The Inner Lining

The sūrah then continues, because there was constant turmoil with the munāfiqīn, the hypocrites, in Madīnah Munawwarah. They were a constant challenge, the irritants of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims; and they are now discussed. Allah (swt) says: such people — who harbour evil towards you, who are plainly evil, who hold no good in them for you — you are not to make your friends. So:

Lā tattakhidhū biṭānatan min dūnikum: do not take, from outside your own circle, such people as a biṭānah. Biṭānah is the inner lining of a garment: those one draws that close.

And, subḥānAllāh, even a cursory study of history bears this out. In contemporary affairs it is often very difficult to tell, because one is in the thick of things, in the woods as it were. But when one looks at history, whatever is happening today, or at any given time, is simply a cycle of history — the same thing over again. And one sees that one of the greatest downfalls of any Muslim group throughout our history has, more often than not, come where they were split and divided, and promised support by an enemy — the enemy providing, or professing, support for one side against another and setting them to fight, while that side supposes it is gaining something from the arrangement. Most of the time the cause is ego: the attempt to get one over the other. Very often it is complete self-deception: they believe they are doing it for Islam, because they believe they have the better Islam, or are better placed to rule. The Seljuk period, the Mamluk period, the Ottoman period — the problem recurs constantly. And we still do not learn from it today. We still do not learn; we do not see the deception of Shayṭān and the deception of the enemies, and what they truly seek. The Tatars, the Mongols, did the same; almost every group — this was what happened. It is a point of great importance.

Allah (swt) therefore gives three reasons — three reasons are given here — why such people are not to be taken as one's closest associates, intimate friends, advisers and the like. First: lā yaʾlūnakum khabālan — they have no care for you in any case. Waddū mā ʿanittum — they would love to see you troubled and destroyed. Qad badati al-baghḍāʾu min afwāhihim — in many cases the enmity, the hatred, can be seen fairly dripping from their mouths. Wa-mā tukhfī ṣudūruhum akbar — and what is in their hearts is worse still: the rancour and hatred they harbour within is even greater. Qad bayyannā lakum al-āyāti in kuntum taʿqilūn — yet people have not comprehended it: We have made these signs very clear to you, so that you may comprehend and understand. This discussion continues to the end of the sūrah.