Tafseer of She that is to be examined · Al-Mumtahana · 60:1
O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection while they have disbelieved in what came to you of the truth, having driven out the Prophet and yourselves [only] because you believe in Allah, your Lord. If you have come out for jihad in My cause and seeking means to My approval, [take them not as friends]. You confide to them affection, but I am most knowing of what you have concealed and what you have declared. And whoever does it among you has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.
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 word concerning the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِمَا جَاءَكُمْ مِنَ الْحَقِّ يُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّاكُمْ أَنْ تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَادًا فِي سَبِيلِي وَابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِي تُسِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِمَا أَخْفَيْتُمْ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُمْ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْهُ مِنْكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ (60:1) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies, extending to them affection, while they have disbelieved in the truth that has come to you; they expel the Messenger and you because you believe in Allah, your Lord. If you have gone out to wage jihād in My way and seeking My good pleasure — you secretly extend affection to them, while I know best what you have concealed and what you have made public. And whoever of you does that has strayed from the right way.)
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: The Exalted in mention says to the believers in Him among the Companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy) among the polytheists (mushrikīn), ( وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ) (and your enemy as allies), that is, as helpers.
And His statement: ( تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ ) (extending to them affection) — He, mighty is His praise, says: you convey to them your affection for them. The inclusion of the bāʾ in His statement ( بِالْمَوَدَّةِ ) and its omission amount to the same thing, comparable to someone's statement: "I want that (bi-an) you go" and "I want that (an) you go," which are equivalent; and like His statement: وَمَنْ يُرِدْ فِيهِ بِإِلْحَادٍ بِظُلْمٍ (and whoever seeks therein deviation through wrongdoing), the meaning of which is: and whoever intends therein deviation through wrongdoing. To this also belongs the saying of the poet:
When she hoped for the drinking, he shook the staff for her — a miser who at the watering-place has a growl.
The meaning is: when she hoped for the drinking (rajat al-shurb).
( وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِمَا جَاءَكُمْ مِنَ الْحَقِّ ) (while they have disbelieved in the truth that has come to you) — He says: while these polytheists, whom I have forbidden you to take as allies, have disbelieved in what has come to you as truth from Allah, and that is their disbelief (kufr) in Allah and His Messenger and His Book which He sent down to His Messenger.
And His statement: ( يُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ) (they expel the Messenger and you) — He, mighty is His praise, says: they expel the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and you, with the meaning: and they also expel you from your dwellings and your land; and that is the expulsion by the polytheists of Quraysh of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions from Mecca.
And His statement: ( أَنْ تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ ) (because you believe in Allah, your Lord) — He, mighty is His praise, says: they expel the Messenger and you from your dwellings because you have believed in Allah.
And His statement: ( إِنْ كُنْتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَادًا فِي سَبِيلِي وَابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِي ) (if you have gone out to wage jihād in My way and seeking My good pleasure) — this belongs to that which is placed later but whose meaning is a placing earlier, and the import of the statement is: O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies, extending to them affection, while they have disbelieved in the truth that has come to you — if you have gone out to wage jihād in My way and seeking My good pleasure — ( يُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّاكُمْ أَنْ تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ ) (they expel the Messenger and you because you believe in Allah, your Lord).
And His statement, the Exalted in mention, ( إِنْ كُنْتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَادًا فِي سَبِيلِي ) (if you have gone out to wage jihād in My way) means: if you have gone out from your dwellings and emigrated from them to your place of refuge for the jihād in My path which I have prescribed for you, and My religion which I have charged you with, and seeking My good pleasure.
And His statement: ( تُسِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ ) (you secretly extend affection to them) — He, the Exalted in mention, says to the believers among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: you, O believers, secretly extend affection to the polytheists against Allah. ( وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِمَا أَخْفَيْتُمْ ) (while I know best what you have concealed) — He says: and I know better than you what some of you have concealed from others and kept secret regarding it. ( وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُمْ ) (and what you have made public) — He says: and I also know better than you what some of you have shown openly to others. ( وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْهُ مِنْكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ ) (and whoever of you does that has strayed from the right way) — He, mighty is His praise, says: and whoever of you, O believers, secretly extends affection to the polytheists has strayed; He says: he has deviated from the correct direction of the way which Allah has made the path to Paradise and the route thereto.
And it has been mentioned that these verses at the beginning of this surah were sent down concerning the affair of Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa, who had written to Quraysh in Mecca to inform them of a matter which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had concealed from them. To that effect the narrations and the reports have come from a group of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and others.
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿUbayd ibn Ismāʿīl al-Hibbārī and al-Faḍl ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ related to me, both of them saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, [who said:] ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Abī Rāfiʿ informed me, he said: I heard ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me out, I and al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām and al-Miqdād — al-Faḍl said: Sufyān said: a group of the muhājirūn — and he said: "Go forth until you reach the garden of Khākh, for there is a woman there with a letter; take it from her." We went forth, our horses galloping with us, until we arrived at the garden, and we found a woman. We said: "Bring out the letter." She said: "I have no letter with me." We said: "You bring out the letter, or we will throw off your clothes." Then she took it out from her braided hair, and we took the letter. We brought it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and in it was: "From Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa to certain people in Mecca," in which he informed them of something of the affair of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O Ḥāṭib, what is this?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah, do not be hasty in judging me. I was a man attached to Quraysh without having kinship among them, while the muhājirūn who are with you have kinsmen who protect their families in Mecca. So I wanted, since I lacked that lineage, to build among them a favor by which they would protect my kinsmen. I did not do this out of disbelief (kufr), nor out of apostasy (ridda) from my religion, nor out of contentment with disbelief after Islam." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "He has told you the truth." ʿUmar said: "O Messenger of Allah, let me strike off the neck of this hypocrite (munāfiq)." He said: "He took part at Badr, and how do you know — perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said: 'Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you.'" Al-Faḍl added in his narration: Sufyān said: and concerning him was sent down: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies) ... up to His statement: حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ (until you believe in Allah alone).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān Saʿīd ibn Sinān, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra al-Jamalī, on the authority of Abū al-Bakhtarī al-Ṭāʾī, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — who said: When the Prophet ﷺ wanted to march to Mecca, he confided secretly to a number of his Companions that he wanted Mecca — among them Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa — and he had it spread among the people that he wanted Khaybar. Then Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa wrote to the people of Mecca that the Prophet ﷺ wanted to attack them. He said: The Prophet ﷺ sent me out, and Abū Marthad — and there was not a man among us but he had a horse — and he said: "Go to the garden of Khākh, for you will find there a woman who has a letter with her; take it from her." We went forth until we saw her at the place which the Prophet ﷺ had named, and we said: "Give the letter." She said: "I have no letter with me." We set down her baggage and searched it, but we did not find it in her baggage. Abū Marthad said: "Perhaps she does not have it with her." I said: "The Prophet ﷺ has not spoken falsely and has not been deceived." We said: "Bring out the letter, or else we will strip you." ʿAmr ibn Murra said: and she took it out from her belt; and Ḥabīb said: she took it out from her front. We brought it to the Prophet ﷺ, and there was the letter: "From Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa to the people of Mecca." ʿUmar rose and said: "He has betrayed Allah and His Messenger; permit me to strike off his neck." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Did he not take part at Badr?" He said: "Yes, but he has broken his word and supported your enemies against you." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said: 'Do what you wish.'" Then ʿUmar's eyes overflowed and he said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." Then he had Ḥāṭib brought and said: "What led you to do what you have done?" He said: "O Prophet of Allah, I was a man attached to Quraysh, and I had family and property there, and there was none among your Companions but he had in Mecca someone who protects his family and property. So I wrote that to them. By Allah, O Prophet of Allah, I am indeed a believer in Allah and His Messenger." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa has told the truth; say nothing about Ḥāṭib but good." Ḥabīb ibn Thābit said: and Allah, mighty and exalted, sent down: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy) ... the verse.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, [he said:] my uncle related to us, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies, extending to them affection) ... to the end of the verse: it was sent down concerning a man who was with the Prophet ﷺ in Medina, from Quraysh, who wrote to his family and his clan in Mecca to inform and warn them that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was setting out toward them. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was informed about his letter, and he sent ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — to her [the woman], and he brought it to him.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr and others of our scholars, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ resolved to march to Mecca, Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa wrote a letter to Quraysh in which he informed them of the resolution that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had taken to march against them. Then he gave it to a woman — Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar claims that she was from [the tribe of] Muzayna, and another claimed that she was Sāra, a freed slave-woman of one of the Banū ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib — and he promised her a reward on condition that she convey it to Quraysh. She thrust it into her hair and then braided her locks over it, and then she set off. And to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came the news from heaven about what Ḥāṭib had done, and he sent ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām — may Allah be pleased with them — and said: "Catch up with a woman with whom Ḥāṭib has sent a letter to Quraysh, in which he warns them of that for which we have gathered ourselves against them." They went forth until they caught up with her at al-Ḥulayfa — the Ḥulayfa of Ibn Abī Aḥmad. They made her dismount and searched her travel-saddle, but they found nothing. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — said to her: "I swear by Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has not been deceived and we have not been lied to; you bring out this letter for me, or we will strip you." When she saw his determination, she said: "Turn away from me." He turned away from her, and she loosened her locks and took out the letter and handed it to him. He brought it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Ḥāṭib and said: "O Ḥāṭib, what led you to this?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, I am indeed a believer in Allah and His Messenger; I have not changed nor altered anything, but I was a man among this people without lineage or clan, while I had in their midst [in Mecca] family and children, so I sought their favor by it." ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — said: "Let me, O Messenger of Allah, and I will strike off his neck, for the man has become a hypocrite (nāfaqa)." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And how do you know, O ʿUmar — perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr on the day of Badr and said: 'Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you.'" Then Allah, mighty and exalted, sent down concerning Ḥāṭib: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies) ... up to His statement: وَإِلَيْكَ أَنَبْنَا (and to You we have turned) ... to the end of the account.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa, who said: When was sent down: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies) concerning Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa: he had written a letter to the disbelievers of Quraysh in which he gave them counsel, and Allah informed His Prophet — peace and blessings be upon him — about that. Then he sent ʿAlī and al-Zubayr and said: "Go, for you will find at such-and-such a place a woman; take the letter that she has with her." They went forth until they caught up with her and said: "The letter that you have with you." She said: "I have no letter with me." They said: "By Allah, we will not leave anything with you without searching it, or you bring it out." She said: "Are you not Muslims?" They said: "Yes, but the Prophet ﷺ has informed us that you have a letter with you, and we have become certain within ourselves that it is with you." When she saw their determination, she brought out a letter from between her locks, and they brought it to the Prophet ﷺ, and in it was: "From Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa to the disbelievers of Quraysh." The Prophet ﷺ called him and said: "Did you write this letter?" He said: "Yes." He said: "What led you to that?" He said: "By Allah, I have not doubted Allah since I became Muslim, but I was a stranger among you, O tribe of Quraysh, and I had in Mecca property and sons, so I wanted by it to ward off [harm] from them." ʿUmar — may Allah be pleased with him — said: "Permit me, O Messenger of Allah, and I will strike off his neck." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Gently, O son of al-Khaṭṭāb; and how do you know — perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said: 'Do what you wish, for I forgive you.'" Al-Zuhrī said: concerning this it was sent down up to غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (Forgiving, Merciful).
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us; both, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: ( لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ) (do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies) ... up to His statement: بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ (Seeing of what you do): it concerns the correspondence of Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa, and those with whom he corresponded were the disbelievers of Quraysh, whom he was warning.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ) (O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies) ... until he reached ( سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ ) (the right way): we were told that Ḥāṭib wrote to the people of Mecca to inform them of the march of the Prophet ﷺ toward them at the time of al-Ḥudaybiya, and Allah, mighty and exalted, informed His Prophet — peace and blessings be upon him — about that. And we were told that they found the letter with a woman, in a braid of her hair. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ called him and said: "What brought you to what you have done?" He said: "By Allah, I have not doubted the affair of Allah, nor have I apostatized therein, but I have family and property there, so I wanted to make Quraysh favorable regarding my family and my property." And we were told that he was an ally of Quraysh, not one of them themselves. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, sent down the Qurʾān concerning that, and He said: إِنْ يَثْقَفُوكُمْ يَكُونُوا لَكُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَيَبْسُطُوا إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ وَأَلْسِنَتَهُمْ بِالسُّوءِ وَوَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ (If they gain the upper hand over you, they will be enemies to you and stretch out their hands and their tongues against you with evil, and they wish that you would disbelieve).
