60- Surat Almumtahanah

 

60- Surat Almumtahanah

13 Verses  Maddani (revealed in Medina)

A'auzu Bellahi mena ash-shytani ar-rajim

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan

Bismi Ellahi Ar-rhmani Ar-rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Ya-ayyuha allazina amanuo la tattakhezuo aduwwi wa aduwwakum awleyaa tulquona elaiyhem bel-mawaddati wa qad kafaruo bema ja'akum mena alhaqqi youkhrejuona alrasuola wa eyyakum an tou'menuo bellahi rabbekum in kuntum kharajtum jehadan fee sabeeli wa-ebteghaa mardati touserruna elaiyhem bel-mawaddati wa ana a'alamuo bema akhfaytum wa ma a'alantum wa man yaf'alhuo menkum fa qad dalla sawa'a alsabeel (1).

O you who have believed! Do not take My enemies and your enemies as protectors, offering them love, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth, driving out the Messenger and yourselves because you believe in Allah, your Lord, if you come forth to Jihad strive in My way, and to seek My pleasure, you offer to them love secretly, and I am Most Knowing of what you conceal and what you declare, and whoever does it among you, then certainly he has strayed from the straight way.

In yathqafukum yakunuo lakum aada'an wa yabsutuo alaiykum aydiyahum wa alsenatahum bessuo-ee wa wadduo la-w takfruon (2).

If they gain dominance over you, they would be enemies to you, and would extend their hands and their tongues towards you with evil, and they desire that you should disbelieve.

Lan tanfa'akum arhamukum wala awladukum yawma alqeyamati yafsiluo baiynakum wa Allahu bema ta'maluona baseer (3).

Neither your womb-relatives nor your children will benefit you, on the day of resurrection, He will separate you, and Allah is All-seeing of what you do.

Qad kanat lakum auswatun hasanatun fee Ibrahima wa allazina ma'ahu iz qaluo le-qawmehim inna bura'auo menkum wa memma ta'buduna men duoni ellahi kafarna bekum wa bada baiynana wa baiynakumu aladawatuo wal-baghda'uo abadan hata tu'menuo bellahi wahdahuo ella qawla Ibrahima le-abeehi la-astaghferanna laka wa ma amlekuo laka mena Allahi men shayy-in rabbana alaiyka tawakkalna wa elaiyka anabna wa elaiyka almaseer (4).

Indeed, there is for you a good example in Abraham and those with Him, when they said to their people, indeed, we are disavowing you and what you worship besides Allah, we have disbelieved in you, enmity and hatred has been appeared between us and you forever, until you believe in Allah alone, except the saying of Abraham to his father, surely, I will ask forgiveness for you, but I have no power for you from Allah, anything, Our Lord, we relied upon You, and to You we turn , and to you is the final return.

Rabbana la taj'alna fetnatan lellazina kafaruo wa-ghfir lana rabbana innaka anta alazizu alhakeem (5).

Our lord, do not make us a trial for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our Lord, indeed, You, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

Laqad kana lakum feehim auswatun hasanatun leman kana yarjuo Allaha wal-yawma alakhira wa man yatawalla fa-inna Allaha huwa Alghaniyyu Alhameed (6).

Certainly indeed, there is for you in them a good example for he who  hopes Allah, and the last day, and whoever turns away, then indeed, Allah is Free of need, The Praiseworthy.

Asa Allahu an yaj'ala baiynakum wa-baiyna allazina adaiytum menhum mawaddatan wa Allahu qadeerun wa Allahu ghafurun raheem (7).

Perhaps Allah will place affection between you and between those of them with whom you are at enmity, and Allah is All-Powerful, and Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. 

La yanhakumuo Allahu ani allazina lam youqatelukum fee elddeni wa lam youkhrejukum men deiyarekum an tabarruhum wa tuoqsituo elaiyhim inna Allaha youhebbuo almuqseteen (8). 

Allah does not forbid you from those who did not fight you in the religion, and did not drive you out from your homes, that you deal kindly, and deal justly with them, indeed, Allah loves those who are justly. 

Innama yanhakumuo Allahu ani allazina qatalukum fee elddeni wa akhrajukum men deiyarekum wa zaharuo ala ekhrajekum an tawallawhum wa man yatawallahum fa-aulaeka humu alzalemeen (9).

Only Allah forbids you from those who fight you in the religion, and drive you out from your homes and have abetted your expulsion that you make them allies , and whoever make them allies, then those are the wrongdoers.

Ya-ayyuha allazina amanuo iza ja'akumu almu'menatuo muhajeratin fa-mtahenuhunna allah a'alamuo be-imanehenna fa-in alemtumuhunna mu'menatin fala tarje-uhunna ela alkuffari la hunna hellun lahum wa la hum yahelluna lahunna wa atuhum ma anfaquo wa la junaha alaiykum an tankehuhunna iza ataiytumuhunna aujurahunna wa la tuomsekuo be-esami alkawaferi wa-s'aluo ma anfaqtum wal-yas'aluo ma anfaquo zalekum hukmu allahi yahkumuo baiynakum wa Allahu aleemun hakeem (10).

O you who believed! When the believing women come to you as emigrants, put them in a test, Allah knows best of their faith, and if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers, neither these (women) are lawful for them (the disbelievers), nor are they (the disbelievers) lawful for these (women), and give them what they have spent, and there is no blame upon you if you marry them when you give them their dowries, and do not hold marriage bonds with the disbelieving women, and ask what you have spent, and let them ask what they have spent, that is the judgment of Allah, He judges between you, and Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.  

Wa in fatakum shay-on men azwajekum ela alkuffari fa-aqabtum fa'atuo allazina zahabat azwajuhum methla ma anfaquo wa-ttaquo Allaha allazi antum behi mu'menuon (11).

And if any of your wives have gone from you to the disbelievers, then you subsequently obtain, then give those whose wives have gone the like of what they had spent, and fear Allah, the one, in whom you believes.  

Ya-ayyuha alnabeiyyu iza ja'aka almu'menatuo youbayi'naka ala an la youshrekna bellahi shay-an wa la yasreqna wa la yaznena wa la yaqtulna awladahunna wa la ya'teena bebuhtanin yaftarinahu baiyna aydehinna wa arjulehinna wa la ya'senaka fee ma'rufin fa-bayi'hunna wa-staghfir lahunna Allaha inna Allaha ghafurun raheem (12). 

O Prophet! When the believing women come to you, pledging on that they will not associate anything with Allah, and they will not steal, and they will not commit adultery, and they will not kill their children, and they will not bring calumny, invents it between their hands and their feet (not to attribute to their husbands except their children), and they will not disobey You in any just matter, then accept their pledge, and ask forgiveness from Allah for them, indeed, Allah is Most forgiving, Most Merciful. 

Ya-ayyuha allazina amanuo la tatawallaw qawman ghadeba Allahu alaiyhim qad ya-esuo mena alakherati kama ya-esa alkuffaruo men ashabi alqubuor (13).  

O you who believe! Do not make allies of a people with whom Allah has become angry, indeed, they have despaired from the hereafter as the disbelievers have despaired from the companions of the graves. 

 

Simplified interpretation:

 Surat Almumtahanah carries many rulings on how Muslims deal with the infidels who are hostile to them in religion, and those who are not, and Allah has cited for the believers the example of Abraham and those who believed with Him regarding how they dealt with the infidels. The Surah also contains rulings related to how to deal with the immigrant believing women, and a clear ruling forbids Muslim women from marrying the polytheists and another forbids Muslim men from holding marriage bonds with the disbelieving women. 

 Allah says in the first verse "O you who have believed! Do not take My enemies and your enemies as protectors, offering them love, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth, driving out the Messenger and yourselves because you believe in Allah, your Lord, if you come forth to Jihad strive in My way, and to seek My pleasure, you offer to them love secretly, and I am Most Knowing of what you conceal and what you declare, and whoever does it among you, then certainly he has strayed from the straight way", where this verse was revealed in Hatib Bin Abi Balta'ah as narrated by Ali Bin Abi Talib where He said: "Allah's Messenger sent Me along with Alzubair and Almiqdad and said: "Proceed till you reach a place called Rawdat Khakh where there is a lady travelling in a howdaj on a camel, she has a letter, take the letter from her", so we set out, and our horses ran at full pace till we reached Rawdat Khah, and behold! We saw the lady and said: take out the letter, she said: I have no letter with me, we said: either you take out the letter or we will strip you of your clothes, so she took the letter out of her hair braid. We brought the letter to the Prophet (PBUH) and behold, it was addressed by Hatib Bin Abi Balta'ah to some pagans at Mecca, informing them of some of the affairs of the Prophet, the Prophet said what is this O Hatib?, Hatib replied: ''Do not be hasty with me O Allah's Messenger! I am an Ansari man and do not belong to them (pagans) while the emigrants who were with you had their relatives who used to protect their families and properties at Mecca, so, to compensate for not having blood relation with them, I intended to do them some favor, so that they might protect my relatives (at Mecca), and I did not do this out of disbelief or an inclination to desert my religion. The Prophet then said ''He has told the truth, Umar said: "O Allah's Messenger! allow me to chop his head off, The Messenger said: "He is one of those who witnessed the Battle of Badr, and what do you know, perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said: "Do what you want as I have forgiven you", so Allah revealed this verse and forbade the believers from taking the disbelievers as allies, and from offering love to them, and whoever does that will be away from the straight path, and it was said that Hatib Bin Abi Balta'ah was dancing with joy because Allah did not deny His faith and addressed him saying O you who have believed.

 Allah Almighty says in the next two verses (2,3) "And If they gain dominance over you, they would be enemies to you, and would extend their hands and their tongues towards you with evil, and they desire that you should disbelieve, neither your womb-relatives nor your children will benefit you, on the day of resurrection, He will separate you, and Allah is All-seeing of what you do", that is, Allah has made it clear that what Hatib had done was wrong because the infidels have no covenant, and if they managed to defeat the Muslims, they will be enemies to them and they would inflict physical harm on them by their hands, and psychological harm by their tongues, and they desire that the Muslims disbelieve in Allah and return to polytheism, thereupon, Allah assures the Muslims that their relatives and their children who are keen to protect them will not benefit them on the day of resurrection if they disobey Allah for their sake, and that He will separate and judge between them on the day of resurrection, and Allah is All-Seeing of they do as nothing of their affair is hidden from Him whether they conceal or declare it, so He will recompense each for his deed.

 Thereupon, Allah gave the believers a good example in Abraham and those who believed with Him so that they could imitate them in dealing with the infidels, and He says in Aya (4) "Indeed, there is for you a good example in Abraham and those with Him, when they said to their people, indeed, we are disavowing you and what you worship besides Allah, we have disbelieved in you, enmity and hatred has been appeared between us and you forever, until you believe in Allah alone, except the saying of Abraham to his father, surely, I will ask forgiveness for you, but I have no power for you from Allah, anything, Our Lord, we relied upon You, and to You we turn , and to you is the final return", Allah has confirmed that it is not permissible to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they are parents or children, and the Prophet Abraham did that only because He promised his father to ask forgiveness for him, but when He was sure that he is an enemy to Allah, He disavowed him as mentioned in Surat Altawbah Aya (114) ''And the request of forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him, but when it became apparent to Abraham that his father wa an enemy to Allah, he disavowed him, indeed, Abraham was compassionate and patient".

 And then Abraham and those who believed with Him put their trust in Allah, and supplicated Allah not to make them a trial for the disbelievers by supporting the disbelievers over them lest the disbelievers think that they were given victory because they are upon the truth, and the believers are upon falsehood, where their supplication as mentioned above in Aya (5) was "Our lord, do not make us a trial for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our Lord, indeed, You, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise".

 Then Allah assures the believers again in the next verse (6) that there is a good example in Abraham and those who believed with Him in their disavowal from the infidels, and that example is only for he who hopes Allah, and the last day, and Allah is Free of need for whoever turns away from what He has commanded, whoever shows loyalty to Allah's enemy, and whoever gives them affection, and He is the Praiseworthy of all what He decrees "Certainly indeed, there is for you in them a good example for he who  hopes  Allah, and the last day, and whoever turns away, then indeed, Allah is Free of need,The Praiseworthy".

 And Allah says in verse (7) "Perhaps Allah will place affection between you and between those of them with whom you are at enmity, and Allah is All-Powerful, and Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful", where Allah has the ability to make affection between you and the polytheists by their converting to Islam, and indeed, some of them had converted to Islam after the conquest of Mecca like Abu Sufiyan Bin Harb, Alharith Bin Hesham, Suhail Bin Amro, and Hakeem Bin hezam, and so their enmity towards the Muslims disappeared, and our Prophet married Umm Habibah, daughter of Abu Sufiyan, after the conquest of Mecca.

 Then Allah says in the next verse (8) "Allah does not forbid you from those who did not fight you in the religion, and did not drive you out from your homes, that you deal kindly, and deal justly with them, indeed, Allah loves those who are justly", that is, Allah does not forbid them from being kind to the polytheists, who do not fight them on the basis of religion, that they do good to them and treat then justly, and Uyaiynah said that this verse was revealed in Asma' Bint Abi Bakr, where as mentioned in narration of Hesham Bin Urwah" My father told me that Asma' said to Him: in the time of the Prophet (PBUH), My mother came to me hoping (I would be dutiful), I asked the Prophet: Do I have treat her well?, yes, He replied". Although Abu Bakr divorced Asma's mother, and she was a polytheist, but our Prophet commanded her to treat her mother as stipulated in this verse.

 But Allah forbids the believers to be loyal to those who are hostile to them in religion, and they are the polytheists of Mecca who expelled them from their homes and cooperated in their expulsion, and whoever makes loyalty to them, then those are the wrongdoers as mentioned in Aya (9) "Only Allah forbids you from those who fight you in the religion, and drive you out from your homes and have abetted your expulsion that you make them allies , and whoever make them allies, then those are the wrongdoers".

 Then Allah says in the next verse (10) "O you who believed! When the believing women come to you as emigrants, put them in a test, Allah knows best of their faith, and if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers, neither these (women) are lawful for them (the disbelievers), nor are they (the disbelievers) lawful for these (women), and give them what they have spent, and there is no blame upon you if you marry them when you give them their dowries, and do not hold marriage bonds with the disbelieving women, and ask what you have spent, and let them ask what they have spent, that is the judgment of Allah, He judges between you, and Allah is All-Knower of everything as nothing is hidden from Him in the heavens or on the earth, All-Wise who manages His creation with wisdom in His laws and destiny.

 This verse was revealed about the peace treaty of Alhudaiybeyah between Allah's Messenger and the polytheists of Quraish, where as narrated by Urwah Bin Alzubair that he heard Marwan Bin Alhakam, and Almiswar Bin Makhramah relating one of the events that happened to Allah's Messenger in the Umra of Alhudaiybeyah, they said: When Allah's Messenger concluded the truce with Suhail Bin Amro (who converted to Islam later as mentioned above) on the day of Alhudaiybeyah, one of the conditions which Suhail Bin Amro stipulated, was his saying to Allah's Messenger "If anyone from us ever comes to you, though he has embraced your religion, you should return him to us, and should not interfere between us and him", Suhail refused to conclude the truce with Allah's Messenger except on this condition, the believers disliked this condition, and got disgusted with it, and argued about it, but when Suhail refused to conclude the truce with Allah's Messenger except on that condition, Allah's Messenger concluded it, accordingly, Allah's Messenger then returned Abu Jandal Bin Suhail to his father, Suahil Bin Amro, and returned every man from them during that period even if he was a Muslim, the believing women emigrants came to Madinah, and Um Kulthum, the daughter of Uqbah Bin Abi Mu'ait, was one of those who came to Allah's Messenger, and she was an adult at that time, her relatives came, asking Allah's Messenger to return her to them, so Allah revealed this verse and commanded our Prophet not to return them to the disbelievers if he know them to be believers because the believing women are no longer lawful for the disbelievers, and it is this verse that forbids Muslim women from marrying the polytheists and forbids Muslim men from holding marriage bonds with the disbelieving women. 

 And Allah ordered the Muslim to pay the husbands of immigrant women, from among the polytheists, the dowries that they had spent on them, and Allah permitted Muslims to marry believing immigrant women on the condition that they give them their dowries, and Allah commanded them to ask what they had spent on their wives who go to the polytheists, if they go, likewise, the polytheists ask what they had spent on their wives who migrated to the Muslims, and is the judgment of Allah, He judges between you and them, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

 But in the event that a believing woman has joined the polytheists, and they refused to pay her husband what he had spent, then the Muslims must pay him the same as what he had spent from the booty or something else, as mentioned in Aya (11) "And if any of your wives have gone from you to the disbelievers, then you subsequently obtain, then give those whose wive have gone the like of what they had spent, and fear Allah, the one, in whom you believes". 

 Then Allah addresses His Messenger in the next verse (12) and says "O Prophet! When the believing women come to you, pledging on that they will not associate anything with Allah, and they will not steal, and they will not commit adultery (commit illegal sexual intercourse), and they will not kill their children, and they will not bring calumny, invents it between their hands and their feet (not to attribute to their husbands except their children), and they will not disobey You in any just matter, then accept their pledge, and ask forgiveness from Allah for them, indeed, Allah is Most forgiving, Most Merciful". 

 So Allah's Messenger used to examine the believing women who migrated to him in accordance with this verse as narrated by Urwa from Ayisha, and Ayisha said "And if any of the believing women accepted the condition, Allah's Messenger would say to her "I have accepted your pledge of allegiance, He would only say that, for by Allah, His hand never touched any lady during that pledge of allegiance, He did not receive their pledge except by saying "I have accepted your pledge of allegiance for that", and Ibn Abbas said regarding the saying of Allah "and they will not disobey You in any just matter'' that was one of the conditions which Allah imposed on the believing women.

 Also Ibn Abbas said that He witnessed Eid Alfitr prayer with Allah's Messenger, and after completing the prayer and the sermon, Allah's Messenger came down and walked till He reached the women, then He recited this verse (12), and said ''Do you agree to that", one lady, other than whom none replied Allah's Messenger, said "Yes, O Allah's Messenger!, then the Prophet said to them "Will you give alms", thereupon, Bilal spread out His garment, and the women started throwing big rings and small rings into Bilal's garment".

 And Allah commanded the believers again in the last verse (13), like the first verse, that they should not take the infidels as allies where they despaired from the resurrection and the hereafter as the disbelievers have despaired from the return of the companions of the graves to them and of their resurrection "O you who believe! Do not make allies of a people with whom Allah has become angry, indeed, they have despaired from the hereafter as the disbelievers have despaired from the companions of the graves"

 

 

No one Knows its interpretation except Allah