Sūrat al-Māʾidah
Section 11 of 25 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Allah Does Not Need You
For this reason Allah (swt) says what He says; and many of them would then apostatise entirely. Hence, in verse 54:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِۦ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِى ٱللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُۥٓ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ يُجَـٰهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَآئِمٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“O you who believe, if anyone from you turns back from his Faith, then Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, hard on the disbelievers, who fight in the way of Allah and are not afraid of the reproach of any critic. That is a grace of Allah. He confers it on whom He wills. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing” (5:54)
O you who believe, whoever among you apostatises from his faith — then Allah (swt)… Allah does not need you. You need Allah. Fa-sawfa yaʾtī Allāhu bi-qawmin yuḥibbuhum wa-yuḥibbūnah. People today, too, should understand this. Those who are half-hearted, half in and half out, and wish to change the dīn: Allah does not need you. The dīn does not need you. You need the dīn, and in time you will understand it. For Allah says that He will bring a people who love Him and whom He loves, and who have these specific qualities of compassion towards the believers. People should therefore understand that one either enters Islam fully or one does not; there is no trifling in between.
Allah then says in verse 55:
إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَهُمْ رَٰكِعُونَ
“Your only friend is Allah, then His Messenger and those who believe, who establish Salāh and pay Zakāh and bow before Allah.” (5:55)
Whoever wants a true friend, his true friend is Allah and His Messenger and those who believe — those who establish the prayer and give zakāh. These are not people who merely claim to be Muslim and do nothing; they are serious people, and it is they who are to be taken as friends. For:
وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱللَّهِ هُمُ ٱلْغَـٰلِبُونَ
“Whoever maintains friendship with Allah and His Messenger and those who believe (must know that) it is the (members of the) Party of Allah that are the triumphant.” (5:56)
Whoever takes Allah and His Messenger and those who believe as his friends — fa-inna ḥizba Allāhi humu al-ghālibūn: this group of Allah is to be dominant. There follows, again, a discussion of not befriending those who take you for a ride, who make a mockery of your religion, and the like. That can never be done. And Allāhu akbar — how much there is to cover.
Another thing that occurred at that time, which Allah reveals in verse 64 — many historical details are given here, and they need not always be identical — is this:
وَقَالَتِ ٱلْيَهُودُ يَدُ ٱللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ ۚ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا۟ بِمَا قَالُوا۟ ۘ بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَآءُ ۚ وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم مَّآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَـٰنًا وَكُفْرًا ۚ وَأَلْقَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ ٱلْعَدَٰوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۚ كُلَّمَآ أَوْقَدُوا۟ نَارًا لِّلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا ٱللَّهُ ۚ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا ۚ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ
“The Jews said, “Allah’s hand is fettered.” Fettered are their own hands, and cursed are they for what they said. In fact, His hands are outspread. He spends as He wills. What has been sent down to you from your Lord shall certainly increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief. We have put enmity and hatred amongst them lasting to the Day of Doom. Whenever they lit the flame of war, Allah puts it out. They run about on the earth spreading mischief, and Allah does not like the mischief-makers.” (5:64)
The Yahūd at that time were suffering, because Allah (swt) had withheld some of the blessings from them, and they found some constriction in their lives. They then began to blame Allah, saying: Allah is becoming tight now; He is becoming miserly. Allah says: no, it is they who are the stingy ones; they have been cursed for what they have done. Allah is open-handed — the wording here is that Allah's hands are extended, that is, spread out, meaning that He is there to give. It is because of the evil we do that our wealth is sometimes taken from us. And the discussion continues.