Surah Ali 'Imran, Ayah 120

Prohibition of Taking Allies From Disbelievers Who Ridicule Islam

Allah forbids His believing servants from taking the hypocrites as allies, so that the hypocrites do not have the opportunity to expose the secrets of the believers and their plans against their enemies. The hypocrites try their very best to confuse, oppose and harm the believers any way they can, and by using any wicked, evil means at their disposal. They wish the very worst and difficult conditions for the believers. Allah said,

لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ بِطَانَةً مِّن دُونِكُمْ

(Take not as (your) Bitanah those other than your own) 3:118, in reference to taking followers of other religions as consultants and allies, for advisors of a certain person have access to his most secret affairs. Al-Bukhari and An-Nasa'i recorded that, Abu Sa`id said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

The mentality of disbelievers has been further clarified by saying: إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ in the first part of verse 120 which has been translated as, 'if something good happens to you, it annoys them and if something evil befalls you, they are delighted with it.'

How can Muslims remain protected against the aftermath of sinister moves of the hypocrites and the deadly hostility of opponents? For this, a simple and effective prescription was suggested in:

وَإِن تَصْبِرُ‌وا وَتَتَّقُوا لَا يَضُرُّ‌كُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ ﴿120﴾

And if you keep patience and fear Allah, their cunning shall not harm you at all. Surely, Allah is All-Encompassing of what they do.

Sabr صبر and تقوی Taqwa: Panacea for Muslims

The Holy Qur'an has prescribed Sabr (patience, endurance) and Taqwa (fear of Allah) as an effective measure against all hardships. This elemental teaching has been conveyed to Muslims not only here but also at many other places in the Qur'an. For instance, in the section that follows immediately, it has been said:

بَلَىٰ ۚ إِن تَصْبِرُ‌وا وَتَتَّقُوا وَيَأْتُوكُم مِّن فَوْرِ‌هِمْ هَـٰذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَ‌بُّكُم بِخَمْسَةِ آلَافٍ مِّنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُسَوِّمِينَ ﴿125﴾

Why not? If you stay patient and fear Allah and they come upon you in this heat of theirs, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand of the angels having distinct marks. (3:125)

Here, the promise of divine help has been made conditional upon Sabr and Taqwa-.

In Sarah Yusuf, it has been said:

إِنَّهُ مَن يَتَّقِ وَيَصْبِرْ‌

Whoever fears Allah and keeps patience ... (12:90)

Here too, prosperity and success have been tied with Sabr and Taqwa. Towards the end of this very Surah, Sabr is being proposed in the following words:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اصْبِرُ‌وا وَصَابِرُ‌وا وَرَ‌ابِطُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿200﴾

O those who believe, be patient, be more patient than others, and guard your frontiers, and fear Allah so that you may be successful. (3:200)

Once again, prosperity and success have been made dependent on Sabr and Taqwa.

The two words, Sabr and Taqwa, though looking like a short title, are nevertheless very comprehensive. They contain within themselves a successful rule for all aspects of individual and collective life as well as public, government and military affairs.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, as narrated by Sayyidna Abu Dharr ؓ

عن ابی ذر قال : قال رسول اللہ ﷺ انی لاعلم ایۃ لواخذ الناس بھا لکفتھم ۔ ومن یتق اللہ یجعل لہ مخرجا۔ الایہ (رواہ احمد)

I know a verse which, if people were to take to it, would suffice them. And that is: And whoever fears Allah, for him He shall make a way out (of the difficulties) - 65:2.

The existence of love in the hearts of true believers for the People of the Book and the lack of love in the hearts of the latter for the believers shows who really subscribes to the truth and who does not. God is all mercy and justice. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all human beings, so whoever finds God in the real sense of the word, will open his heart to all God’s creatures. For him all human beings equally become the family of God. Then he begins to like for everyone what he likes for himself. But those who have not found God in the real sense of the word, those who have not subordinated their will to the will of God and who live only on the plane of the self, regard life’s possessions as paramount, both at the personal and the communal level. This mentality makes them inimical to anyone who appears to be against their interests—who is not, in short, a member of their own community. In spite of believing in God, they tend to forget that this world was made by God, and that no strategy can be effective here without God’s approval.