60:7 Al-Mumtahana (She that is to be examined)

عسى الله أن يجعل بينكم- أيها المؤمنون- وبين الذين عاديتموهم من أقاربكم من المشركين محبة بعد البغضاء، وألفة بعد الشحناء بانشراح صدورهم للإسلام، والله قدير على كل شيء، والله غفور لعباده، رحيم بهم.

ثم أخبر تعالى أن هذه العداوة التي أمر بها المؤمنين للمشركين، ووصفهم بالقيام بها أنهم ما داموا على شركهم وكفرهم، وأنهم إن انتقلوا إلى الإيمان، فإن الحكم يدور مع علته، فإن المودة الإيمانية ترجع، فلا تيأسوا أيها المؤمنون، من رجوعهم إلى الإيمان، فـ { عَسَى اللَّهُ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ عَادَيْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ مَوَدَّةً } سببها رجوعهم إلى الإيمان، { وَاللَّهُ قَدِيرٌ } على كل شيء، ومن ذلك هداية القلوب وتقليبها من حال إلى حال، { وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ } لا يتعاظمه ذنب أن يغفره، ولا يكبر عليه عيب أن يستره، { قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ } وفي هذه الآية إشارة وبشارة إلى إسلام بعض المشركين، الذين كانوا إذ ذاك أعداء للمؤمنين، وقد وقع ذلك، ولله الحمد والمنة.

يقول تعالى لعباده المؤمنين بعد أن أمرهم بعداوة الكافرين "عسى الله أن يجعل بينكم وبين الذين عاديتم منهم مودة" أي محبة بعد البغضة ومودة بعد النفرة وألفة بعد الفرقة "والله قدير" أي على ما يشاء من الجمع بين الأشياء المتنافرة والمتباينة والمختلفة فيؤلف بين القلوب بعد العداوة والقساوة فتصبح مجتمعة متفقة كما قال تعالى ممتنا على الأنصار "واذكروا نعمة الله عليكم إذ كنتم أعداء فألف بين قلوبكم فأصبحتم بنعمته إخوانا وكنتم على شقا حفرة من النار فأنقذكم منها" الآية وكذا قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم "ألم أجدكم ضلالا فهداكم الله بي وكنتم متفرقين فألفكم الله بي؟ " وقال الله تعالى "هو الذي أيدك بنصره وبالمؤمنين وألف بين قلوبهم لو أنفقت ما في الأرض جميعا ما ألفت بين قلوبهم ولكن الله ألف بينهم إنه عزيز حكيم". وفي الحديث "أحبب حبيبك هونا ما فعسى أن يكون بغيضك يوما ما وأبغض بغيضك هونا ما فعسى أن يكون حبيبك يوما ما" وقال الشاعر: وقد يجمع الله الشتيتين بعد ما يظنان كل الظن أن لا تلاقيا وقوله تعالى "والله غفور رحيم" أي يغفر للكافرين كفرهم إذا تابوا منه وأنابوا إلى ربهم وأسلموا له وهو الغفور الرحيم بكل من تاب إليه من أي ذنب كان. وقد قال مقاتل بن حيان إن هذه الآية نزلت في أبي سفيان صخر بن حرب فإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تزوج ابنته فكانت هذه مودة ما بينه وبينه وفي هذا الذي قاله مقاتل نظر فإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تزوج بأم حبيبة بنت أبي سفيان قبل الفتح وأبو سفيان إنما أسلم ليلة الفتح بلا خلاف وأحسن من هذا ما رواه ابن أبي حاتم حيث قال قرئ على محمد بن عزيز حدثني سلامة حدثني عقيل حدثني ابن شهاب أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم استعمل أبا سفيان صخر بن حرب على بعض اليمن فلما قبض رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أقبل فلقي ذا الخمار مرتدا فقاتله فكان أول من قاتل في الردة وجاهد عن الدين قال ابن شهاب وهو ممن أنزل الله فيه "عسى الله أن يجعل بينكم وبين الذين عاديتم منهم مودة" الآية. وفي صحيح مسلم عن ابن عباس أن أبا سفيان قال يا رسول الله ثلاث أعطنيهن قال "نعم" قال تأمرني أقاتل الكفار كما كنت أقاتل المسلمين قال "نعم" قال ومعاوية تجعله كاتبا بين يديك قال "نعم" قال وعندي أحسن العرب وأجمله أم حبيبة بنت أبي سفيان أزوجكها - الحديث - وقد تقدم الكلام عليه.

It may be that God will bring about between you and those of them with whom you are at enmity from among the disbelievers of Mecca out of your obedience to God exalted be He affection by His guiding them to faith so that they then become your friends. For God is Powerful able to do that — and He did do this after the conquest of Mecca — and God is Forgiving to them of their past deeds Merciful to them also.

Commentary

The preceding verses vehemently prohibited Muslims to maintain any friendly intimacy with non-believers, even though they had very near blood relationships with them. The noble Companions used to carry out the commands of Allah and His Messenger in letter and spirit. In this matter, they did not care about their personal desires, or about their near and dear ones. This command was also carried out with the result that in some homes the father was a Muslim and the son was an unbeliever or vice versa. Friendly relations were severed. Obviously, this situation was not easy for their human nature. That is why Allah gives them the assurance that soon the hardship will be over.

According to some ahadith, when a servant of Allah gives up his favorite thing for the sake of Allah, Allah delivers it to him in a lawful manner, and at times he is granted something better than it.

The present verses give an indication that those who are implacable enemies of Muslims because of their disbelief would soon become their friends. In other words, Allah will grant the enemies the ability to embrace the Faith and thus restore the mutual relationships. This prophecy was fulfilled on the occasion of the Conquest of Makkah when, besides the unbelievers who were killed, the rest of the people became Muslims. [ Mazhari ]. The Holy Qur'an describes it thus يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّـهِ أَفْوَاجًا (...and you see people entering Allah's [ approved ] religion in multitudes..) [ 110:2]

It is recorded in Sahih of Bukhari, on the authority of Sayyidah Asma' bint Abu Bakr ؓ ، that her mother arrived in Madinah from Makkah in the state of disbelief. According to a narration in Musnad of Ahmad, this incident occurred when peace treaty of Hudaibiyah with the Makkan Quraish had been concluded and was in force. Her mother's name was Qutailah. She brought gifts for her daughter Sayyidah Asma' ؓ but she refused to accept them. She did not even allow her to enter her house unless she sought the permission of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Sayyidah Asma' ؓ asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ how to treat her mother who came to her while still disbeliever. The Holy Prophet ﷺ advised her to treat her kindly, politely and courteously. On that occasion, the following verse was revealed لَّا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّـهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ. (Allah does not forbid you from doing good and justice to those who did not fight you because of faith ....60:8)

(Verily ye have in them a goodly pattern for everyone who looketh to Allah and the Last Day�) [60:6-8]. Allah, exalted is He, says to the believers: �You have in Abraham as well as in the prophets and friends of Allah good role models, regarding their declaration of enmity towards their relatives who were idolaters, which should be emulated�. So when this verse was revealed, the believers declared their relatives who were idolaters to be their enemies. They showed this enmity to them and absolved themselves of all the things that they did or believed in. Allah, exalted is He, knew that this was hard on the believers and so He revealed (It may be that Allah will ordain love between you and those of them with whom ye are at enmity) [60:7]. And He did just that when many of them embraced Islam, thus becoming brothers and friends. Consequently, they mingled with and married from among each other. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Umm Habibah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. As a result, Abu Sufyan mellowed a little. When he heard of the news of his daughter's marriage, he said while he was still an idolater: �He is an outstanding person, no harm shall come to him�. Abu Salih Mansur ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bazzaz informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Abu Ya'la> Ibrahim ibn al-Hajjaj> 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak> Mus'ab ibn Thabit> 'Ami ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr> his father who said: �Qutaylah bint 'Abd al-'Uzza went to visit her daughter Asma' bint Abi Bakr and took with her gifts: desert lizards, clarified butter and dry cheese. However, Asma' refused to let her in her house and rejected her gifts. 'A'ishah went on behalf of Asma' to ask the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about this. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion) [60:8]. Asma' then let her mother into her house and accepted her gifts�. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu 'Abd Allah in his Sahih> Abu'l-'Abbas al-Sayyari> 'Abd Allah al-Ghazal> Ibn Shaqiq> Ibn al-Mubarak.