Al-Ma'idah Verse 51 | 5:51

۞ يٰٓاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُوْدَ وَالنَّصٰرٰٓى اَوْلِيَاۤءَ ۘ بَعْضُهُمْ اَوْلِيَاۤءُ بَعْضٍۗ وَمَنْ يَّتَوَلَّهُمْ مِّنْكُمْ فَاِنَّهٗ مِنْهُمْ ۗ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَهْدِى الْقَوْمَ الظّٰلِمِيْنَ ( المائدة: ٥١ )

yāayyuhā

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا

O you

alladhīna

ٱلَّذِينَ

who

āmanū

ءَامَنُوا۟

believe!

lā

لَا

(Do) not

tattakhidhū

تَتَّخِذُوا۟

take

l-yahūda

ٱلْيَهُودَ

the Jews

wal-naṣārā

وَٱلنَّصَٰرَىٰٓ

and the Christians

awliyāa

أَوْلِيَآءَۘ

(as) allies

baʿḍuhum

بَعْضُهُمْ

Some of them

awliyāu

أَوْلِيَآءُ

(are) allies

baʿḍin

بَعْضٍۚ

(to) others

waman

وَمَن

And whoever

yatawallahum

يَتَوَلَّهُم

takes them as allies

minkum

مِّنكُمْ

among you

fa-innahu

فَإِنَّهُۥ

then indeed, he

min'hum

مِنْهُمْۗ

(is) of them

inna

إِنَّ

Indeed

l-laha

ٱللَّهَ

Allah

lā

لَا

(does) not

yahdī

يَهْدِى

guide

l-qawma

ٱلْقَوْمَ

the people

l-ẓālimīna

ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

the wrongdoing

Yaaa aiyuhal lazeena aamanoo laa tattakhizul Yahooda wan nasaaraaa awliyaaa'; ba'duhum awliyaaa'u ba'd; wa mai yatawallahum minkum fa innahoo minhum; innal laaha laa yahdil qawmaz zaalimeen (al-Māʾidah 5:51)

Sahih International:

O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people. (Al-Ma'idah [5] : 51)

1 Mufti Taqi Usmani

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.

2 Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

O believers! Take neither Jews nor Christians as guardians—they are guardians of each other.[[ Wali means guardian, caretaker, protector, provider, ally, etc. The Prophet (ﷺ) for example says, “A woman should not get married without a wali.”—that is a guardian such as her father to represent her in the marriage and make sure she receives her full rights. The verse forbids Muslims from allying with the Jews and Christians (or anyone else) conspiring to persecute Muslims. On the other hand, as long as non-Muslims are not at war with Muslims or persecuting them, the Quran ({60:8}) commands Muslims to be kind and gracious to them. ]] Whoever does so will be counted as one of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

3 Ruwwad Translation Center

4 A. J. Arberry

5 Abdul Haleem

6 Abdul Majid Daryabadi

7 Abdullah Yusuf Ali

8 Abul Ala Maududi

9 Ahmed Ali

10 Ahmed Raza Khan

11 Ali Quli Qarai

12 Ali Ünal

13 Amatul Rahman Omar

14 English Literal

15 Faridul Haque

16 Hamid S. Aziz

17 Hilali & Khan

18 Maulana Mohammad Ali

19 Mohammad Habib Shakir

20 Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

21 Muhammad Sarwar

22 Qaribullah & Darwish

23 Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

24 Wahiduddin Khan

25 Talal Itani

26 Tafsir jalalayn

27 Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Prohibition of Taking the Jews, Christians and Enemies of Islam as Friends

Allah says;

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ لَا تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ

O you who believe! Do not take friends from the Jews and the Christians, as they are but friends of each other.

Allah forbids His believing servants from having Jews and Christians as friends, because they are the enemies of Islam and its people, may Allah curse them.

Allah then states that they are friends of each other and He gives a warning threat to those who do this,

وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ

And if any among you befriends them, then surely he is one of them.

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that;

Umar ordered Abu Musa Al-Ashari to send him on one sheet of balance the count of what he took in and what he spent. Abu Musa then had a Christian scribe, and he was able to comply with Omar's demand.

Umar liked what he saw and exclaimed, "This scribe is proficient. Would you read in the Masjid a letter that came to us from Ash-Sham?"

Abu Musa said, `He cannot."

Umar said, "Is he not pure?"

Abu Musa said, "No, but he is Christian."

Abu Musa said, "So `Umar admonished me and poked my thigh (with his finger), saying, `Drive him out (from Al-Madinah).'

He then recited,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ لَا تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاء

O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as friends..."

Then he reported that Abdullah bin `Utbah said,

"Let one of you beware that he might be a Jew or a Christian, while unaware."

The narrator of this statement said, "We thought that he was referring to the Ayah,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ لَا تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاء
(O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as friends),"

إِنَّ اللّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the wrongdoers.

Allah said