5:51

Salaam all



Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tattakhithoo alyahooda waalnnasara awliyaa baAAduhum awliyao baAAdin waman yatawallahum minkum fainnahu minhum inna Allaha la yahdee alqawma alththalimeena

The aya says:
O those who made themselves safe, do not take for your selves, the Jews and Christians as guardian/directors. Some of them are guardians/directors of some. And whoever makes them his guardians/directors then he is indeed amongst them. Indeed Allah does not guide the unjust people.

My personal note:
This Aya comes often from people who either genuinely want to know what it carries or from people who want to attack the Qur’an. It is because the term AWLIYA is translated often as friends. So, some will say the Qur’an asks muslims not to become friends with the Jews and Christians.

The Term AWLIYA carries with it a relationship of guardian and protégé as well as director and follower. So, the prohibition here is covering this kind of relationship. However, Muslims are not prohibited from assuming the protector of the Christians and Jews who live under Muslim rule. In fact, they are obligated to do it within the THIMMI rules. So, the prohibition is against giving those two categories of people, guardianship or directorship over oneself. The reason is that a Muslim should be independent and should not put anyone above him who may push him from living by the rules of the Qur’an and Sunna.

There are three angles here:
1- What is the relationship between this and friendship? The main relationship is that friends can exert pressure on their friends. In this case, a Muslim will have to always be aware not to let any friend pressure him or her to move away from Allah’s path.

2- One may understand this Aya as evidence of prohibiting a Muslim woman from marrying a Christian or Jewish man. This is in case one accepted that men have the leadership role in marriage.

3- The Aya does not prohibit Muslims from living in a non Islamic state, as long as they are not under pressure of coercion when it comes to practicing their religion freely.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Ya ayyuha allatheena: O those who
Note: the three words used here are callings.
Amanoo: made themselves safe
Note: the root is Hamza-M-N and it means safe or safety. AMANOO is an action that is derived from the root and that is completed. It means: the action of making the object (not mentioned and therefore the subject and the object can be the same entity here) become safe happened by the subject (third person plural). So, it ends up meaning: they made themselves safe.
La: not
Tattakhithoo: take for yourselves
Note: the root is Hamza-KH-TH and it means to take. TATTAKHITHOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of taking the object (awliya- guardians) for oneself is being made to happen or will be made to happen by the subject (second person plural).
Alyahooda: the Jews
Waalnnasara: and the christians

Awliyaa: guardians/ protégés/ guardians and protégés/ directors
Note: the root is W-L-Y and it means direction or following direction with some guarantee. It comes close to guardianship. AWLIYAA is either the one who is a guardian or the one who receives guardianship of another or both. In this context, guardian and protégé or director apply. Therefore I used both.
baAAduhum: some of them
Note: the root is B-Ain-Dhad and it means part of the whole. BaAADU means part of or some of. HUM means them

awliyao: guardians of/ protégés of/ guardians and protégés of/directors of
Note: the root is W-L-Y and it means direction or following direction with some guarantee. It comes close to guardianship. AWLIYAA is either the one who is a guardian or the one who receives guardianship of another or both. In this context, guardian and protégé apply. Therefore I used both.
baAAdin: some
Note: the root is B-Ain-Dhad and it means part of the whole. BaAADIN means part of or some.
Waman: and who
Yatawallahum: takes them as guardians/ makes self follow their direction.
Note: the root is W-L-Y and it means direction or following direction with some guarantee. It comes close to guardianship. YATAWALLAHUM is an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of making oneself follow direction of the object (HUM= them and points to the Jews and Christians), is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).
Minkum: amongst you (plural)
Fainnahu: then he indeed
Minhum: amongst them/ one of them
Inna: indeed
Allaha: Allah
La: not
Yahdee: He guides
Note: YAHDEE is derived from the root H-D-Y and it means gift in all it’s forms and it carries the meaning of guidance since guidance is a gift. YAHDEE is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of guiding the object (ALQAWMA ALTHTHALIMEEN= the unjust people) is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah). LA YAHDEE means He does not guide.

Alqawma: the people/ group
Note: the root is Qaf-Y-M and it means standing or standing upright. ALQAWM are the people that stand together and that makes the group or people or nation, basically, any group of people that stand together. Here. It points to the particular group that wants to get away from their obligation to fight.

Alththalimeena: the unjust
Note: the root is THA-L-M and it means darkness in the most concrete form. This word also takes the meaning of misplacing right from wrong and transgression or injustice since injustice is displacing right from wrong and a decision made in darkness. ALTHTHALIMEEN are the unjust or the one who misplaces right from wrong intentionally and that is the one who decides and acts in darkness.


Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein