ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ ﳣ ﳤ
O you who have believed, take not those who have taken your religion in ridicule and amusement among the ones who were given the Scripture before you nor the disbelievers as allies. And fear Allah, if you should [truly] be believers.
Tafsir
Verse range: 5:57
It is known that the Almighty forbade taking the Jews and Christians as allies in the preceding verse, and discussed its confirmation. Here, He mentions the general prohibition against befriending all disbelievers, which is this verse. It contains several issues:
Abu 'Amr and Al-Kisa'i recited {من الكفار} (from the disbelievers) with the genitive case (جر), connecting it to the phrase {من الذين أوتوا الكتاب} (from those who were given the Scripture), meaning: "and from the disbelievers." The rest recited it with the accusative case (نصب), connecting it to {الذين اتخذوا} (those who took [as allies]), implying: "and not the disbelievers."
It is said that Rifāʿah ibn Zayd and Suwayd ibn al-Ḥarith outwardly professed faith and then became hypocrites. Some Muslims maintained their friendship with them, and Allah revealed this verse concerning them.
This verse implies a distinction between the People of the Scripture and other disbelievers because the conjunction (the 'and' implied by the structure) necessitates difference. Furthermore, the verse {لم يكن الذين كفروا من أهل الكتاب} (Those who disbelieved from the People of the Scripture were not...) (Al-Bayyinah: 1) explicitly states that they are disbelievers.
The way to reconcile these is that the disbelief of the polytheists (Mushrikūn) is greater and more severe. For this reason, we specifically designate them with the term kufr (disbelief). And Allah knows best.
The meaning of their treating the religion as a jest and mockery is their outward display of this through speech while persisting in disbelief in their hearts. This is similar to His saying in Surah Al-Baqarah: {وإذا لقوا الذين ءامنوا قالوا ءامنا وإذا خلوا إلى شياطينهم قالوا إنا معكم إنما نحن} (And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We believe," but when they are alone with their devils, they say, "Indeed, we are with you; indeed, we are only mocking.") (Al-Baqarah: 14).
The meaning is that since these people took your religion as a jest and ridicule, do not take them as allies, supporters, or friends, as that is contrary to reason and manliness.
**{وإذا ناديتم إلى الصلواة اتخذوها هزوا ولعبا ذالك بأنهم قوم لا يعقلون}**
"And when you call to prayer, they take it as ridicule and sport. That is because they are a people who do not reason."
