Though we’re yet to hear from the organizers of the “Million American March Against Fear” (formerly the “Million Muslim March”) scheduled for September 11th, 2013, we have had some response from a few of their fans who peruse one of their Facebook pages. Below we’ve printed an example of the kind of response we’ve received. You’ll notice that, unfortunately, the initial response was “cut and pasted” from another source, undoubtedly a book concerning Islamic apologetics. We’re hoping that the rest of his responses were his own. Though we certainly admonish him for plagiarism, our goal isn’t to shame him…our goal is to open his eyes. This young man continues to regurgitate a broken ideology that he’s likely been force fed. When faced with facts regarding his doctrine, he simply changes the story. First we’re told that verse 5-51 only applies to those who regard Islam “with mockery or as a joke”, once that reasoning was shown to be invalid we’re then told that it applies because, apparently, Christians and/or Jews can’t be trusted like Muslims can. We’re left to wonder, which is it? Or, could it be, as we’ve maintained from the beginning…that the verse means what it says, no additional context or interpretation are needed?
We hope to see more and more American Muslims take part in this debate. If we can open some eyes, we’ll consider this brief campaign a success. If the organizers of this event will renounce this verse, we’ll consider this a huge success. If we find through this campaign that even one Muslim learns and understands the truth of Jesus Christ and accepts Him as their Savior…then, we’ll consider that an Eternal Victory!
Please pray for us at Global Faith Institute. We ask that you consider supporting this ministry as we engage Islam in ways that have never been done.
Also, if you’re reading this and you haven’t yet “liked” our Facebook page…we would certainly appreciate your support there as well!
Before we understand the verse under discussion it is important to understand the context of this Surah and the situation under which this verse was revealed.
In the last stages of prophetic mission in Medinah, Muslims had emerged as a dominant power and had set up a society of their own. At the same time, the polytheists of Makkah as well as Jews and Christians had also established setups and in case of an armed conflict, it seemed that any of them could have emerged as victorious. In such an environment the hypocrites amongst Muslims maintained ties with Jews and Christians and supported them in secret. Their support was in order to safeguard their interests with whoever the victorious party would be. In addition, the hypocrites obviously had not accepted Islam from within their hearts and their conversion to Islam had not affected their ties with Muslims’ opponents.
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It is in this context that Quran revealed the following verses specifically admonishing these hypocrites amongst Muslims:
“O believers, do not take the Jews and the Christians as your friends and protectors, they are friends of each other. And whoever makes them a friend then he is from amongst them. Verily God does not guide the unjust people. And you will see that those (Muslims) in whose hearts is a disease run towards them saying ‘We fear that a calamity may befall us.’ So God will soon bring victory or a decision from Him, causing them regret on account of the thoughts they harbored in their hearts.” (Quran 5:51-52)
The explanation above should depict the correct meaning of the verses under discussion.
In addition to the general context, it should also be noted that Quran has used the words ‘the Jews’ and ‘the Christians’ making it very clear that it is a specific group of Jews and Christians and this verse is not a general prescription. The attitude of these people has been explained further in the following verses for instance
“O you who believe! do not take for friends and protectors those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah if you are believers. And when you call to prayer they make it a mockery and a joke; this is because they are a people who do not understand.” (Quran 5:57-58)
As it can be clearly seen, the Jews and Christians mentioned above are those ‘who take your religion for a mockery and a joke.’
In view of the above explanation, I believe these verses should not be taken to be a general directive of our relationship with Jews and Christians. Instead our relationship with the people of other faiths should only be avoided when it becomes harmful for Muslims, and otherwise we should feel free to enjoy a comfortable relationship with our Jew and Christian brothers and sisters.
Dear Fardin, Thanks for your response. So, are we to assume that you’ve signed the petition to renounce that verse…as it’s obviously invalid today?
It depends. The verse is not invalid, it has just been misinterpreted by those who don’t know it’s back story & why the verse came to be. The correct interpretation which I have explained is all fine by me. I renounce that verse in the way your institution & some others have interpreted it, not in the way it is properly interpreted. The Qur’an (nor the Bible nor the Torah) nor their verses are ever invalid itself, the way that it can be interpreted by others for their own special interests other than the interests of preserving & maintaining the truth are for all obvious reasons condemned and with the correct back story of the verse & its righteous interpretation, the Qur’an, the Bible & the Torah are always right. Your institute only seems to have an anti-Islamic slant, which means that whether Islam is correct on a stance or something your institution seems to argue, your institution will not change its belief structure nor its course of action because that’s how the ego of it’s human founder(s) works.
Fardin,
If you’re going to offer up an interpretive argument based on this verse, it’s customary to cite your sources. Your first response, the one beginning with, “Before we understand…”, was copied from another source and is found frequently around the web as a flimsy defense of this verse. You’ve obviously decided to make these comments assuming OR inferring, as Islamic apologists frequently do, that the other side has no knowledge of Islam. This is typically a ploy to marginalize the “opponent” and is a tired rebuttal that hold’s little water, especially in this case. To offer some solid “general” advice, it’s good to know who you’re dealing with before making those types of assumptions.
On to your “version” of the truth relating to 5-51:
The verse says what it says, period. If you’re not clear on true Islamic intent in this verse, again, you should spend some time studying history to understand the real “context”, instead of plagiarizing someone else’s work. Since you’re clearly so far off base in your argument, we’ll offer this bit of guidance from Omar, the Caliph, for you to chew on.
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“O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians for intimate friends. They are friends to each other. Whoever takes them as intimate friends is one of them. Surely, Allah does not take the unjust people to the right path” (5-51)
The following is an example of how Omar (The Caliph) ordered his deputy in Iraq to refrain from using a Christian man as his writer, even if he was the best writer in Iraq. Omar firmly told his deputy, Abo Moussa el-Ashary, to assume that this Christian man is dead and find a Muslim man as his writer. Omar used the exact same verse (5-51) as his reference to el-Ashary. These are Omar’s words, not ours, Omar is not an employee or consultant for us here at Global Faith Institute, we could ill afford to pay an Islamic Caliph, though many of the Caliph’s statements make our argument very, very simple. Fardin, I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem to me that the Christian in question was taking Islam as a “mockery or a joke”. Are you interpreting Omar’s statement differently? It seems pretty clear cut to me.
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روي عن أبي موسى الأشعري أنه قال: قلت لعمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه: إن لي كاتباً نصرانياً، فقال: مالك قاتلك الله، ألا اتخذت حنيفاً، أما سمعت قول الله تعالى: { يَـٰأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ ٱلْيَهُودَ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ أَوْلِيَاء } قلت: له دينه ولي كتابته، فقال: لا أكرمهم إذ أهانهم الله، ولا أعزهم إذ أذلهم الله، ولا أدنيهم إذ أبعدهم الله، قلت: لا يتم أمر البصرة إلا به، فقال: مات النصراني والسلام، يعني هب أنه قد مات فما تصنع بعده، فما تعمله بعد موته فاعمله الآن واستغن عنه بغير
Fardin, ultimately, I’d ask you to stop taking for fact what your mosque has been feeding you and do some research on your own. We’re not against you, though we do believe that as long as you’re making excuses for Islam you’ll continue to be imprisoned by it. There are a lot of great people in the world, Muslims included…and I’m sure you’re one of them, but please, I encourage you, look for Truth beyond what you’ve been told.
I am very thankful that you guys have pinpointed my errors, I accept all responsibility for my mistakes & actions. I deeply acknowledge that I should have acknowledged my source of information, & not make it seem like it was my information. I don’t norhave I ever assumed that you guys have no knowledge on Islam. All l said was that the way your institution has interpreted this verse of the Qur’an is not accurate, I might be wrong but that is my understanding of the verse. I also acknowledge that I’m not the most knowledgeable person on this matter but based on what I have actually studied from the Qur’an, the Bible & the Torah & the hundreds of hours of lectures I’ve listened to, Islam is the only religion that I can put my full faith & trust with. I don’t feel imprisoned nor do I feel like I am making ‘excuses’ on behalf of Islam. Islam can explain itself, the problem is how so many people like those who make false interpretations of the Qur’anic verses for their own special interests & reasoning. I just don’t see why I should trust why I should accept what your institution says about this specific verse. The Qur’an & all other books of Islam have backed me up whenever I questioned Islam or an aspect of my life, it was all in the Qur’an & the other books of Islam (Bible, Torah, Sunnah). There is also a back story as to why Omar the Caliph had done so. Omar was trying to take over Iraq & he wanted a writer he could trust. Omar was trying to capture Iraq & was already attacked by the enemy once, he wanted to be protected & couldn’t trust “outsiders” & he didn’t trust the Christian writer because he assumed that he would’ve been working against him & could have tampered with the communications which might have changed the outcomes of the conquest. He thought that if a Muslim was trusted and that he betrayed him, at least he would be punished in a religious manner but he didn’t think the same could happen to a Christian so he didn’t trust him at a time of desperation (correct my grammar if I’m wrong).
In a desperate situation, there are so many people whether they practice Islam, Christianity, Judaism or any other mainstream religion, especially in times of war or in confidential matters, it comes down to Christian trusting Christian, Jew trusting Jew, Hindu trusting Hindu, Muslim trusting Muslim. It might not be so for some non-religious or lightly religious people because religious matters aren’t involved, remember that Omar was running an Islamic Caliphate, of course it would be hard to trust a non-Muslim in times of desperation &/or war, it was a religious state for the Muslim people. Obviously if religious matters or very personal matters weren’t of concern, this verse wouldn’t apply & trust issues wouldn’t arise between people of other religions. According to this verse it is okay to trust non-Muslim’s on most matters but when it comes to the religious matters, the trust breaks away. That is every mainstream religious community’s stance on their religious matters. Just because we have it in our book doesn’t make it any more or any less hateful, in fact there is no hate in this verse. It just says that non-Muslim’s can’t be trusted with our religious matters.
Excuses doesn’t work ……Hear yourself my friend and you will see that your argument doesn’t make any sense at all but always defending what can not be defend it ……Omar in that story was not worried about a thing he just said if Allah ordered Muslims not to trust Jews nor Christians then no one can trust them …period .
Omar translation and Omar interpretation to the verse doesn’t talk about your factious story nor the threats of his control of Iraq ……dude it is simple if you do not think that this verse doesn’t represent your believe or who you are then say I do not believe in it and I renounce it.