Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:89
They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take not from among them any ally or helper.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: وَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ كَمَا كَفَرُوا فَتَكُونُونَ سَوَاءً فَلا تَتَّخِذُوا مِنْهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ حَتَّى يُهَاجِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ("They wish that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you would be alike. So do not take allies from among them until they emigrate in the way of Allah" — 4:89).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by His word: "They wish that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved": these hypocrites (munāfiqūn) — those concerning whom you, O believers, were divided into two groups — wished that you would become disbelievers and would deny the oneness of your Lord and the affirmation of your prophet Muḥammad — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — "as they have disbelieved," that is: as they have denied that, "so that you would be alike," he says: so that you would become disbelievers (kuffār) like them, and you and they would be alike in ascribing partners to Allah (shirk). "So do not take allies from among them until they emigrate in the way of Allah," he says: until they leave the abode of shirk and separate themselves from its inhabitants who ascribe partners to Allah, toward the abode of Islam and its inhabitants. "In the way of Allah," that means: in pursuing the religion of Allah, and that is His way. Then in that they become alike to you, and at that moment your ruling applies to them. As:
10066 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "They wish that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you would be alike. So do not take allies from among them until they emigrate," he says: until they do as you have done — by that he means the emigration (hijra) in the way of Allah.
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The explanation of His word: فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَخُذُوهُمْ وَاقْتُلُوهُمْ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ وَلا تَتَّخِذُوا مِنْهُمْ وَلِيًّا وَلا نَصِيرًا ("But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take from among them no ally and no helper" — 4:89).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by that: if these hypocrites turn away from the acknowledgment of Allah and His messenger, and turn away from emigrating from the abode of shirk to the abode of Islam and from disbelief to Islam, "then seize them," O believers, "and kill them wherever you find them," in their lands or outside their lands, wherever you encounter them upon the earth of Allah. "And take from among them no ally," he says: and take from among them no confidant who supports you in your affairs, and no helper who helps you against your enemies, for they are disbelievers: لا يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالا وَدُّوا مَا عَنِتُّمْ ("they spare no effort to corrupt you; they wish that you would fall into hardship" — 3:118).
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And this report from Allah — exalted is His praise — is a clarification of the genuineness of the hypocrisy of those concerning whom the believers disagreed, and a warning to whoever defended them against defending them.
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And in accordance with what we have said about that, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.
*Mention of who said that:
10067 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them," that is: if they turn away from the emigration, "then seize them and kill them."
10068 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them," he says: when they openly manifest their disbelief, then kill them wherever you find them.
