Friendship with disbelievers, who are not the enemies, allowed, Marriages between believers and disbelievers treated as dissolved, Pledge from believer women to be accepted, Only the disbelievers despair about those in the graves (i.e., the dead).

Al-Mumtahanah Verses 7 - 13

عَسَى اللَّهُ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ عَادَيْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ مَوَدَّةً وَاللَّهُ قَدِيرٌ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“Maybe that God will cause friendship between you and those whom ye take to be your enemies1among them, and God is All- Powerful; and God is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (60:7)

لَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُمْ مِنْ دِيَارِكُمْ أَنْ تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ

“Forbiddeth not God unto you regarding those who have not made war upon you in the matter of (your) religion, and drove you not out of your homes, that ye show them kindness and be just unto them; Verily God loveth the just ones2.” (60:8)

إِنَّمَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ قَاتَلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَأَخْرَجُوكُمْ مِنْ دِيَارِكُمْ وَظَاهَرُوا عَلَىٰ إِخْرَاجِكُمْ أَنْ تَوَلَّوْهُمْ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ

“Only doth God forbid you regarding those who made war upon you in the matter of (your) religion, and drove you out of your homes and aided in your expulsion, that ye make friends of them; and whosoever maketh friends of them, these are the unjust ones3.” (60:9)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا جَاءَكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ مُهَاجِرَاتٍ فَامْتَحِنُوهُنَّ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِيمَانِهِنَّ فَإِنْ عَلِمْتُمُوهُنَّ مُؤْمِنَاتٍ فَلَا تَرْجِعُوهُنَّ إِلَى الْكُفَّارِ لَا هُنَّ حِلٌّ لَهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُنَّ وَآتُوهُمْ مَا أَنْفَقُوا وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ تَنْكِحُوهُنَّ إِذَا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ وَلَا تُمْسِكُوا بِعِصَمِ الْكَوَافِرِ وَاسْأَلُوا مَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ وَلْيَسْأَلُوا مَا أَنْفَقُوا ذَٰلِكُمْ حُكْمُ اللَّهِ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

“‘O’ ye who believe! When come unto you believing women4refugees, then ye examine them; God knoweth best their faith; and if ye find them to be believing women, return ye not them unto the disbelievers; neither these women are lawful for them, nor are those (men) lawful for them; and give them what they have spent, and no blame be on you in marrying them when ye pay them their dowries; and hold ye not the ties of marriage5to the disbelieving women, demand ye for what ye have spent, and let them demand for what they have spent; This is the decree of God; He enforceth (it) among you; and God is All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (60:10)

وَإِنْ فَاتَكُمْ شَيْءٌ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُمْ إِلَى الْكُفَّارِ فَعَاقَبْتُمْ فَآتُوا الَّذِينَ ذَهَبَتْ أَزْوَاجُهُمْ مِثْلَ مَا أَنْفَقُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي أَنْتُمْ بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ

“And if any of your wives passeth away from you unto the disbelievers and thereafter ye have your turn (of triumph over the disbelievers) then give unto those whose wives have gone away the like of what they have spent; and fear ye (the wrath of) God in Whom ye believe6.” (60:11)

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ يُبَايِعْنَكَ عَلَىٰ أَنْ لَا يُشْرِكْنَ بِاللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَسْرِقْنَ وَلَا يَزْنِينَ وَلَا يَقْتُلْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ وَلَا يَأْتِينَ بِبُهْتَانٍ يَفْتَرِينَهُ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِنَّ وَأَرْجُلِهِنَّ وَلَا يَعْصِينَكَ فِي مَعْرُوفٍ ۙ فَبَايِعْهُنَّ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُنَّ اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“‘O’ (Our) Prophet (Muhammad!) when come unto thee believer women pledging that they will associate not aught with God, and they will steal not, and they will commit not adultery and kill7not their children, and they will utter not slander, nor utter any falsehood which they had forged themselves between their hands8and their feet9and will not disobey thee in what is fair, then accept thou their pledge, and ask forgiveness for them from God; Verily God is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (60:12)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَوَلَّوْا قَوْمًا غَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ قَدْ يَئِسُوا مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ كَمَا يَئِسَ الْكُفَّارُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْقُبُورِ

“‘O’ ye those who believe! Make ye not friends with a people with whom God is wrath; indeed despair they of their hereafter, as the disbelievers despair of those in the graves10.” (60:13)

Commentary

Verse 8-9

These two verses lay stress on the ‘clear and unmistakable language the rule about the kindness and equity, Muslims have been ordained by Islam, towards the non-Muslims, excluding the rampantly aggressive and actively hostile ones, who should naturally be dealt with duly. It is a pity that in spite of such a clear ordinance of Islam, not only to avoid any hostility with their peaceful neighbours of the other faiths, i.e., the disbelievers in God, but also to be kind and equitable to them enjoining equity, that the Christian missionaries do not abstain from fabricating disgraceful libels to prevent people from embracing Islam by poisoning their minds against it.

Islam is not against Muslims extending their generosity and kindness to non-Muslims who are not violent. (A.P.)

Verse 10

It was one of the terms of the treaty of Hudaibiyya that if any Muslim goes away from Mecca to Madina, he must be restored to the Meccans and if any Muslim from Madina goes away to Mecca, the Meccans would not return him to Madina. The Holy Prophet and the Muslims were still at Hudaibiyya when a party of Muslims from Mecca came to Hudaibiyya and embracing Islam joined the ranks of the Muslims and among them was also ‘Saba’ daughter of Harith who had embraced Islam. Her husband came and wanted his wife to be restored to him - quoting the condition of the truce. The Messenger Angel Gabriel arrived anti conveyed this verse saying that the condition applied only to males and not to females. But it is left to know and appreciate the equity and the fair play Islam stresses upon, through this verse so that women might not take advantage of this exception to the terms of the treaty and desert their lawful husbands at Mecca for some selfish reasons and come away to the Muslims under the false plea of embracing Islam.

Islam wanted every woman to be individually examined as to her actual belief and to accept each one on the exclusive merit of the bonafide of her faith and not for any other reason, and even when a woman, is proved to have sincerely embraced Islam, the dower amount to be paid to her non-Muslim husband after which she was free from the wedlock and at liberty to marry another.

As regards the holding of the tie of marriage with the disbeliever women -mentioned here - and the ordinance 5:5 relates of ‘Nikha al-Munqate’ - Temporary marriage ‘Muta’ and here the ordinance is regarding the permanent tie of a wedlock (‘Nika al-Daa’imi’). For details refer to ‘Fiqh’.

The last portion of the verse refers to a circumstantial arrangement after the Treaty of Hudaibiyya. (A.P.)

Thus, Islam recognises the change of faith, as one of the means of separation - for details refer to ‘Fiqh.’ (A.P.)

Verse 11

Note the equity maintained in regard to the compensation to the disbeliever husbands of the believer women in spite of the men being the sworn enemies of Islam and the Muslims.

Verse 12

This verse gives in a nutshell the conduct of a believer woman:

1. To worship none but the One True God.

2. Not to steal.

3. Not to corrupt in sex relations outside the wedlock.

4. Not to kill their children - the pagan Arabs used to kill the female children for the false notion of shame of giving one’s daughter to another man for his sexual enjoyment or for fear of the inability to maintain them, (as they do now in birth control).

5. Not to commit slander or scandal

6. To obey the laws of the faith (Islam).

   ‘Wa Arjulihinna’, i.e., between their legs, i.e., not to give birth to illegitimate children and assign them to their husbands (M.S.) Disobeying the Holy Prophet, (i.e., ignoring what is good, i.e., goodness to women).

7. All that is prescribed as the articles of the Practice of the faith.

8. Avoiding the society of a man other than her husband and the nearest relations the ‘Mahrum’, i.e., those with whom her marriage is disallowed - like her father, grand-father, brother, paternal and maternal uncle etc.

9. To avoid impertinence to their husbands,

A similar personal discipline is prescribed for men.

In both cases forging a lie regarding the propriety of the issue - In the cases in which their evidence is only to decide the issue in the court of law11. (A.P.)

Verse 13

A sect of the Jews and the pagan Arabs disbelieved in the Resurrection. Those who do not believe in having any sign of the graves at all or opposed to honouring the graves of holy men by reciting the Word of God to invoke the mercy of God on the dead, may note this. Visiting the grave yards and standing at graves and remembering the dead with the recital of the Holy Qur’an and doing some good on behalf of the dead, can never be compared to worshipping the graves, for worship, it will be if the graves, or the people of the graves, i.e., the dead, are taken as gods and adore them which none of the Muslims do. It helps man to remember death and amend his way of life being his own leaving this world as those of the graves before him had done12.

The last words of this verse clearly indicate about the presence of those in the grave, i.e., dead.

To believe that the people of the grave, (i.e., the dead) have totally perished, is ‘Kufr’ infidelity. (A.P.)

• 1. The enmity being not personal they may change their view.
• 2. Islam is not against Muslims extending their generosity and kindness to non-Muslims who are not violent. AP. See Verse 2:221.
• 3. The befriender of the unjust are also the unjust ones. Thus those who are the friends of the enemies of the Ahlul-Bait are themselves the enemies of the holy ones. Refer to Verses 3:118; 2:191.
• 4. Refer to Verse 2:221, Thus Islam recognise change of faith as one of the means of separation - for details refer to ‘Fiqh’ AP.
• 5. Refer to Verse 5:5.
• 6. Note: the strict justice maintained favouring the legal right of even the disbelievers.
• 7. Killing the issues by intentional abortion or by any other means AP.
• 8. Falsely ascribing a child to be of the husband AP.
• 9. Hiding pregnancy - assigning the issue to somebody else (See note) AP.
• 10. This the principle of the doctrine of Tabarra. Refer to Verses 64 :7; 58:14.
• 11. See Verse 2:228.
• 12. See Verse 58:14.