The Table (Al-Ma’idah)
Verses 51-53 GROUP_178 5.51-53
51
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
Believers, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies. They are allies with one another. Whoever of you takes them as an ally shall become one of them. God does not guide the wrongdoers.
52
فَتَرَى الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ يُسَارِعُونَ فِيهِمْ يَقُولُونَ نَخْشَى أَن تُصِيبَنَا دَآئِرَةٌ فَعَسَى اللّهُ أَن يَأْتِيَ بِالْفَتْحِ أَوْ أَمْرٍ مِّنْ عِندِهِ فَيُصْبِحُواْ عَلَى مَا أَسَرُّواْ فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ نَادِمِينَ
You will see those whose minds are diseased hastening towards them, saying, ‘We fear lest a misfortune befall us.’ But God may well bring about victory or make a decision which is favourable to you. Then they will repent of the thoughts, which they secretly harboured in their hearts.
53
وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَهَـؤُلاء الَّذِينَ أَقْسَمُواْ بِاللّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ إِنَّهُمْ لَمَعَكُمْ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فَأَصْبَحُواْ خَاسِرِينَ
Then the believers will say, ‘Are these the men who swore their strongest oaths by God, that they were with you?’ Their works will come to nothing and they will lose all.
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Commentary
(a) In Arabia, in the early days of Islam, the Jews and Christians held a monopoly of the major economic resources of the country, and made efforts day and night to uproot the Muslims, who were as yet a newly emerging force. The people, deeply impressed by the centuries of history which reinforced the greatness of the Jews and the Christians, saw them as having such power that they could never be overthrown. The weaker members of the Muslim community did not, therefore, want to take part in Islamic efforts in such a way as to displease them, for if this struggle ended in defeat for the Muslims, they would have to face the vengeful retaliation of these powerful enemies. In order to protect themselves from future danger, they lived in a state of dual loyalty, which itself was not without its hazards. They lost sight of the fact that worshipping the Truth solely in unimportant matters would not stand them in good stead if, once faced with danger, they lent their support to upholders of falsehood: their fate would inevitably be no different from the fate of those they had co-operated with whenever they felt imperiled.