Belief In The Friends

Although socially attractive, belief in the friends is neither a part of pillars of Islam nor one of the articles of faith. However, befriending the non-Muslims is traditionally considered as a severe threat to the faith. Given the diversity among both Muslims and non-Muslims, this traditional opinion on "who to befriend" needs to be scrutinized.

First, let's see some Quranic verses that are pointed at by the conservatives to admonish the believers who not to befriend:

O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves, for they will not spare you [any] ruin. They wish you would have hardship. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater. We have certainly made clear to you the signs, if you will use reason. (3/118)

Let not believers take disbelievers as allies rather than believers. And whoever [of you] does that has nothing with Allah, except when taking precaution against them in prudence. And Allah warns you of Himself, and to Allah is the [final] destination. (3/28)

O you who have believed, do not take the disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do you wish to give Allah against yourselves a clear case? (4/144)

Now, let's think. Today, we see a bewildering mix of people. There are people who do good deeds, Muslims or non-Muslims, and there are those who do evil, again Muslim or non-Muslim. Let's also appreciate the fact that we are all human beings, and the good-acting people might commit evil at times, be them Muslim or non-Muslim, and the evil-acting people might commit good at times, be them Muslim or non-Muslim. We all know that our friends, I mean real friends, shape us in the long run. So, if we have only Muslim friends, but who support hatred, injustice and violence for whatever reason or who are into unethical actions, are we obeying God? By distancing ourselves from the non-Muslims who are just, open-minded and angel-like, are we obeying God?

In a previous blog on who really is a disbeliever, I had argued that the description of a disbeliever in the Quran mostly relies on the actions rather than the words that come out of the mouth. In fact, if you look at the contexts of the above verses, too, you see that they are presented in conjunction with a certain set of evil actions. So, a person who does not believe in Islam but is not committing those evil actions do not fall under the "do not befriend" title. Then, it is not the difference of opinion, nor the difference of faith for that matter, among people but the hypocrisy and evil actions that are discredited by Allah. Indeed, another Quranic verse endorses this conclusion:

Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly. (60/8)

In fact, this is not the only place where the actions are highlighted:

And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a [single] silver coin, he will not return it to you unless you are constantly standing over him [demanding it]. (3/75)

They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allah during periods of the night and prostrating [in prayer]. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds. And those are among the righteous. And whatever good they do - never will it be removed from them. And Allah is Knowing of the righteous. (3/113-115)

What's more, the title of "Muslim" doesn't come for free, either. The believers are entitled to act upon their faiths, if they are really what they say they are:

You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah . (3/110)

Now, I would like to build on this surprising conclusion a not-well-known construct. To do that, first, I am going to put forward a hadith:

Narrated Abu Sa`id:
The Prophet (pbuh) said, "You will follow the wrong ways, of your predecessors so completely and literally that if they should go into the hole of a mastigure, you too will go there." We said, "O Allah's Messenger! Do you mean the Jews and the Christians?" He replied, "Whom else?" (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 3456)

This hadith is used in the hands of the extreme conservatives against befriending the people of the book. But we can rethink these words of the messenger of God in the light of our current context. If the criticisms in the Quran are based on the actions and not the identities, then this hadith, too, must have to do with actions rather than identities. Indeed, when the first believers were oppressed and tortured by the Meccan disbelievers, Muhammad pbuh had sent some of the Muslims to Abyssinia (today Eritrea), because they were People of the Book and because there was a just ruler.

If both the Quran and the hadith are treating people by their actions, rather than their identities, and if the Muslims are described as analog to the "people of the book" in the hadith above, it is plausible to unite Muslims, Christians and Jews under the same title of People of the Book. In fact, everybody who live by the teachings of a religion that is linked to a past revelation of God other than these three can be united under the same title. Now let's see what we can learn from the Quran with this new perspective.

First of all, according to this perspective, it makes more sense to befriend someone whose actions are Muslim but whose identity is not Muslim. By the same token, it makes more sense to distance ourselves from someone whose actions are not Muslim but whose identity is Muslim.

Second, in the Quran, people of the book are invited to a race to do good: "So race to [all that is] good." (2/148). This invitation to compete in doing good is the recipe for global peace.

Third, Quran invites the people of the book to read the book of God and check/correct themselves accordingly (e.g. 3/183, 3/66). Along the same lines, Quran warns the people of the book against the interference and the artifacts due to people who carry high societal ranks due to religion (high priests, imams, etc.) (e.g. 9/31, 57/27). So, an uninterrupted and unmediated relationship with the book of God is essential for the establishment of peace on the planet, which really means Islam. On this third item, you can further read A Rationale and Antidote for the Greatest Trouble - Part 3 and When is Quran Quran?.

I would like to close this discussion by a passage from the Bible that resonates with our current analysis:

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”(Luke 10:25-37)