The Prohibition of Being Loyal Friends with Disbelievers
This Ayah discourages and forbids taking the enemies of Islam and its people, such as the People of the Book and the polytheists, as friends. These disbelievers mock the most important acts that any person could ever perform, the honorable, pure acts of Islam which include all types of good for this life and the Hereafter. They mock such acts and make them the subject of jest and play, because this is what these acts represent in their misguided minds and cold hearts. Allah said;
(from those who received the Scriptures before you and (nor) the disbelievers...) This is to clarify the particular category (of disbelievers). As Allah said,
The Prohibition of Friendship with those who make fun of Islam
In the sixth verse (57), Allah Almighty has again stressed upon the injunction mentioned in verse 51 at the beginning of the Section, the sense of which is that the Muslims should not seek close friendship with people who make fun of their religion. They can be divided in two groups: The People of the Book, that is, the Jews and the Christians; and the disbelievers and non-Muslims in general. In al-Bahr al-Muhit, Imam Abu Hayyan (رح) says that the People of the Book were already included under the word, Kuffar or disbelievers, still, the People of the Book have been mentioned here particularly perhaps, because the People of the Book were, though, closer to Islam as compared with other disbelievers, yet, experience bears that very few from among them embraced Islam. This is the reason why a look into the statistics of those who embraced Islam after the age of prophethood and during the period later to it, will reveal that the majority of them were from among the common disbelievers. The number of those who became Muslims from among the People of the Book will be much lower.
If after embracing the Faith, one does not fulfill the requirements of Faith, one has, in the eyes of God, turned away from religion. The truly faithful people are those whose entire beings are so pervaded by Faith that they develop a relation with God at the level of love. Fulfillment of Islamic objectives should be so dear to them that there should be nothing but sympathy and kindness in their hearts for their brothers in Islam. They should become so kind-hearted towards Muslims that their powers and talents should never be used against them. Islamic life is a purposeful life and is therefore a life of struggle. It is the mission of a Muslim to convey the religion of God to all God’s subjects, guiding the world to keep away from the path leading to hell and to tread the path leading to paradise. In the course of carrying out this task, one has naturally to face different types of difficulties and suffer ignominy. Ultimately, two groups are formed—one consisting of those whose hearts are set in this world and the other whose focus is the Hereafter. A regular tug-of-war starts between these two groups. The test of man is that in all moments of difficulty and strife, he proves to be one who places complete reliance on God and, without caring for anybody except God, continues his spiritual journey, until that Day arrives when he shall stand accountable before God. The attention of such people centres almost entirely on God. They are steadfast in observing salat (prayer); they offer zakat (prescribed alms), and their relations with others are based on mutual well-wishing. Their bowing down before God shows that in their worldly affairs there is no egoism or arrogance. They invariably adopt an attitude of humility and on all occasions do as God desires. When people of this type come together at any one place in considerable numbers, they are destined to become dominant in that region.
