سورة الممتحنة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil ibn Darraj said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Was Iblis one of the angels, or did he manage any of the affairs of the heavens?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "He was neither one of the angels, nor did he manage any affair, nor did he have any honour or respect." I went to Tayyar [apparently meaning Hamza ibn Tayyar] and told him what I had heard. Tayyar denied the Imam's (peace be upon him) statement and said: "How was he not one of the angels?! While Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: [Recall] when We said to the angels: 'Prostrate and be humble before Adam!' All prostrated except Iblis. (al-Baqara/34)" So Tayyar himself came to the presence of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), and at the time when I too was in the presence of His Eminence (peace be upon him), he inquired about this matter and said: "May I be your ransom! In many verses of the Quran, Allah the Mighty and Majestic has addressed the believers and said: يا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا [O you who believe] — are the hypocrites also included in this address?" He said: "Yes! The hypocrites are also included in it, just as the misguided and everyone who confesses to the outward call of Islam is included in it."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah revealed the Quran in seven categories ... And as for the verse whose wording is general but whose meaning is specific, it is this saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّی وَ عَدُوَّکُمْ أَوْلِیاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَیْهِمْ بِالمَوَدَّةِ [O you who believe! Do not take My enemy and your enemy for friends, offering them love]. [This verse] was revealed concerning Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a, and he is a single person, so the wording of the verse is general and its meaning is specific, even though the verse is [always] current among the people.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): يا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّی وَ عَدُوَّکُمْ أَوْلِیاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَیْهِمْ بِالمَوَدَّةِ [O you who believe! Do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends, offering them love] was revealed concerning Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a. The wording of the verse is general but its intended meaning is particular. The reason for it was that Hatib had become a Muslim and migrated to Madinah, while his family were in Makkah. Quraysh were afraid that the Prophet would attack them, so they went to Hatib's family and asked them to inquire by letter from Hatib whether Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) intended to attack Makkah. He wrote back: yes! He gave the letter to a woman named Safiyya, who placed it in her braids and set off. Jibra'il informed the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and he (peace be upon him and his family) sent Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) and Zubayr after that woman. They caught up with her, and he said to her: "Where is the letter?" She replied: "I have nothing with me." They searched her and found nothing. Zubayr said to him (peace be upon him): "We have not found anything with her." He said: "By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) has not lied to us, nor has the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) lied about Jibra'il, nor has Jibra'il lied about Allah." He (peace be upon him) then said to the woman: "By Allah, you must produce the letter, or else I will take your head to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)." She said: "You two turn away so I may bring it out." She took the letter out of her braid, and he (peace be upon him) took it and brought it to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). He (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Hatib! What is this?" Hatib said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), I have not played the hypocrite nor turned back from my belief, and indeed I bear witness: لا اله الا الله [there is no god but Allah] and that you are truly the Messenger of Allah. But my family wrote to me about the kindness Quraysh had shown them, and I wanted to give Quraysh something in return for their kind treatment." So Allah the Mighty and Majestic revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) this verse: يا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّی وَ عَدُوَّکُمْ أَوْلِیاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَیْهِمْ بِالمَوَدَّةِ وَ قَدْ کَفَرُوا بِما جاءَکُمْ مِنَ الحَقِّ یُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَ إِیَّاکُمْ أَنْ تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللهِ رَبِّکُمْ إِنْ کُنْتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهاداً فی سَبیلی وَ ابْتِغاءَ مَرْضاتی تُسِرُّونَ إِلَیْهِمْ بِالمَوَدَّةِ وَ أَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِما أَخْفَیْتُمْ وَ ما أَعْلَنْتُمْ وَ مَنْ یَفْعَلْهُ مِنْکُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَواءَ السَّبیلِ [O you who believe! Do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends, offering them love, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth, driving out the Messenger and you because you believe in Allah, your Lord. If you have gone forth to strive in My way and to seek My pleasure, you secretly convey love to them — and I know best what you conceal and what you make known; and whoever of you does this has strayed from the straight path]. إِنْ یَثْقَفُوکُمْ یَکُونُوا لَکُمْ أَعْداءً وَ یَبْسُطُوا إِلَیْکُمْ أَیْدِیَهُمْ وَ أَلْسِنَتَهُمْ بِالسُّوءِ وَ وَدُّوا لَوْ تَکْفُرُونَ، لَنْ تَنْفَعَکُمْ أَرْحامُکُمْ وَ لا أَوْلادُکُمْ یَوْمَ الْقِیامَةِ یَفْصِلُ بَیْنَکُمْ وَ اللهُ بِما تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِیرٌ [If they overpower you, they will be enemies to you and stretch out their hands and their tongues against you with evil, and they wish that you would disbelieve. Neither your relatives nor your children will benefit you on the Day of Resurrection; He will judge between you, and Allah is Seeing of what you do].

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Sarah, a kinswoman of the Banu Hashim, came to Madinah and went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and those of the sons of Abd al-Muttalib who were with him, and said: "I am your kinswoman, and hardship has befallen me. I have come to you seeking your kindness." So she was given clothing, her load was carried, and her provisions were prepared. Then she went to [the house of] Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a, brother of Banu Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza, and Hatib wrote a letter to the people of Makkah and gave it to her, [stating in the letter] that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) had commanded the people to prepare themselves. Hatib knew that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) intended [to march against] the people of Makkah, so he wrote [a letter] to them to warn them, and he set a reward for Sarah on condition that she keep his secret hidden and deliver his letter — and Sarah did so. Jibra'il descended upon the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and informed him [of Hatib's affair], and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sent two of his companions, Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, after Sarah, and informed them of the news of the letter, and said: "If she gives you the letter, let her go; otherwise, strike off her neck." They caught up with Sarah and said: "O enemy of Allah! Where is the letter that was written and is with you?" Sarah swore by Allah that there was no letter with her. They searched her and did not find anything with her, and they were about to let her go. Then one of them said: "By Allah, we have not lied, nor have we been lied to." And he drew his sword and said: "I swear by Allah, I will not sheathe it until you bring out the writing, or it falls upon your head!" They reckoned that he was Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). Sarah said: "Allah's covenant and pledge be upon you both: if I give you the letter, you will not kill me, nor crucify me, nor return me to Madinah." They said: "Yes." So she brought it out from her hair, and they let her go. Then they returned to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and gave him the letter, and suddenly they saw [written] in it: "From Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a to the people of Makkah: Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has set out [for war], and I do not know whether he intends you or others; so be on your guard!" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sent [someone] to Hatib [and summoned him], and he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). He said: "Do you recognise this letter, O Hatib?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Then what led you to do it?" He said: "By the One who sent down the Qur'an upon you! I have not disbelieved since I embraced faith, and I have not responded to them since I parted from them. But there is not one of your companions except that he has kin in Makkah, other than me. So I wished to gain some influence and standing with them, knowing that Allah will send down His punishment and retribution upon them, and that my letter will avail them nothing." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) accepted his word and excused him, and Allah revealed: يا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَ عَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِياءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ [O you who believe! Do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends, offering them love].

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّی وَ عَدُوَّکُمْ أَوْلِیاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَیْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ [Do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends, offering them love] — that is, do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends while you send them letters and counsel out of friendship. O Muslims, وَ قَدْ کَفَرُوا بِما جاءَکُمْ [while they have disbelieved in what has come to you] of the truth, meaning the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and the Qur'an. They drive out the Prophet, meaning Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and they drive you out too, meaning Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), because you believed in Allah your Lord. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), Ali (peace be upon him) and Hatib were among those who left Makkah, and the Prophet let him go because of his faith. إِنْ کُنْتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهاداً فِی سَبِیلِی وَ ابْتِغاءَ مَرْضاتِی [If you have gone forth striving in My path and seeking My pleasure], O believers, تُسِرُّونَ إِلَیْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ [you secretly convey love to them] — that is, you secretly convey news of the Prophet to them by letter, and you take them as sincere friends. وَ أَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِما أَخْفَیْتُمْ [And I know best what you have concealed] — of the concealing of the letter that was with Sarah. وَ ما أَعْلَنْتُمْ [and what you have made public] — and you did not make it public. As for what Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said to Zubayr: 'By Allah, the woman did not tell the truth that no letter is with her; rather Allah and His Messenger are more truthful.' And he took the letter from her. Then he said: 'Whoever of you has sent the letter to the people of Makkah has strayed from the straight path.'