Surah Al-Mumtahanah

Ibn Hajar stated: It is well-known regarding this naming that the ha is vocalized with a fatha (Al-Mumtahanah), though it may also be vocalized with a kasra (Al-Mumtahanah). Under the first reading, it is an attribute of the woman for whom it was revealed, and under the second, it is an attribute of the Surah itself, just as Surah Bara'ah is called Al-Fadihah (The Exposer). In Jamal al-Qurra', it is also called Al-Imtihan (The Testing) and Surat al-Mawaddah (The Surah of Affection). Ibn Abbas and Ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with them, asserted its Madani status, though some have mentioned that its beginning was revealed on the day of the conquest of Makkah. Thus, its classification as Madani is either by way of predominance or based on the definition that "Madani" refers to whatever was revealed after the Migration. It consists of thirteen verses by consensus.

As for its connection to the preceding Surah, it was mentioned therein that the hypocrites allied themselves with the disbelievers among the People of the Scripture; in this Surah, it is mentioned that the believers are forbidden from taking disbelievers as allies so that they do not resemble the hypocrites, and the discussion on this is elaborated upon most fully. It has also been said regarding this: In the preceding Surah, the confederates (mu'ahidin) among the People of the Scripture were mentioned, whereas in this Surah, the confederates among the polytheists are mentioned, because it contains what was revealed regarding the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Due to its intense connection with the preceding Surah, it serves as a separator between it and Surat al-Saff, despite their affinity in commencing with the glorification of Allah (Sabbaha).

Al-Mumtahanah: (1) O You Who Believe...

(In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies). This was revealed regarding Hatib ibn 'Amr Abu Balta'ah, who was a mawla (freedman) of 'Abd Allah ibn Humayd ibn Zuhayr ibn Asad ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza. Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Hibban, and a group [of scholars] narrated from 'Ali—may Allah honor his countenance—who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent me, al-Zubayr, and al-Miqdad and said: "Go until you reach the meadow of Khakh, for there is a woman there carrying a letter; take it from her." We went until we reached the meadow, where we found the woman. We said, "Produce the letter." She replied, "I have no letter with me." We said, "Either you produce the letter, or we will remove your garments." She then took it out from her hair braid. We brought it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and it contained: "From Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah to people among the polytheists in Makkah, informing them of some of the affairs of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "What is this, O Hatib?" He said, "Do not rush to judgment against me, O Messenger of Allah. I was a man attached to the Quraysh, not originally of them, and those who are with you from the Emigrants (Muhajirun) have relatives by whom they protect their families and wealth in Makkah. Since I lack that lineage among them, I wanted to do them a favor by which they might protect my relatives. I did not do this out of disbelief or apostasy from my religion." 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—said, "Let me strike his neck, O Messenger of Allah." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "He has witnessed [the battle of] Badr, and what makes you know? Perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said, 'Do whatever you wish, for I have forgiven you.'" Then [the verse] was revealed: (O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies), etc.

In a narration by Ibn Mardawayh from Anas, it is mentioned that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent 'Umar and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) to pursue that woman. They overtook her on the road but could not find anything with her. They started to return, then one said to the other, "By Allah, we have not lied, and we have not been lied to. Return with us to her." They returned, drew their swords, and said, "By Allah, either you let us taste death [by revealing the letter], or you surrender the letter." She denied it, then said, "I will surrender it to you on the condition that you do not return me to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." They accepted that, and she took it out from the locks of her hair. In the al-Durr al-Manthur, it is noted that the woman was named Umm Sarah and was a mawla to the Quraysh. In the al-Kashshaf, it is said she was called Sarah, a mawla to Abu 'Amr ibn Sayfi ibn Hashim. There is hesitation regarding the authenticity of the report of Anas, and the contents regarding the return of the two leaders (may Allah be pleased with them) are considered improbable. It is also said that those sent after her were 'Umar, 'Ali, Talhah, al-Zubayr, 'Ammar, al-Miqdad, and Abu Marthad, and they were horsemen. The accepted [account] is what we mentioned first. The ones for whom he [acted] in Makkah were his sons and brothers, according to what was narrated from 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hatib mentioned. In a narration by Ahmad from Jabir, Hatib said, "My mother was with them," so it is possible she was with his sons and brothers.

The letter's content, according to some narrations, was: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has advanced toward you with an army like the night, moving like a flood. I swear by Allah, even if he were to advance toward you alone, Allah would grant him victory over you, for He is the fulfiller of His promise." The previous report is, as it is said, evidence for the permissibility of killing a spy, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave the reason for prohibiting his killing as his having witnessed Badr; however, this is a subject of debate.

Expressing the polytheists as "the enemy," while attributing them to His pronoun (the Majestic and Exalted), serves to intensify the gravity of taking them as allies and is an indication that the punishment of Allah the Exalted is imminent for them. It contains an allusion to the meaning of the saying: "If your friend befriends the one you show enmity toward, he has shown enmity toward you." The term 'aduww (enemy) is a fa'ul form from 'ada (to transgress), like 'afuww (forgiving) from 'afa. Because it is in the form of an infinitive, it is applied to the plural as it is applied to the singular. Awliya'a (allies) is in the accusative case as the second object of tattakhidhu (take).

His saying, (You extend to them affection), is an explanation of the alliance or [an explanation of the] taking [of them as allies], or it is a new sentence, in which case it has no place in syntax. The ba' (in bil-mawaddah) is redundant in the object, as in the saying of the Exalted: (And do not cast [yourselves] into destruction). Casting affection is a metaphor for demonstrating it. Interpreting it as isal (delivery)—meaning "you deliver affection to them"—does not invalidate the metaphorical nature. It is said that the ba' is for transitiveness, as the meaning is "you confide affection to them," and afda (to confide) is transitive with ba', as mentioned in al-Asas. It is also said that it denotes causality, and "casting" is a metaphor for "sending," meaning "you send them the news of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) because of the affection that is between you." According to the Basrans, the prepositional phrase is connected to the infinitive implied by the verb, and the infinitive is omitted while its modifier remains. It is permissible for the sentence to be a hal (state) from the subject of (do not take) or an adjective for (allies). The pronoun "you" was not explicitly stated in "you extend to them" because such a pronoun is not necessary with an adjective or state or predicate that applies to someone other than the one it is directed at—the noun and verb being equal in this regard, as in Ibn Malik's Sharh al-Tashil—provided there is no confusion, like Zayd Hind daribuha (Zayd, Hind is his striker) or yadribuha (he strikes her), unlike Zayd 'Amr daribuhu (Zayd, 'Amr is his striker) or yadribuhu (he strikes him), where [the pronoun] is necessary due to the ambiguity.

Some claimed that expressing the pronoun in adjectives applied to someone other than whom they describe is required only in nouns, not in verbs, as is the case here; this [claim] was prohibited and both views were refuted on the grounds that they imply that alliance is permissible when there is no "casting" [of affection], necessitating the claim that there is no significance to the concept [of mafhum] because alliance is forbidden absolutely in verses other than this one. Alternatively, it is said that the hal and the adjective are necessary, and therefore the sentence is explanatory.

His saying, (while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth), is a hal from the subject of (do not take); it is a consecutive hal if the sentence (you extend...) is also a hal, or it is an embedded hal if the former is considered a hal. It is also permissible for it to be a hal from the object or for it to be a new sentence. Al-Jahdari and al-Mu'alla from 'Asim read limma (for what) with a lam, meaning "for the sake of what has come to you," in the sense of making that which is a cause for faith a cause for disbelief. (They drive out the Messenger and yourselves)—that is, from Makkah—(for your believing in Allah, your Lord)—that is, because of your faith or their hatred of your faith in Allah, the Majestic and Exalted. The prepositional phrase is connected to "drive out." It is said that it is a hal from the subject of "they disbelieved" or a new sentence serving as an explanation for their disbelief, as if it were said: "How did they disbelieve?" The answer is that they disbelieved with the severest disbelief by driving out the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the believers solely for their faith, not for any other purpose. This is more likely than the first view due to its conformity to the context and its numerous benefits. The imperfect tense is used to bring to mind the past state because of its extreme ugliness, and [the notion of] continuity is not suitable for the meaning. In (your believing), it is said that it is a predominance of the believers, and the shift from the first-person pronoun—that is, to say "in Me"—to what is in the magnificent composition is [to point] to the manifestations of the attributes necessitating faith from the perspectives of Divinity and Lordship.

(If you have come out for Jihad in My cause and seeking My pleasure) is related to His saying (do not take...); it is as if it were said: Do not befriend My enemies if you are My allies. The answer to the conditional is omitted, indicated by what preceded it. Al-Zamakhshari considered it a hal from the subject of (do not take) and did not provide a response for it, meaning: "Do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies while you have gone out for the sake of Jihad and seeking My pleasure." This was objected to on the grounds that a conditional does not function as a hal without a response in cases other than the "connective in" (in al-wasliyya), and it requires a waw (and), and it is rejected where the opposite of what is mentioned is better, like saying, "Do good to Zayd even if he does evil to you," which is not the case here. It was answered that Ibn Jinni permitted it, and Jar Allah [al-Zamakhshari] approved of it here because rhetoric and the flow of discourse require it; it is said to someone whose friendship has been proven—without intending to create a condition or doubt—"Do not take me [as an enemy] if you are my friend," to provoke zeal. It has a beauty that cannot be denied, so it does not matter if it contradicts the famous [grammatical] rule. The two infinitives are in the accusative case, as we pointed out, to denote cause. It is also permissible for them to be two hals, meaning "as fighters and seekers." "Going out" means either the expedition for warfare or the Hijrah (migration). Thus, the address is specifically to the Emigrants (Muhajirun) because the incident originated from them, as you heard in the reason for revelation.

His saying, (You extend to them affection), is an explanatory new sentence, as if, when they sensed the rebuke from what preceded, they asked: "What have we done to be rebuked?" It was said, (You extend...), etc. It is also permissible for it to be a substitution (badal) for "you extend to them" as a total substitution (kull min kull), if "casting" is meant as casting in secret, or a partial substitution (ba'd) if the more general meaning is intended, because it includes both the secret and the open.

Abu Hayyan said it is similar to a substitution of inclusion (badal al-ishtimal). Ibn 'Atiyyah permitted it to be the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning "you are extending," and the speech is a new sentence for rebuking them. You know that a new sentence for that is good, but it does not need an omission. The discussion regarding the ba' here, according to their speech, is like the ba' mentioned previously. His saying, (And I am most knowing of what you concealed and what you declared), is in the position of a hal, and "most knowing" (a'lam) is a superlative, and the one it is compared to is omitted, meaning "more knowing than you." Ibn 'Atiyyah allowed it to be an imperfect verb, and "knowledge" sometimes becomes transitive with ba', or it is redundant. Ma is a relative noun or an infinitive. Mentioning "what you declared," despite being able to dispense with it, serves to point to the equality of the two knowledges in His, the Exalted's, knowledge, which is why "what you concealed" was mentioned first. In this state, there is an indication that there is no benefit for them in concealing affection for them, as if it were said: "You conceal affection for them, while I know what you concealed and what you declared, and I have made My Messenger aware of what you conceal, so what benefit and gain is there for you in the concealment?"

(And whoever of you does it)—meaning the concealment—(has certainly strayed from the straight path), which is the level way and the true sirat. The genitive construction of "straight" (sawa') is the addition of an adjective to the noun it describes, and it is in the accusative case as the object of dalla (to stray), which becomes transitive like adalla (to lead astray). It is also said that it is not transitive and sawa' is an adverb, like the saying: As 'asala al-tariqa al-tha'lab (The fox traversed the path).