselves with God and His Messenger and the believers (will find that) the party of God will be victorious. (Verse 56) “If only the people of earlier revelations would believe and be God-fearing, We should indeed efface their [past] bad deeds, and bring them into gardens of bliss. If they would observe the Torah and the Gospel and all that has been revealed to them by their Lord, they would indeed be given abundance from above and from beneath.” (Verses 65-6)
 
The passage also tells us of the qualities that must be present in a Muslim whom God chooses to be an advocate of His faith, bestowing on him by such choice a favour that is great indeed: “Believers, if you renounce your faith, God will bring forth (in your stead) people whom He loves and who love Him, humble towards the believers, proud towards the unbelievers. They will strive hard for God’s cause and will not fear to be censured by any critic. Such is God’s favour which He grants to whom He wills. God encompasses all and knows all.” (Verse 54)
 
All these statements represent aspects of the Qur’ānic method of moulding the Muslim individual and the Muslim community. It is a method that lays down the best of foundations.
 
Alliances That Cannot Survive
 
Believers, do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies. They are allies of one another. Whoever of you allies himself with them is indeed one of them. God does not bestow His guidance on the wrongdoers. Yet you see those who are sick at heart rush to their defence, saying, “We fear lest a change of fortune should befall us.” God may well bring about victory (for believers) or some other event of His own making, and those (waverers) will terribly regret the thought they had secretly harboured within themselves. The believers will say: ‘Are these the self-same people who swore by God their most solemn oaths that they were with you?” All their works are in vain and they will lose all. (Verses 51-3)
 
It is most important to begin by defining the meaning of the alliance the believers are forbidden by God to maintain with the Jews and Christians. It is to establish a relationship of mutual support so as to forge one block with them. It has nothing to do with following their faith. It is extremely unlikely that we find among Muslims anyone who may be inclined to follow the Jewish or Christian faith. It is rather the type of alliance involving mutual help that was unclear to some Muslims who initially thought it permissible. It was a fact of life that there were mutual ties and interests between the Arabs in Madinah and groups of Jews. These developed into alliances between the two prior to Islam and continued in the early days after most Arabs in Madinah adopted Islam. Later, God ordered the Muslims not to enter into such alliances with the Jews of Madinah.
 
The term “alliance”, or its Arabic equivalent walā’, is well known and has a precise meaning in Islamic terminology. It occurs in the context of the relationship that the Muslims in Madinah were required to have with Muslims who did not migrate to the land of Islam. God says in the Qur’ān: “You have no alliance with them until they have emigrated.” (8: 72) It is obvious that what is meant here is not support in faith, because every Muslim is a supporter in faith to every other Muslim in all situations. The reference here is to the sort of alliance and patronage that requires mutual cooperation and military assistance. This latter relationship does not exist between Muslims in the land of Islam and those who do not join them in their land. It is this very sort of relationship which these verses block between believers and Jews and Christians in any situation, although it used to exist between them and the Jews in the early days of Islam in Madinah.
 
Islam insists that its followers maintain an attitude of maximum tolerance towards the people of earlier revelations. To take them as allies and patrons, however, is a different matter altogether. The two may be confused by those who have not formulated a clear concept of the essence of the Islamic faith and its role as a practical and methodical movement aiming to establish a particular order in life according to the unique Islamic concept. As such, Islam clashes with other concepts and situations as it conflicts with people’s desires, and hence their deviation and transgression. Thus, it inevitably finds itself engaged in a necessary struggle to establish the new situation.
 
Those who are thus confused lack a clear vision of the true nature of this faith and a proper understanding of the nature of the battle and the attitude adopted by the people of other religions concerning it. They overlook the clear Qur’ānic directives relating to it. In their minds, the emphasis Islam places on extending a tolerant attitude towards the people of earlier revelations and the need to treat them with kindness in the Muslim community in which they live, enjoying all their rights, is, thus, confused with the alliance that is owed by every Muslim to God, His Messenger and the Muslim community. They forget what the Qur’ān asserts of the people of earlier revelations, of their being allied one with another in fighting the Muslim community. This is their constant attitude. They are hostile to the Muslims because of their faith. They will not be happy with a Muslim unless he abandons his religion and follows theirs. Hence, they persist with their fight with Islam and the Muslim community. Hostility may be clear in what they may say, but what their hearts conceal is much worse.
 
A Muslim is required to show tolerance in dealing with the people of earlier revelations, but he is forbidden to have a relationship of alliance or patronage with them. His path to establish his religion and implement his unique system cannot join with theirs. No matter how kind he is to them, they will never be happy to implement his faith and establish his system. Nor will it stop them from entering other alliances to scheme against and fight the Muslims. It is too naïve to think that we and they can ever join forces to support religion in general against unbelievers and atheists. For whenever the fight is against Muslims, they join forces with the unbelievers and atheists.
 
The naïve among us tend to overlook this truth when we think that we can establish an alliance with the people of earlier revelations, i.e. the Christians and Jews, in order to check the advance of materialism and atheism, since we are all people of faith. We forget the teachings of the Qur’ān and the lessons of history. Those very people of earlier revelations used to say to the pagan Arabs that they were “better guided than the believers”. (4: 51) It is they who stirred the unbelievers and mobilised them into launching a determined attack against the Muslim community in Madinah. Those people of earlier revelations were the ones who launched the Crusades against the land of Islam, which extended over a period of 200 years. It is they who organised the Spanish Inquisition. In recent history, they turned the Muslim Arabs of Palestine out of their land in order to give it to the Jews. In doing so, they were in alliance with atheism and materialism. The same people of earlier revelations persecuted th e Muslims in Abyssinia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Algeria. They further collaborated with atheism, materialism and polytheism in the persecution of Muslims in Yugoslavia, China, Turkistan, India and in many other places.
 
Nevertheless, totally oblivious to such definitive Qur’ānic statements, some of us may entertain thoughts that we can establish a relationship of alliance or patronage with these people of earlier revelations in order to repel the attacks of atheist materialism on religion. Such people do not read the Qur’ān. If they do, they confuse Islam’s attitude of tolerance with the forging of an alliance with such people. It is against this that Islam warns the Muslims. Such people do not actually live Islam as the only faith acceptable to God or as an active movement seeking to establish a new order on earth. This new order will inevitably stand up to the hostility of today’s people of earlier revelations, just as it repelled it in the past. This positive attitude cannot change since it is the only natural one. We, therefore, leave such people in their confusion to reflect on this clear Qur’ānic directive: “Believers, do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies. They are allies of one another. Whoever of you allies himself with them is indeed one of them. God does not bestow His guidance on the wrongdoers.” (Verse 51)
 
Distinctive Values of the Muslim Community
 
In the first instance, this verse is an address to the Muslim community in Madinah. It is at the same time directed to every Muslim community which comes into existence in any part of the world at any point in time. Its message is meant for every group that may be described as “believers”. The particular occasion which necessitated this address was the need for the Muslims in Madinah to have a clearer view of the ties of allegiance which would mould them into a distinct community, totally separate from the people of earlier revelations, especially the Jews. There were ties of alliance, financial dealings, neighbourliness, friendship, etc. All this was natural in the light of the historical, economical, and social conditions which prevailed in Madinah prior to the advent of Islam. This situation, however, allowed the Jews to engage in their scheming against Islam and its followers, as exposed in many Qur’ānic statements, some of which we discussed in the three earlier volumes of this work. The present passage though provides an opportunity to discuss other aspects of this scenario.
 
As Muslims engage in a fight to establish their new system as a living reality, the Qur’ān provides them with the necessary concept to create, in their subconscious, a sense of distinction between them and all those who do not belong to their community. This distinction does not preclude tolerance and kind treatment; for these come naturally to a Muslim. It only precludes a relationship of alliance, of the sort a Muslim owes only to God, His Messenger and the community of believers. All Muslims, in all generations, have this awareness and feel this distinction: “Believers, do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies. They are allies of one another.” (Verse 51)
 
The fact that they are allies of one another has nothing to do with any particular period of time because it is rooted in the nature of things. They have never been allies with the Muslim community in any land or in any period of history. One generation succeeded another, confirming the truth of this accurate statement. Ever since their collaboration in fighting the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him) and the Muslim community in Madinah, they have maintained their own alliance in all parts of the world at all times. Never was there any exception to this rule. Never did this planet witness anything other than that stated in the Qur’ān as a universal fact. In the original Arabic text the mode of expression selected is the one which is normally used to state permanent facts.
 
As this is a permanent fact, its consequences are clearly stated. Since the Jews and the Christians are allies of one another, they can only be patronised by someone of their own kind. If someone from the Islamic camp establishes an alliance with them, he actually removes himself from the Muslim camp, abandons the basic quality of Islam and joins the other camp. For this is the natural and practical result: “Whoever of you allies himself with them is indeed one of them.” (Verse 51) He, thus, wrongs himself and wrongs the Divine faith of the Muslim community. Because of his wrongdoing, God puts him in the same group with the Jews and Christians to whom he has pledged his support and made himself an ally. God neither guides him to the truth nor returns him to the Muslim ranks: “God does not bestow His guidance on the wrongdoers.” (Verse 51)
 
This statement represents a very stern warning to the Muslim community in Madinah. Stern it certainly is, but not exaggerated. It simply describes the reality as it is. It is not possible for a Muslim to ally himself with the Jews and Christians and still retain his faith as someone who truly submits himself to God. He simply cannot keep his membership of the Muslim community which acknowledges alliances only with God and His Messenger, and with those who believe.
 
It is not possible for a Muslim to adopt a “wet” attitude towards the concept of complete distinction between himself and the Muslim community on the one side, and those who follow a system or raise a banner other than that of Islam on the other. If a Muslim does so then he is no longer able to make any contribution or be of any value to the overall Islamic movement, whose first and most essential goal is the establishment of a unique system based on a truly unique concept.
 
A Muslim believes, with an absolute certainty which admits no hesitation or wavering, that since the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him) has conveyed his message to mankind, his faith is the only one acceptable to God. He believes that the system God required him to adopt as the basis of life is a unique system and cannot be replaced or substituted by another. It is the only one that can realise the full potential of human life. The only way for a Muslim to earn God’s forgiveness and acceptance is to exert his maximum effort in establishing both the ideological and social aspects of this system, changing no part of it, however small, and mixing it with no other system, be it religious, social or legal. The only exception is made in the case of what God has chosen to retain of earlier legislation and revelation, incorporating them as He did into the Islamic system.
 
When a Muslim believes in all this with absolute certainty, he actually has the right motivation to work for the establishment of the system God has chosen for human life, knowing what that involves of hard struggle and pain that often goes beyond what man can normally bear. He also knows that he has to encounter difficult impediments, determined resistance and unending plots. Otherwise, what need is there to go to such trouble if ignorant systems, whether polytheistic, atheistic or based on deviant doctrines, can be made suitable substitutes? Why do we need to trouble ourselves in establishing the Islamic system if the differences between it and the systems of people of earlier revelations or other people are minor, cosmetic or easily ironed out? , Those who try to advocate a less decisive distinction in the name of tolerance and establishing a meeting ground between the followers of Divine faiths are actually mistaken in their concept of faith and their concept of tolerance. The true faith acceptable to God is the final version of His message to mankind. Tolerance remains in the field of personal relations and has nothing to do with ideological concepts or with the social system. These people try to weaken a Muslim’s conviction that God does not accept any faith other than that of Islam, which is based on total submission to God alone. They also try to weaken his belief that it is his responsibility to establish the Divine system of Islam and to accept no substitute or amendment to it, however minor. Such a firm conviction is established in a Muslim’s mind by Qur’ānic statements such as these: “The only true faith acceptable to God is [man’s] self-surrender to Him.” (3: 19) “He who seeks a religion other than self-surrender to God, it will not be accepted from him.” (3: 85) “Beware of them lest they tempt you away from any part of what God has revealed to you.” (Verse 49) “Believers, do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies. They are allies of one another Whoever of you allies himself with them is indeed one of them.” (Verse 51) It is the Qur’ān which has the final say. A Muslim should pay no heed to the attempts of those who try to weaken his resolve or water down his firm beliefs.
 
The Best Insurance for the Future
 
The Qur’ān describes the conditions which prevailed in Madinah, and against which it warns the Muslims: “Yet you see those who are sick at heart rush to their defence, saying, We fear lest a change of fortune should befall us.” (Verse 52)
 
A report by `Aţiyyah ibn Sa ‘d mentions that `Ubādah ibn al-Şāmit, a leading figure of the Anşār from the tribe of the Khazraj, came to the Prophet and said: “Messenger of God. I have a large number of Jewish allies and I disown all alliances with the Jews seeking only the patronage of God and His Messenger.” `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy (the chief hypocrite in Madinah) said: “I am a man who fears changes of fortune. I do not disown my alliances.” God’s Messenger [peace be upon him] said to `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy: “Abū al-Ĥubāb, the alliance with the Jews which you seem to value more highly than `Ubādah ibn al-Şāmit is left up to you, but not up to him.” He said, “I accept.” In this respect, then, God revealed the Qur’ānic verse: “Believers, do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies.” (Verse 51)
 
Another report by al-Zuhrī mentions that after the Battle of Badr in which the Muslims achieved a resounding victory, the Muslims said to their Jewish allies: “You had better embrace Islam before God punishes you with a defeat like the one that befell the idolaters in Badr.” A Jew called Mālik ibn al-Şayf said: “Do not be deluded by the fact that you could defeat a group of the Quraysh who have no knowledge of warfare. If we resolve to collaborate against you, you will have no power to stand up to us.” `Ubādah ibn al-Şāmit said: “Messenger of God, my Jewish allies have been numerous, well-armed, and very mighty. Nevertheless, I disown all alliances with the Jews to pledge allegiance only to God and His Messenger.” `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy said: “But I do not disown my alliance with the Jews. I am a man who needs them.” God’s Messenger, [peace be upon him] said to him: “Abū al-Ĥubāb, your Jewish alliance which you value much more highly than `Ubadāh ibn al-Şāmit is given to you as a privilege, but not to him.” He said: “I accept.”
 
Muĥammad ibn Isĥāq reports: The first Jewish tribe to violate their treaty with God’s Messenger were the Banū Qaynuqā`. It is reported that God’s Messenger lay siege to them until they submitted themselves to his rule. `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy went to him then and said: “Muĥammad, be kind to my allies.” The Prophet did not answer him immediately, so he said again: “Muĥammad, be kind to my allies.” The Prophet turned away from him, and so he put his hand inside the Prophet’s body armour, but the Prophet told him to let go. The Prophet was angry and it appeared in his face. He said to `Abdullāh: “What are you doing? Let me go!” `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy said: “By God I will not let you go until you are kind to my allies.” There are four hundred unarmoured and three hundred with armour, and they have protected me from all people and you want to get them all in one morning? I am a man who fears changes of fortunes.” The Prophet said to him: “They are yours.”
 
Muĥammad ibn Isĥāq also reports: When the Jewish tribe of Qaynuqā` fought against God’s Messenger, `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy took their case and defended them. On the other hand, `Ubādah ibn al-Şāmit, who had the same alliance with them as that of `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy, went to the Prophet and disowned them. He said: “Messenger of God, I release myself from their alliance and pledge allegiance only to God, His Messenger and the believers. I have no need for an alliance with unbelievers.” It is concerning him and `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy that verses 51-6 of Sūrah 5, The Repast, were revealed.
 
Imām Ahmad reports on the authority of Usāmah ibn Zayd, a young Companion of the Prophet: “I went with God’s Messenger [peace be upon him] to visit `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy, who was ill. The Prophet said to him (during the conversation): “I used to counsel you against loving the Jews.” `Abdullāh said: “As`ad ibn Zurārah [one of the earliest people from Madinah to embrace Islam] used to hate them and he died.”
 
Taken together, these reports give us a clear idea of the situation in the Muslim community of Madinah, the relations inherited from pre-Islamic days and the concepts that were totally clarified about the sort of ties which may and may not exist between the Muslim community and the Jews. It is noteworthy that all these reports speak of the Jews and none of them mention the Christians. Nevertheless, the Qur’ānic verse speaks of both Jews and Christians because it seeks to establish a permanent concept about the ties and situations which could prevail between the Muslim community and other communities, whether they followed earlier revelations or were non-believers, as will be mentioned later in this passage.
 
The Qur’ān also refers later in this sūrah to the differences between the attitudes of the Jews and Christians towards the Muslim community at the time of the Prophet: “You will find that of all people, the most hostile to the believers are the Jews and those who associate partners with God, and the closest friends are those who say: We are Christians.” (Verse 82) Nevertheless, despite the differentiation, the Qur’ān equates the Jews and the Christians at this point and equates both groups with the non-believers in a later verse with regard to the question of alliance and patronage. This is due to the fact that this question relates to a permanent principle which states that a Muslim may not have an alliance except with another Muslim. The only patrons for the Muslim are God, His Messenger and the Muslim community. Beyond these, all sects and groups are the same, although they may adopt different attitudes towards the Muslims in different situations.
 
When God laid down this uncompromising and decisive principle for the Muslim community, He confirmed it on the basis of His own knowledge which encompassed all time, not only that particular period during the lifetime of His Messenger and its special circumstances. Later events of history have revealed that the hostility of the Christians to this religion and to the Muslim community in most parts of the world has not been less than the hostility of the Jews. If we single out the attitude of the Arab Christians and the Christians of Egypt in extending a warm welcome to Islam, we find that, ever since it came into contact with Islam, the wider Christian area in the West has always harboured grudges and hatred and waged a determined war against it. These cannot be described as different from what the Jews harbour against Islam and the war they have waged against it throughout history. Even Abyssinia, whose ruler had received well the Muslims who emigrated to his land at the time of the Prophet, is now as hostile to Islam and Muslims as the Jews.
 
Since God knew all this in advance, He laid down this general principle, regardless of the particular circumstances pertaining at the time of the Qur’ānic revelations or any other particular circumstances which may exist at any time in history.
 
Islam and those who claim to be its followers, highly questionable as their claim may be, continue to be at the receiving end of an unabating war launched against them and their faith by Jews and Christians all over the globe. This is the practical confirmation of what God says: “They are allies of one another.” (Verse 51) Any Muslim who respects his intelligence, should pay heed to His Lord’s advice, or indeed His clear command, implementing His final decision to establish a complete distinction between those who are in alliance with God and His Messenger and those who raise a different banner.
 
Islam requires every Muslim to establish his ties with all people on the basis of faith. To a Muslim, alliance or hostility can only be in relation to faith. Hence, alliance and patronage cannot exist between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, since they cannot be allies in faith. Not even against atheism can such an alliance be forged, as imagined by some of us who either do not read the Qur’ān or who are too naïve in outlook. How can a Muslim and a non-Muslim be allies when there is no common ground between them?