Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:23
O you who have believed, do not take your fathers or your brothers as allies if they have preferred disbelief over belief. And whoever does so among you - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.
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: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا آبَاءَكُمْ وَإِخْوَانَكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ إِنِ اسْتَحَبُّوا الْكُفْرَ عَلَى الإِيمَانِ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِنْكُمْ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ (23) (O you who believe, do not take your fathers and your brothers as protectors if they prefer disbelief over faith. And whoever among you takes them as protectors, those are the ones who do wrong.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to those who believe in Him and in His Messenger: Do not take your fathers and your brothers as confidants and friends, to whom you disclose your secrets, and to whom you reveal the weak points of Islam and its people, and with whom you prefer to remain in their midst over the emigration (hijra) to the territory of Islam. In istaḥabbū l-kufra ʿalā l-īmān (if they prefer disbelief over faith), He says: if they preferred disbelief in Allah over faith in Him and the acknowledgment of His oneness. Wa-man yatawallahum minkum (and whoever among you takes them as protectors), He says: and whoever among you takes them as confidants over the believers, and prefers remaining with them over emigration to the Messenger of Allah and the territory of Islam. Fa-ulāʾika humu l-ẓālimūn (those are the ones who do wrong), He says: so those among you who do that, they are the ones who have opposed the command of Allah, and have placed the relationship of protection (walāya) in the wrong place, and have been disobedient to Allah in His command.
* * *
And it has been said: that this was revealed as a prohibition from Allah to the believers against the relationship of protection with their relatives who had not emigrated from the territory of idolatry (shirk) to the territory of Islam.
* Mention of who said that:
16568 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr told me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim told us, he said: ʿĪsā told us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: a-jaʿaltum siqāyata l-ḥājji wa-ʿimārata l-masjidi l-ḥarām (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque [equal to...]), he said: they were commanded to emigrate (hijra), whereupon al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib said: I give drink to the pilgrims! And Ṭalḥa, the brother of Banū ʿAbd al-Dār, said: I am the custodian of the Kaʿba, so we will not emigrate! Then was revealed: lā tattakhidhū ābāʾakum wa-ikhwānakum awliyāʾ (do not take your fathers and your brothers as protectors), up to His word: yaʾtiya llāhu bi-amrih (until Allah comes with His decree), with the [meaning of the] conquest (fatḥ), in His command to them to emigrate. All of this was before the conquest of Mecca.
