On the basis of the following verse of the Qur’ān, some Muslim scholars are of the view that Muslims should never make friends with non-Muslims; in fact, they should show hostility and venom towards them:

لَا يَتَّخِذْ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (3:28)

Believers should not make friends with the al-kafirin leaving aside the believers. (3:28)

Similar verses read:

يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَنْ تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ سُلْطَانًا مُبِينًا (4 :144)

Believers! Do not make friends with the al-kafirin leaving aside the believers. Do you wish to offer God an open argument against yourselves? (4:144)

أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ (5 :51)

Believers! Take not these Jews and the Christians for your friends. They are but friends to each other. And he amongst you who turns to them [for friendship] is of them. (5:51)

A deliberation at the context of these verses, will show that, in principle, they are related to the divine practice mentioned in the Qur’ān according to which the direct addressees of a messenger of God are punished if they knowingly deny the truth delivered to them by the messenger. These verses specifically deal with the deliberate denial of Muhammad’s addressees. This deliberate denial is referred to in the Qur’ān in the following way:

وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِكُمْ كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنفُسِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ الْحَقُّ (2 :109)

Many of the people of the Book wish that if they could turn you away as disbelievers after you have believed out of envy from their own selves even after the truth has become manifest to them. (2:109)

فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ مَا عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِين(2:89)

When there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it. So let the curse of Allah be on the disbelievers. (2:89)

A little deliberation on the context of the prohibition of friendship verses quoted above shows that they were revealed in Madīnah in that phase of the Prophetic mission in which the Muslims were being told to separate themselves as a collectivity from the non-Muslims. This was because the latter could be identified as a collectivity that was soon to be visited by divine punishment if they continued to deliberately deny the truth. In other words, these verses relate to non-Muslims of the times of the Prophet (sws) who had denied the truth even though they were convinced of it. This is evident from the context in which the article alif lām (al) on al-kāfirīn (these disbelievers), on al-yahūd (these Jews) and on al-nāsārā (these Christians) refers to a specific category of non-Muslims: they were the direct and immediate addressees of the Prophet (sws) who had intentionally denied the truth communicated to them by him. Consequently, none of these verses relates to the non-Muslims of today.

(Dr. Shehzad Saleem)