60:5
Our Lord! Make us not a trial for those who disbelieve; and forgive us. Our
Lord! Indeed, You are the All-Mighty, the Wise.
60:6
Surely you have a good example in them for whoever hopes for Allah and the Last
Day. And whoever turns away, truly Allah is the Self-sufficient, the
All-Praiseworthy.
60:7
It may be that Allah will bring about love between you and those with whom you
are at enmity. And Allah is All-Able, and Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.
Relationship
with the Previous Part
Allah, Exalted be He, had prohibited
the believers in the preceding passage from befriending the disbelievers. He
then commands the believers to imitate Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and
those who believed with him in their disavowal of the disbelievers, even when
those disbelievers were close relatives such as fathers or brothers. Prophet
Ibrahim and his followers openly declared their enmity toward the disbelievers
because they rejected belief in Allah. If the disbelievers were to believe in
Allah, this enmity would change into love and friendship.
This passage also identifies an
exception: believers are not to imitate Prophet Ibrahim when he promised to
seek forgiveness for his father. Prophet Ibrahim made this promise prior to
realizing that his father was an enemy to Allah due to his disbelief in the
Oneness of Allah.
Tafsir
60:4 You have a good
example in Abraham and those with him when they said to their people, ‘Truly we
disown you and what you worship besides Allah. We disbelieve in you and enmity
and hatred have arisen between us and you forever until you believe in Allah
alone,’ save the saying of Ibrahim to his father. ‘I shall seek forgiveness for
you, and I have no power to avail you against Allah at all.’ ‘O our Lord, in
You, we put our trust, and to You we turn, and to You is the return.’
60:5 Our Lord! Make
us not a trial for those who disbelieve; and forgive us. Our Lord! Indeed, You
are the All-Mighty, the Wise.
60:6 Surely you have
a good example in them for whoever hopes for Allah and the Last Day. And
whoever turns away, truly Allah is the Self-sufficient, the All-Praiseworthy.
60:7 It may be that
Allah will bring about love between you and those with whom you are at enmity.
And Allah is All-Able, and Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.
O believers, you have an excellent example in Prophet Ibrahim and those who
believed with him when they declared their disavowal of the disbelievers. They
said to their people, ‘We disown you and what you worship besides Allah. We
disbelieve in all that you worship besides Allah. Enmity and hatred have arisen
between us and you forever until you believe in the Oneness of Allah.’
The implied meaning addresses believers who might consider allying
themselves with disbelievers. It urges them to emulate Prophet Ibrahim and his
followers, who disowned their people because they rejected belief in the
Oneness of Allah, Exalted be He.
…save the saying of
Ibrahim to his father. ‘I shall seek forgiveness for you, and I have no power
to avail you against Allah at all.’
Allah, Exalted be He, then clarifies an exception in the matter of imitating
Prophet Ibrahim.
O believers, you have a good example in Prophet Ibrahim except in the statement
he made to his father when he said, ‘I shall ask Allah to forgive you, and I
have no power to protect you against the punishment of Allah if you insist on
disbelieving in His Oneness.’ The believers must not imitate Prophet Ibrahim in
this specific instance by asking Allah to forgive the disbelievers. Prophet Ibrahim
made this supplication only because he had previously promised his father to do
so. When he realized definitively that his father was an enemy to Allah, he
disowned him.
In summary, the believers must not
imitate Prophet Ibrahim in asking forgiveness for the disbelievers.
Some believers had asked Allah to
forgive their deceased fathers who died in disbelief, imitating Prophet
Ibrahim’s request for his father. Allah, Exalted be He, then revealed:
9:113 It is
impermissible for the Prophet and the believers to pray for forgiveness for the
disbelievers even if they are close relatives after it has become clear to them
that they will be the dwellers of Hell.
9:114 Ibrahim’s
prayer for forgiveness for his father was only because of a promise he had made
to him; and when he knew that he was an enemy of Allah, he disowned him.
Indeed, Ibrahim was tender-hearted, forbearing. [Surah At-Tawbah: 113–114]
‘O our Lord, in You,
we put our trust, and to You we turn, and to You is the return.’
The Ayah describes the stance adopted
by Prophet Ibrahim and the believers after disowning their people. They
declared: ‘O our Lord, in You, we put our trust concerning all our affairs. Our
Lord, to You we turn, asking You to forgive us our sins. Our Lord, to You we
shall return in the Hereafter.’
The Believers are instructed to imitate
Prophet Ibrahim and his followers in this regard: reliance upon Allah in all
matters, seeking His forgiveness, and affirming that all creatures will return
to Him in the Hereafter.
60:5 Our Lord! Make
us not a trial for those who disbelieve; and forgive us. Our Lord! Indeed, You
are the All-Mighty, the Wise.
Prophet Ibrahim and the believers
continued their supplication, saying, ‘Our Lord, do not make us a trial for
those who disbelieve by granting them dominance over us. Such dominance would
lead them to believe that they follow the straight path while we follow
falsehood. Our Lord, forgive us our sins. Indeed, You are the All-Mighty, whom
none can overcome, and the Wise in all Your deeds and statements.’
Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him,
commented: regarding the phrase ‘Make us not a trial for those who disbelieve,’
it means: ‘Our Lord, do not punish us by the hands of the disbelievers or with
a punishment from You, lest the disbelievers say, “If they were upon the right
path, they would not be punished.”’
60:6 Surely you have
a good example in them for whoever hopes for Allah and the Last Day. And
whoever turns away, truly Allah is the Self-sufficient, the All-Praiseworthy.
This Ayah reinforces the command to
imitate Prophet Ibrahim and those who believed with him, taking them as
exemplars.
O believers, you have a good example in Prophet Ibrahim and his followers. This
example is for whoever hopes for the reward of Allah in this world and the
Hereafter and seeks deliverance from Hell and its severe punishment on the Day
of Judgment.
And whoever turns
away, truly Allah is the Self-sufficient, the All-Praiseworthy.
Whoever turns away from the right path
and disobeys Allah by befriending the disbelievers harms only himself. He will
incur loss and face grievous punishment on the Day of Judgment. Truly, Allah is
the Self-Sufficient, the All-Praiseworthy. Allah has no need of His creatures,
while all creatures depend on Him. He is praised in all His statements and
deeds, and none deserves worship but Him. Allah grants immense reward to those
who praise and thank Him.
60:7 It may be that
Allah will bring about love between you and those with whom you are at enmity.
And Allah is All-Able, and Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.
O believers, it may be that Allah will bring about affection between you and
those with whom you are now in enmity. Your enemies may embrace Islam, and thus
enmity will transform into love and discord into harmony. Indeed, Allah is
All-Able, All-Forgiving, All-Merciful. Allah can change matters instantly. He
forgives the sins of those who repent and His mercy encompasses all who seek
His forgiveness and mercy.
Many of the Arab disbelievers embraced
Islam after the conquest of Makkah and became upright Muslims. Thereafter,
close ties arose between them and those who had accepted Islam earlier.
Together they fought for the sake of Allah and performed righteous deeds.
The
Learned Lessons from Surah Al-Mumtahanah, Ayat 4–7
• Prophet Ibrahim is a role model for
the believers in disowning the disbelievers. Every believer should follow
Prophet Ibrahim in this regard, except concerning his promise to seek
forgiveness for his father. Prophet Ibrahim
only made this supplication due to a prior promise; the believers must not ask
Allah to forgive the disbelievers.
• Prophet Ibrahim and the believers
with him disowned the disbelievers because they worshipped deities besides
Allah. This enmity continues until the disbelievers believe in the Oneness of
Allah, at which point it transforms into love and friendship.
• Allah, Exalted be He, teaches the
believers the supplications recited by Prophet Ibrahim and his followers. They
expressed their reliance upon Allah for all their needs, repented of their
sins, and asked Allah not to make them a trial for the disbelievers by granting
the latter dominance, which would lead them to think they followed guidance
while the believers followed misguidance. They also asked Allah to forgive
their sins, for He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.
• Those who turn away from the path of
guidance harm none but themselves. Allah is Self-Sufficient and in no need of
any creature, while all creatures are in need of Him.
• Allah is All-Praiseworthy in His
statements and deeds, and He is the All-Wise in all His actions and
pronouncements.
• The believers obeyed Allah by
disowning their relatives for His sake. Out of His mercy and generosity, Allah
later guided many of those relatives to the path of guidance, and they embraced
Islam and became sincere believers.
• Allah is Able to change hearts and
affairs instantly.
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