Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 5: Surah al-Ma’idah
in exchange for a favour: we have a dispute with some people and we want you to judge in our favour
against them’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, refused to do so, and Allah,
exalted is He, revealed about them (… but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that
which Allah hath revealed unto thee…)”. 16
(O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends…) [5:51].
Said ‘Atiyyah al-‘Awfi: “‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit went to see the Prophet and asked him: ‘O Messenger of
Allah! I have numerous clients from amongst the Jews, who are ever ready to support me. However, I
stand before Allah and His Messenger to absolve myself from the guardianship of the Jews. And I turn,
instead, to Allah and His Messenger’. Hearing this, ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy said: ‘I am a man who fears the
turn of events and will not absolve myself from the guardianship of the Jews’. The Messenger of Allah,
Allah bless him and give him peace, then said: ‘O Abu’l-Hubab, 17 that which you reserve to yourself of
the guardianship of the Jews apart from ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit is all yours and none of it is his’. He said: ‘I
accept’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed about the two of them: (O ye who believe! Take not the Jews
and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another) up to His saying (And thou seest those in
whose heart is a disease) [5:52], i.e. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy (race toward them) for support (saying: We fear
lest a change of fortune befall us)”. 18
(Your guardian can be only Allah; and His messenger and those who believe…) [5:55].
Said Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah: “‘Abd Allah ibn Sallam went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace,
and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, some people from Banu Qurayzah and Banu’l-Nadir have deserted us
and swore not to keep our company. And we cannot keep the company of your Companions due to the
distance separating us’. He then complained about the bad treatment he received from the Jews, and so
this verse was revealed. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, read to him,
he said: ‘We accept Allah, His Messenger and the believers as guardians’ ”.
Al-Kalbi related something close to this and added that the end of the verse was revealed about ‘Ali ibn
Abi Talib, for he gave his ring to a beggar while he was bowing during prayer. 19
Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja‘far> al-Husayn ibn Muhammad
ibn Abi Hurayrah> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab> Muhammad ibn al-Aswad> Muhammad ibn Marwan>
Muhammad ibn al-Sa’ib> Abu Salih> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “Accompanied by a group of believers
from amongst his people, ‘Abd Allah ibn Sallam came to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him
peace. They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, our houses are very far and we have no assembly or a place in
which we can gather for chatting. When our people saw that we believed in Allah and His Messenger
and confirmed his call, they eschewed us and vowed never to keep our company, speak with us or marry
from or into us. This has proved too hard for us’. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, replied:
‘(Your guardian can be only Allah; and His messenger and those who believe)’, up to the end of the
verse. Then the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went out to the mosque. Some people were
standing in prayer while others were bowing. He saw a beggar in the mosque and he asked him: ‘Did
you get something from anyone’ The beggar replied: ‘Yes, I got a ring of gold’. The Prophet asked him:
‘Who gave it to you’ The beggar said: ‘That person who is standing in prayer’, and he pointed to ‘Ali ibn
Abi Talib. The Prophet asked him again: ‘In which position did he give it to you’ The beggar said: ‘He
gave it to me while bowing in prayer’. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said ‘Allah is the
greatest!’ and then recited (And whoso taketh Allah and His messenger and those who believe for guardian
16
Tabari, :273-274; Durr, :96-97.
17
This is ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy’s agnomen.
18
Tabari, :275; Durr, :98-99.
19
Cf. Tabari, :288.
95