Surah 5. Al-Ma'ida

O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies: they are but allies of one another⁷² - and whoever of you allies himself with them becomes, verily, one of them; behold, God does not guide such evildoers.⁷³

  - Mohammad Asad

According to most of the commentators (e.g., Tabari), this means that each of these two communities extends genuine friendship only to its own adherents - i.e., the Jews to the Jews, and the Christians to the Christians - and cannot, therefore, be expected to be really friendly towards the followers of the Qur'an. See also 8:73 , and the corresponding note.

Lit., "the evildoing folk": i.e., those who deliberately sin in this respect. As regards the meaning of the "alliance" referred to here, see 3:28 , and more particularly 4:139 and the corresponding note, which explains the reference to a believer's loss of his moral identity if he imitates the way of life of, or - in Qur'anic terminology - "allies himself" with, non-Muslims. However, as has been made abundantly clear in {60:7-9} (and implied in verse {57} of this surah), this prohibition of a "moral alliance" with non-Muslims does not constitute an injunction against normal, friendly relations with such of them as are well-disposed towards Muslims. It should be borne in mind that the term wali has several shades of meaning: "ally", "friend", "helper", "protector", etc. The choice of the particular term - and sometimes a combination of two terms - is always dependent on the context.

O believers! Take neither Jews nor Christians as your protecting friends: they are only protecting friends of one another. Whoever of you disobeys this commandment will be counted as one of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And yet thou canst see how those in whose hearts there is disease vie with one another for their good will,⁷⁴ saying [to themselves], "We fear lest fortune turn against us." But God may well bring about good fortune [for the believers] or any [other] event of His own devising,⁷⁵ whereupon those [waverers] will be smitten with remorse for the thoughts which they had secretly harboured within themselves -

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "vie with one another concerning them" - the pronoun referring to the hostile Jews and Christians, for whose good-will the hypocrites within the Muslim community vie with one another by trying to imitate their way of life.

Lit., "from Himself". Some of the commentators assume that the word fath (lit., "victory" or "triumph") occurring in this sentence is a prophetic reference to the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims. This assumption, however, cannot be correct since Mecca was already in the hands of the Muslims at the time of the revelation of this surah. Hence, the term fath has obviously been used here in its primary significance of "opening" - namely, the opening of good fortune. (Cf. the idiomatic expression futiha 'ala fulan, "so-and-so became fortunate" or "possessed of good fortune", mentioned in Zamakhshari's Asas and in the Taj al-'Arus.) The "other event of God's own devising" may conceivably refer to a divine punishment of the hypocrites apart from the good fortune that might be in store for the true believers.

You see that those who have the disease of hypocrisy in their hearts move around in their camp saying: "We fear lest a turn of fortune strike us." But soon when Allah gives you victory or a decision according to His will, they will regret for what they are hiding in their hearts.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And thou seest those in whose heart is a disease race toward them, saying: We fear lest a change of fortune befall us. And it may happen that Allah will vouchsafe (unto thee) the victory, or a commandment from His presence. Then will they repent of their secret thoughts.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

while those who have attained to faith will say [to one another], "Are these the self-same people who swore by God with their most solemn oaths that they were indeed with you? In vain are all their works, for now they are lost!"

  - Mohammad Asad

At that time the believers will say: "Are these the same people who solemnly swore by Allah that they would stand beside you?" As a result all their deeds will be voided and they will become losers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then will the believers say (unto the people of the Scripture): Are these they who swore by Allah their most binding oaths that they were surely with you? Their works have failed, and they have become the losers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

0 you who have attained to faith! If you ever abandon your faith,⁷⁶ God will in time bring forth [in your stead] people whom He loves and who love Him - humble towards the believers, proud towards all who deny the truth: [people] who strive hard in God's cause, and do not fear to be censured by anyone who might censure them: such is God's favour, which He grants unto whom He wills. And God is infinite, all-knowing.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "whosoever from among you abandons his faith" - i.e., in result of having placed his reliance on non-Muslims who are hostile to Islam, and having taken them for his "allies" and spiritual mentors.

O believers! Whoever among you renounce Islam let him do so; soon Allah will replace them with others whom He will love and they will love Him, who will be humble towards the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, striving hard in the way of Allah, and will have no fear of reproach from any critic. Now this is the grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He pleases. Allah has boundless knowledge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! Whoso of you becometh a renegade from his religion, (know that in his stead) Allah will bring a people whom He loveth and who love Him, humble toward believers, stern toward disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah and fearing not the blame of any blamer. Such is the grace of Allah which He giveth unto whom He will. Allah is All Embracing, All Knowing.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold, your only helper shall be God, and His Apostle, and those who have attained to faith - those that are constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues, and bow down [before God]:

  - Mohammad Asad

Your real protecting friends are Allah, His Rasool, and the fellow believers - the ones who establish Salah, pay Zakah and bow down humbly before Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Your friend can be only Allah; and His messenger and those who believe, who establish worship and pay the poor due, and bow down (in prayer).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for, all who ally themselves with God and His Apostle and those who have attained to faith - behold, it is they, the partisans of God, who shall be victorious!

  - Mohammad Asad

Whoever makes Allah, His Rasool and the fellow believers his protecting friends, must know that Allah's party will surely be victorious.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And whoso taketh Allah and His messenger and those who believe for friend (will know that), lo! the party of Allah, they are the victorious.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O you who have attained to faith! Do not take for your friends such as mock at your faith and make a jest of it - be they from among those who have been vouchsafed revelation before your time, or [from among] those who deny the truth [of revelation as such] - but remain conscious of God, if you are [truly] believers:

  - Mohammad Asad

O believers! Do not make your protecting friends those, from among the people who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers, who have made your religion a mockery or pastime, fear Allah if you are true believers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture before you, and of the disbelievers, as make a jest and sport of your religion. But keep your duty to Allah if ye are true believers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for, when you call to prayer, they mock at it and make a jest of it - simply because they are people who do not use their reason.

  - Mohammad Asad

When you call for Salah (prayers) they make it as an object of mockery and pastime; this is because they are a people devoid of understanding.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when ye call to prayer they take it for a jest and sport. That is because they are a folk who understand not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "O followers of earlier revelation! Do you find fault with us for no other reason than that we believe in God [alone], and in that which He has bestowed from on high upon us as well as that which He has bestowed aforetime? - or [is it only] because most of you are iniquitous?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Tell them: "O people of the Book! What makes you against us other than that we believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before? The fact is that most of you are rebellious transgressors."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: O, People of the Scripture! Do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil-livers?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Shall I tell you who, in the sight of God, deserves a yet worse retribution than these? They whom God has rejected and whom He has condemned, and whom He has turned into apes and swine because they worshipped the powers of evil:⁷⁷ these are yet worse in station, and farther astray from the right path [than the mockers]."⁷⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Contrary to many of the commentators who take this reference to "apes and swine" in a literal sense, the famous tabi'i Mujahid explains it as a metaphorical description (mathal) of the moral degradation which such sinners undergo: they become wildly unpredictable like apes, and as abandoned to the pursuit of lusts as swine (Manar VI, 448). This interpretation has also been quoted by Tabari in his commentary on 2:65 . - As regards the expression "powers of evil" (at-taghut), see surah {2}, note [250].

As is evident from the following verses, the sinners who are even worse than the mockers are the hypocrites, and particularly those among them who claim to be followers of the Bible: for the obvious reason that, having been enlightened through revelation, they have no excuse for their behaviour. Although in verse {64} the Jews are specifically mentioned, the reference to the Gospel in verse {66} makes it clear that the Christians, too, cannot be exempted from this blame.

Ask them: "Should I tell you of those who will have even worse than this in retribution from Allah? They are those whom Allah has cursed; who have incurred His wrath; some of whom were turned into apes and pigs; who worshipped Taghut (forces of Shaitan); these are worse in rank and far more astray from the Right Way."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Shall I tell thee of a worse (case) than theirs for retribution with Allah? Worse (is the case of him) whom Allah hath cursed, him on whom His wrath hath fallen! Worse is he of whose sort Allah hath turned some to apes and swine, and who serveth idols. Such are in worse plight and further astray from the plain road.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, when they come unto you, they say, "We do believe": whereas, in fact, they come with the resolve to deny the truth, and depart in the same state.⁷⁹ But God is fully aware of all that they would conceal.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "they come in with a denial of the truth and depart with it".

When they come to you they say: "We believe". But in fact, unbelievers they came and unbelievers they depart. Allah knows fully well what they hide in their hearts.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When they come unto you (Muslims), they say: We believe; but they came in unbelief and they went out in the same; and Allah knoweth best what they were hiding.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And thou canst see many of them vie with one another in sinning and tyrannical conduct and in their swallowing of all that is evil.

  - Mohammad Asad

You will see many of them try to beat each other in sin and rancor, and they consume what is unlawful. Evil indeed is what they do.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And thou seest many of them vying one with another in sin and transgression and their devouring of illicit gain. Verily evil is what they do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Why do not their men of God and their rabbis⁸⁰ forbid them to make sinful assertions and to swallow all that is evil? Vile indeed is what they contrive!

  - Mohammad Asad

According to Baghawi, the rabbaniyun ("men of God" - see surah {3}, note [62]) stand, in this context, for the spiritual leaders of the Christians, and the ahbar for the Jewish scholars ("rabbis"). Regarding the "swallowing of evil", see note [54] above.

Why don't their Rabbis and the Jurists of laws forbid them from uttering sinful words and eating unlawful things? Evil indeed are their deeds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil speaking and their devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the Jews say, "God's hand is shackled!" It is their own hands that are shackled; and rejected [by God] are they because of this their assertion.⁸¹ Nay, but wide are His hands stretched out: He dispenses [bounty] as He wills. But all that has been bestowed from on high upon thee [O Prophet] by thy Sustainer is bound to make many of them yet more stubborn in their overweening arrogance and in their denial of the truth. And so We have cast enmity and hatred among the followers of the Bible,⁸² [to last] until Resurrection Day; every time they light the fires of war, God extinguishes them;⁸³ and they labour hard to spread corruption on earth: and God does not love the spreaders of corruption.

  - Mohammad Asad

The phrase "one's hand is shackled" is a metaphorical expression denoting niggardliness just as its opposite - "his hand is stretched out wide" - signifies generosity (Zamakhshari). However, these two phrases have a wider meaning as well, namely, "lack of power" and "unlimited power", respectively (Razi). It would appear that the Jews of Medina, seeing the poverty of the Muslims, derided the latters' conviction that they were struggling in God's cause and that the Qur'an was divinely revealed. Thus, the "saying" of the Jews mentioned in this verse "God's hand is shackled", as well as the parallel one in 3:181 , "God is poor while we are rich", is an elliptical description of their attitude towards Islam and the Muslims - an attitude of disbelief and sarcasm which could be thus paraphrased: "If it were true that you Muslims are doing God's will, He would have bestowed upon you power and riches; but your poverty and your weakness contradict your claim - or else this claim of yours amounts, in effect, to saying that God cannot help you." This outstanding example of the elliptic mode of expression (ijaz) so often employed in the Qur'an has, however, a meaning that goes far beyond the historical circumstances to which it refers: it illustrates an attitude of mind which mistakenly identifies worldy riches or power with one's being, spiritually, "on the right way". In the next sentence the Qur'an takes issue with this attitude and declares, in an equally elliptical manner, that all who see in material success an alleged evidence of God's approval are blind to spiritual truths and, therefore, morally powerless and utterly self-condemned in the sight of God.

Lit., "among them". The personal pronoun refers to the hypocritical followers of the Bible - both the Jews and the Christians - spoken of in verses {57-63} (Tabari); cf. verse {14} of this surah, which makes a similar statement with regard to such of the Christians as "have forgotten much of what they had been told to bear in mind".

I.e., He does not allow any of the warring parties to resolve their conflicts through a final victory. with the result that they continue to live in a state of "enmity and hatred".

The Jews say: Allah's hand is tied up! - Nay! Their own hands will be tied up and they will be cursed for what they utter. Both of His hands are free; However, He spends as He pleases. The fact is that the revelations that have come to you from Allah will surely make many of them increase in their wickedness and unbelief. We have stirred among them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it. Now they are striving to spread mischief in the land. Allah does not love those who do mischief.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

The Jews say: Allah's hand is fettered. Their hands are fettered and they are accursed for saying so. Nay, but both His hands are spread out wide in bounty. He bestoweth as He will. That which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord is certain to increase the contumacy and disbelief of many of them, and We have cast among them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection. As often as they light a fire for war, Allah extinguisheth it. Their effort is for corruption in the land, and Allah loveth not corrupters.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

If the followers of the Bible would but attain to [true] faith and God-consciousness, We should indeed efface their [previous] bad deeds, and indeed bring them into gardens of bliss;

  - Mohammad Asad

If instead of this rebellious attitude the people of the Book had believed and become Godfearing, We would certainly have removed their iniquities and admitted them to the gardens of Bliss (Paradise).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If only the People of the Scripture would believe and ward off (evil), surely We should remit their sins from them and surely We should bring them into Gardens of Delight.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall