The Quran's Stand on Friendship
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
25 February
2022
The
Quran Does Not Prohibit Friendship with Non-Muslims
Main
Points:
1. Quran advises
Muslims not be friends with the members of warring community.
2. Quran does not
forbid friendship with non-warring community.
3. This injunction
is only for emergency situation.
-----
In the holy
Quran there are some verses dealing with friendship with non-Muslims. The
verses prohibit Muslims from having friendship with non-Muslims. This appears
in contrast with the Quran's general stand on relations with non-Muslim
neighbours or treatment of non-Muslims in their day to day interaction.
Here we
should keep it mind that the holy Quran was revealed to the prophet pbuh in a
period of 23 years and during these 23 years, Muslims so many ups and downs.
They saw many wars with the polytheists, Jews and Christians after they
consolidated their position in Madina. During Makkan life Muslims went through
hardships, trials and tribulations and mental and physical torture.
During
their life in Madina, Muslims faced conspiracies from their enemies and had to
fight many battles. War is an emergency situation when the opponents keep
secrecy about their movements and their strategy. So during armed conflicts,
citizens are advised not to divulge their plans and secrets to the members of
the enemy community. Friendship is used as a means of acquiring secret
information about the enemy.
Since the
Muslims were in armed conflict with the polytheists and Jews of Makkah and
adjoining areas, the Quran asks Muslims not to have friendly relations with the
opponents because they were those who had fought with Muslims and had helped
their enemies to drive them out of their homes. It is natural that nobody would
like to have friendship with a community which is bent on causing every kind of
harm. In Makkah and Madina, there were illiterate and ignorant Muslims who did
not have much political maturity and had friendship with the members of the
community at war with Muslims. The holy prophet pbuh was regularly informed of
the conspiracies of the opponents of Islam and also of the hypocrites.
Therefore as a war strategy, the Quran warns Muslims not to have friendship
with those non-Muslims who at war with them and had driven them away from their
homes.
However,
the Quran makes it very clear that Muslims were free to have friendship with
those non-Muslims who did not fight them and did not drive them out of their
homes.
"God
does not forbid you to treat with justice those who did not fight with you on
religious grounds and did not drive you out from your homes. Indeed God knows
those who are just. God forbids you to have friendship with those who fought
you over Deen and drove you out of your home. "(Al Mumtahinan: 7-8)
Just in the
previous verse, the Quran says that Muslims should follow good behaviour
towards the enemies so that their good behaviour may someday turn their foes
into their friends.
"Albeit
you should have good behaviour of those who expect God's blessing and believes
in the Day of Judgment, and if any one who turns away then God is Ghani and
Handed. It is hoped that He may cause friendship between you and your
enemies."(Al
Mumtahinan: 6)
This verse
even hopes that Muslims will someday be in friendly relations with their
enemies because of good behaviour of Muslims.
These
verses forbidding Muslims from having friendship with the polytheists and Jews
only during the period of hostilities and these are not applied to the peace
time. Because in other verses Muslims are enjoined to treat neighbours,
travellers, guests and non-Muslim parents. In these verses the Quran does not
distinguish between Muslim neighbour/traveller etc. and non-Muslim ones.
"So
give the relatives, and the needy traveller his due."(Ar Rum: 38)
During the
life of the prophet pbuh a Jew named Makhreeq had fought on the side of the
Muslims in the battle of Uhud and got martyrdom. The holy prophet pbuh said
that he was the best of the Jews. In the initial stages of Islam a Jew served
as the personal secretary of the holy prophet pbuh. He would write
correspondence in Hebrew and Suryani.
These
examples show that Quran asked Muslims not to have friendship with the enemies
only in the time of emergency as a strategy during war. In modern times also,
the governments do surveillance of communication between citizens with people
of the enemy country because of security reasons. In times of peace people are
free to talk to their friends or relatives in other countries.
The Quran
also allows Muslim men to marry the women of the People of the Book. They are
also not prohibited from doing business or partner in social and cultural
initiatives. In India non-Muslims and Muslims of India have co-operated and
helped each other. During Covid-19 crisis, people of all the communities shed
their religious inhibitions and went overboard to help each other. During the
lockdown a Muslim youth Yaqub I'd not leave his Hindu friend who had contracted
Covid-19 and people on the truck they were travelling had forced him out of the
truck. Yaqub did not leave Amit alone and came down from the truck along with
him. Later Amit died in Yaqub's lap on the road.
Therefore,
the holy Quran's advice to Muslims not to have friendship with the members of
warring community is only for security reasons and not on communal basis. The
Quran in fact wants Muslims to be affectionate towards non-Muslims so that they
can create good rapport with them and form a healthy society.
-----
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/quran-friendship-non-muslims/d/126450
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