Reconciling the Verses Concerning the Jews and Christians and Their Alliance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The people of brotherhood say: Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:82] And Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:51] And Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:120] How can these verses be reconciled?
The Shaykh:
Taken in their general sense, the verses state that disbelievers, Jews, and Christians are the most hostile to the believers, and it is not permissible to be overcome by them.
The verse in which Allah mentions the "best of people" in terms of affection for the believers, specifically those who said, "We are Christians," is particular to the Christians who embraced Islam. This is because the verse states that among them are priests and monks who do not become arrogant, and when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see tears in their eyes from what they have recognized of the truth. They say, "Our Lord, we have believed, so write us down with the witnesses." And what is not[Al-Ma'idah 5:84-85] firm.
The context of these verses is that they refer to the Christians who recognized the truth, believed in it, were guided by it, praised the truth, believed in it, and held fast to it. This is the context of the verses.
The questioner:
You mentioned, Your Eminence, that there is no harm.
The Shaykh:
They are the most severe in grief and hatred toward the Muslims, as are the polytheists. You will surely find the most hostile of people toward those who believe are the Jews and those who associate partners with Allah. The nature of the Jews is this; it does not change or alter. It is extreme hatred toward the Muslims, and so it is with the polytheists.
However, the Christians are milder in this regard and closer to mercy, and this is evident in the Christians to this day. But this does not mean that they should be praised or commended unless they believe and embrace Islam and enter the religion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, just as the Negus and others among the Christians did. These are the ones who are praised, and they are our brothers. If they believe in Allah and His Messenger and enter our religion, they are our brothers. But if they remain in their Christianity, they are disbelievers, and it is obligatory to oppose them. However, despite their disbelief, they are more dangerous in their hatred toward the believers than the Jews and those who associate partners with Allah, as the verse indicates. There may be some among the Christians who have deviated from this and distorted, for example, the history of the Muslims. This is without doubt, of course.
Another questioner:
Meaning,
The Shaykh:
Yes, there are Orientalists who intended to sow discord, and these Orientalists may be Jews. There are Jews among them who have adopted Christianity while remaining on their Judaism. As we said, the Jews and Christians are the most hostile to the Messiah.[Al-Ma'idah 5:51] The verse is invalid in its generality. It is not permissible for us to take the Christians as allies, nor to trust them, nor to take them as confidants. Yes.
The people of brotherhood say: Allah the Exalted said:
You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews and those who associate others with Allah; and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, "We are Christians."
لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَدَاوَةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقْرَبَهُم مَّوَدَّةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَىٰdo not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another
لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَىٰ أَوْلِيَاءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍAnd never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion.
وَلَن تَرْضَىٰ عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلَا النَّصَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْThe Shaykh:
Taken in their general sense, the verses state that disbelievers, Jews, and Christians are the most hostile to the believers, and it is not permissible to be overcome by them.
The verse in which Allah mentions the "best of people" in terms of affection for the believers, specifically those who said, "We are Christians," is particular to the Christians who embraced Islam. This is because the verse states that among them are priests and monks who do not become arrogant, and when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see tears in their eyes from what they have recognized of the truth. They say, "Our Lord, we have believed, so write us down with the witnesses." And what is not
not believe in Allah and what has come to us of the truth? And we aspire that our Lord will admit us [to Paradise] with the righteous people." (85) So Allah rewarded them for what they said with gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. And that is the
لَا نُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَمَا جَاءَنَا مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَنَطْمَعُ أَن يُدْخِلَنَا رَبُّنَا مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الصَّالِحِينَ فَأَثَابَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِمَا قَالُوا جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَاءُThe context of these verses is that they refer to the Christians who recognized the truth, believed in it, were guided by it, praised the truth, believed in it, and held fast to it. This is the context of the verses.
The questioner:
You mentioned, Your Eminence, that there is no harm.
The Shaykh:
They are the most severe in grief and hatred toward the Muslims, as are the polytheists. You will surely find the most hostile of people toward those who believe are the Jews and those who associate partners with Allah. The nature of the Jews is this; it does not change or alter. It is extreme hatred toward the Muslims, and so it is with the polytheists.
However, the Christians are milder in this regard and closer to mercy, and this is evident in the Christians to this day. But this does not mean that they should be praised or commended unless they believe and embrace Islam and enter the religion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, just as the Negus and others among the Christians did. These are the ones who are praised, and they are our brothers. If they believe in Allah and His Messenger and enter our religion, they are our brothers. But if they remain in their Christianity, they are disbelievers, and it is obligatory to oppose them. However, despite their disbelief, they are more dangerous in their hatred toward the believers than the Jews and those who associate partners with Allah, as the verse indicates. There may be some among the Christians who have deviated from this and distorted, for example, the history of the Muslims. This is without doubt, of course.
Another questioner:
Meaning,
The Shaykh:
Yes, there are Orientalists who intended to sow discord, and these Orientalists may be Jews. There are Jews among them who have adopted Christianity while remaining on their Judaism. As we said, the Jews and Christians are the most hostile to the Messiah.
O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَىٰ أَوْلِيَاءَ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-057-حكم الموالاة في الله|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:03:48)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.