Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:55
Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed - those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship].
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 the saying of the Exalted: إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ (5:55) (Indeed, your protector (walī) is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe, who perform the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) and give the obligatory alms (zakāh) while they bow.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe": you, O believers, have no helper except Allah and His Messenger, and the believers whose characteristic is what the Exalted has mentioned. As for the Jews and the Christians whom Allah has commanded you to detach yourselves from their protection (walāya), and whom He has forbidden you to take as protectors — they are for you neither protectors nor helpers; rather, they are protectors of one another. So take from among them neither protector nor helper.
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It has been said that this āyah was revealed concerning ʿUbāda ibn al-Ṣāmit, upon his distancing himself from the protection of the Jews of Banū Qaynuqāʿ and their alliance, in favor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the believers.
Mention of who said that:
12207 - Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: my father Isḥāq ibn Yasār related to me, on the authority of ʿUbāda ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿUbāda ibn al-Ṣāmit, who said: When Banū Qaynuqāʿ waged war against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ʿUbāda ibn al-Ṣāmit went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and he belonged to Banū ʿAwf ibn al-Khazraj — and he renounced them in favor of the Messenger of Allah, and he distanced himself before Allah and before His Messenger from their alliance, and said: "I take Allah and His Messenger and the believers as protector, and I distance myself from the alliance of the disbelievers (kuffār) and their protection!" Concerning him was revealed: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give the zakāh while they bow" — on account of ʿUbāda's saying: "I take Allah and His Messenger and those who believe as protector," and his distancing himself from Banū Qaynuqāʿ and their protection — up to His word: فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ (Indeed, the party of Allah, they are the victors).
12208 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya ibn Saʿd, who said: ʿUbāda ibn al-Ṣāmit came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — then he mentioned something similar.
12209 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe," by which is meant: that whoever embraces Islam takes Allah and His Messenger as protector.
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As for His word: "and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give the zakāh while they bow" — concerning this the people of interpretation have differed over who is meant by it.
Some of them said: what is meant is ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.
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And some of them said: what is meant is all the believers.
Mention of who said that:
12210 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Then He informed them who takes them as protector, and said: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give the zakāh while they bow" — these are all the believers; but ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — a beggar passed by him while he was bowing in the mosque, and he gave him his signet ring.
12211 - Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: ʿAbda related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, who said: I asked him about this āyah: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give the zakāh while they bow." I said: who are "those who believe"? He said: those who believe! We said: it has reached us that it was revealed concerning ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib! He said: ʿAlī is among those who believe.
12212 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, who said: I asked Abū Jaʿfar about the word of Allah: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger" — and he mentioned something similar to the narration of Hannād, on the authority of ʿAbda.
12213 - Ismāʿīl ibn Isrāʾīl al-Ramlī related to us, saying: Ayyūb ibn Suwayd related to us, saying: ʿUtba ibn Abī Ḥakīm related to us concerning this āyah: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger and those who believe," he said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.
12214 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Ghālib ibn ʿUbaydillāh related to us, saying: I heard Mujāhid say concerning His word: "Indeed, your protector is only Allah and His Messenger," the āyah, he said: it was revealed concerning ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; he gave charity while he was bowing.
