The Verses of Jihad in The Quran - Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background - Part 6
By Badruddoja Razvi Misbahi, New Age Islam
29 April 2021
(Translated by New Age Islam)
Explaining Three Verses (9:23, 5:51, 5:57) Out of 26
Verses Presented by Wasim Rizvi in Supreme Court
Main Points Discussed in Part 6
1.
The
Prohibited Act in three verses (9:23, 5:51, 5:57) is Muwalat
2.
Muwalat
is Forbidden but Mu’amalat Is Permissible
3.
Muwalat
and Mu’amalat are two different things and thus not concomitant with each other
4.
An
excerpt from Fatawa Razviyya speaks of impermissibility of Muwalat and
permissibility of Mu’amalat
5.
These
three verses do not forbid peaceful coexistence
(5) “O you who have believed, do not take your fathers
or your brothers as allies if they have preferred disbelief over belief. And
whoever does so among you - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.” (9:23)
(6) “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and
the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever
is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah
guides not the wrongdoing people.” (5:51)
(7) “O you who have believed, take not those who have
taken your religion in ridicule and amusement among the ones who were given the
Scripture before you nor the disbelievers as allies. And fear Allah, if you
should [truly] be believers.” (5:57)
Wasim Rizvi presented these verses too in his petition
and claimed that these verses incite hatred and violence in the country. (May
Allah safeguard us from such misinformation!)
Since the prohibited act (manhi ‘anhu)
mentioned in these three verses is common, we have included these verses
together in this part to avoid the repetition of the answer. In these verses, Allah Almighty has
prohibited the believers from establishing muwalaat (friendship) with
Jews, Christians, infidels, polytheists and apostates and expressed His
displeasure and anger at those who do so with them.
Before dealing with this subject, we want to make it
clear to the anti-Islamic elements that Islam is a natural religion that has
not come to play with the life of human beings. Instead, Islam has come into
existence to make human life progressive, successful and elevate them to the
high rank of perfection. Therefore, Wasim Rizvi and anti-Islamic elements
should know that these verses forbid exhibiting muwalaat (friendship in
matters of religion) to the Jews, Christians, Infidels, polytheists and
apostates but they don’t forbid muamalat with them, that is, they don’t
forbid dealing with them nicely, such as, buying, selling, doing transactions,
establishing peaceful coexistence and sitting together. These verses don’t
forbid developing worldly affairs with them as long as they are not harmful to
one another. Therefore, those who accuse the Quran of inciting hatred and
violence must understand well that Muwalaat and Mu’amalat are two
different things. They are not concomitant with each other. It may be that you
do mu’amalat (worldly affairs) with someone throughout your life, such
as doing the transaction, buying and selling, but you don’t have even a nominal
friendship and relationship with them. It also may be that you have established
friendship, affection and inclination to someone, but you have never made any
transaction and coexistence with them. It has become clear from this difference
that neither friendship is indispensable for mu’amalat nor muwalaat
or friendship for mu’amalat. There is a huge difference between mu’amalat
and mu’amalat. Allah Almighty, in the afore-mentioned verses, has
forbidden muwalat with Jews, Christians, infidels, polytheists and
apostates but He Almighty has not forbidden the believers from establishing mua’amalat,
transaction and peaceful coexistence, with them.
The reason for forbidding muwalat is that it
might be that the Muslims lose their faith by developing excessive friendship
and keeping them in their hearts and falling in love with them. In such a case,
they might give them their religious and national secrets and turn away from
Islam as Wasim Rizvi is a living example of that. It is the result of deep
affection and muwalat towards the anti-Islamic elements that he rebelled
against Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). He has accused the three
caliphs and become apostate to sit in the lap of anti-Islamic elements and
speaking in their favour.
It should be known to the world that Islam does not
forbid promoting national unity and social harmony, spending life peacefully
with the brothers of the homeland, meeting one another’s worldly needs,
interacting with them nicely, doing business or social welfare work with them.
If Islam forbids, it forbids muwalat. This is not only about Islam. Even
the laws of several countries don’t allow friendship with a foreigner to the
extent of revealing national secrets. They don’t allow the citizens to develop a
relationship with any foreigner or enemy to such an extent that they disclose
the military and other secret activities to him and put the lives of the
citizens at risk. If anyone violates such a national law, he is prosecuted
under the provisions of treason and then punished to become a lesson and
admonition for others.
Now we will present some proofs for what we have
discussed above. When the initial verses of Surah Mumtahina were
revealed, for example, “O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and
your enemies as allies” (60:1). The believers exceeded the limits in enmity
with the infidel relatives. Then Allah Almighty revealed the verse, “Allah does
not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not
expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly
toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” (60:8)
The author of Tafsir-e-Abi Saud has
written under the commentary of this verse (60:8) that “Allah does not forbid
you from being righteous and acting justly towards those who have not inflicted
oppression and aggression upon you and who have not expelled you from your
homes” (Tafsir-e-Abi Saud, vol.8, p.238)
Similarly, the author of Tafsir-e-Madarik
writes commenting on this verse (60:8) that “you should respect those who have
not oppressed you and you should treat them with kindness, benevolence and
justice in both action and words” (Tafsir-e-Madarik, vol.3, p.248). After this
verse, Allah Almighty says to differentiate between two types of infidels and
polytheists, “Allah 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 allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is
those who are the wrongdoers.” (60:9)
Now we will quote some excerpts from the book “Fatawa
Razviyyah” authored by Imam Ahmad Raza, as his research is final and the
most authentic for us. In response to the question “what is the meaning of Birr
and Mu’amalat in the verses of Surah Mumtahina?” Ala
Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza says,
“It has become clear from this research that the verse
“la yanhakum...i.e. Allah does not forbid you from being righteous
.....” refers to what is the middle path (awsat) because the highest (A’ala)
category of Muwalat (such as Rukun, Widaad, Ittehad, Inqiyaad and
Tabattul) is forbidden even with those who are Mu’ahidin (the people with
whom there is a treaty of peace) and the lower category of muwalat (such
as mu’amalat and mudarat) is permissible even with those who are ghair-mu’ahidin
(i.e. those with who there is no peace-treaty). The verse (60:8) was revealed
to differentiate [two groups of people]. It has also become clear that in the
verse (60:9) “innama yanhakum i.e. Allah only forbids you from those who
fight you.........” the phrase “La tuwalluhum” refers to the same ‘relationship
and kindness’ (Birr and Sila) so that the difference between two parties can
become clear.
“It is mentioned in Tafsir-e-Ma'alim and
Tafsir-e-Kabir, (translation) “Then Allah mentioned those people with whom
good relationship (sila) is not permissible, as He Almighty says, “Allah
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 allies of
them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the
wrongdoers.” (60:9) (Fatawa Razviyya, vol.14, p.469, published Markaz-e-Ahle
Sunnat Barkate Raza Purbandar Gujrat)
We will now briefly describe the cause of revelation
of the Quranic verses mentioned at the beginning of this part.
Addressing all the believers in verse 23 of Surah At-Tawbah,
it was said that one should not do muwalat with infidels and
polytheists. This verse was revealed about the migrants (muhajirin).
When the conditions in Makkah became very bad, the Companions were
commanded to emigrate. Some people asked why a person could leave his parents,
brothers and sisters, relatives, land, property and home. Thereafter this verse
was revealed, as Tafsir-e-Abi Saud mentions the same thing. (Tafsir Abi
Saud, vol.4, p.54)
When this verse was revealed, the Companions carried
out the command of Allah and His Messenger so strictly that when their
relatives came to them, they would not pay any attention to them, nor would
they stay with them, nor would they spend anything on them. There is another
statement that this verse was revealed about those who returned to Mecca after
apostasy.
In verse 51 of Surah Al-Maidah, the believers
were commanded not to do muwalat (friendship and companionship) with the
Jews and Christians. This was revealed to forbid helping them and asking them
for help and having heartfelt relations with them. This was specifically
revealed during the disputation of Hazrat Ibadah b. Samit, the Companion
of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Abdullah b. Ubayy, the leader of
the hypocrites. However, the ruling of this verse is general as explained in
the books of Tafsir.
Verse 57 of Surah Al-Maidah was revealed about Rufa’ah
bin Zayd and Suwaid bin Harith who first
showed their Islam and then showed hypocrisy (munafaqat). Some Muslims
were fond of developing relationship and friendship despite their hypocrisy.
Therefore this was revealed, as the same thing is mentioned in Tafsir-e-Madarik
(vol. 2, p.290).
(Continuing)
-----
Maulana
Badruddoja Razvi Misbahi, Principal of Madrasa Arabia Ashrafia Zia-ul-Uloom
Khairabad, District Mau, UP (India) is a Sufi-minded, well-mannered, classical
Islamic scholar, an expert teacher, an excellent writer, a good poet and
orator. He has authored numerous books, some of which are as follows: 1)
Fazilat-e-Ramazan, 2) Zad-ul-Haramain, 3) Mukhzin-e-Tib, 4) Tauzeehat-e-Ahsan,
the commentary on the well-known logical
book “Mulla Hasan” 5) Muhazarat fi Halle Qutbi Tasawwurat, 6) Tahzib al-Faraid
commentary on “Sharh al-Aqaid”, 7) Atayib al-Tahani fi Halle Mukhtasar
al-Ma’ani, 8) Commentary on Sahih Muslim
Other Parts of the Articles:
The Verses of Jihad: Meaning, Denotation, Reason of
Revelation and Background- Part 1
The Verses of Jihad: Meaning, Denotation, Reason of
Revelation and Background- Part 2
The Verses of Jihad: Meaning, Denotation, Reason of
Revelation and Background- Part 3
The Verses of Jihad- Meaning, Denotation, Reason of
Revelation and Background- Part 4
The Verses of Jihad in The Quran - Meaning,
Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background - Part 5
URL: https://newageislam.com/debating-islam/the-verses-jihad-quran-meaning,-part-6/d/124754
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