Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 60:1–3
She Who is Tested (Al-Mumtahanah)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(1) Believers! Do not offer friendship to those who are enemies of Mine and of yours. Would you show them affection when they have rejected the truth you have received; when they have driven you and the Messenger out [simply] because you believe in God, your Lord. If you have left your homes to strive for My cause and out of a desire to seek My goodwill, how can you secretly offer them friendship? I know all that you conceal and all that you reveal. Whoever of you does this will surely stray from the right path. (2) If they gain ascendancy over you, they will behave towards you as enemies and stretch out their hands as well as their tongues with evil intent; they long for you to renounce your faith. (3) Neither your relatives nor your children will be of any help to you on the Day of Resurrection. He will judge between you, and God sees all that you do.
Commentary
(a) When the Prophet Muhammad decided to proceed against Makkah, he made his plans very quietly so that the Makkans should have no advance warning. At that time a Badri Companion, Hatib ibn ‘Ali Balta‘a, secretly wrote to the Makkans about the plan in a letter and sent it covertly in the name of some Makkans, so that the Makkans would be grateful to him and in return they would refrain from inflicting harm upon his family members who were staying in Makkah. But this betrayal became known through Revelation and the messenger was caught on the way. Every such action is against the demand of Faith. (a) During the state of war, when the position is that Islam and non-Islam have become polarised on separate fronts, it is the responsibility of the people of Islam to sever their relations with the non-Islamic front, even if their relatives and dear ones are part of it. Being a believer in Truth and at the same time having close relations with the enemies with whom one is at war is totally wrong.