Title: Relations between Muslims & Non-Muslims - Explanation of Al-Nisaa 4: 144 Question: Could you please explain this ayah in the light of Qur'an and Hadith and your religious knowledge? O you who believe! do not take the unbelievers for friends rather than the believers; do you desire that you should give to Allah a manifest proof against yourselves? ( Al-Nisaa 4: 144) May Allah reward you for this. Thanks Atif Sajid Answer: The referred verse, as is clear from its context in the Qur'an, relates to the time when the Islamic state, under the leadership of the Prophet of God, was in a state of war against the rejecters of the Prophet (pbuh). It was a time when, according to the Qur'an, truth had become manifest from falsehood and the path of God had clearly become distinct from that of transgression and sin. It was under these circumstances that the Qur'an, in Al-Nisaa 4: 141 - 142 has warned the hypocrites against their conspiracy against the Muslims, even after the truth had become absolutely clear for them, through the messenger of God. In these verses, the Qur'an has first criticized the hypocritical attitude of those, who were not willing to clearly take sides with any of the two conflicting groups - the believers and the rejecters - and wanted to wait till the time that either of the two groups was granted a clear victory over the other. This, as the Qur'an has pointed out, was their cowardly strategy to keep their options open till any of the groups emerges victorious. It is also quite predictable that in their efforts of proving their sincerity to the rejecters, they would sometimes even reveal some of the secret strategies of the Muslims. It is, in fact, this attitude of the hypocrites and the weak Muslims, of taking sides with the rejecters and preferring them over the believers, which is criticized and warned against in the referred verse. Regards, Moiz Amjad September 22, 2001