If the below Sura is correct then why can Muslim men marry a woman who is Christian or Jewish?

Question

Sura 5:51

"Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. God does not guide the wrongdoers." (Dawood)

" O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk." (Pickthall)


This was from an email sent to me in regards to my answering a question that Muslims could be friends with Christians and Jews and Muslim men could even marry them. I don't know enough about the verses in the quran to answer him back and it got me wondering about this as it's a contradiction. Thanks for any help.

Thank you all for your informative answers. A special thank you to Fez, Eccentric and Muhammad for the links as they were most enlightening. I will keep them on file for future use.

Answer 1

It has to do with being in battle. I've read extensively about it but don't have the info. in front of me right now and am getting ready for bed. I believe a better translations would say protectors not friends. If you were going to war would you put somebody from the other side as your protector or friend? You wouldn't because you wouldn't know whether to trust them or not as they could be a spy etc.

I'll star this so you get a much better answer than what I gave you. G'night.

edit: I couldn't help myself. Here is your answer: http://www.answering-christianity.com/bassam_zawadi/friends.htm

Answer 2

Well, it is not a contradiction as Jewish & Christians are also considered Believers and are addressed in Koran as “People of the Book” and not just men, even Muslim Women can marry Jewish & Christians; but is it somehow considered offensive by Muslim Men for no good reason.

However, Jewish & Christians during the times of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were having coalition against Muslims are Islam was a newly introduced faith and was having so many things similar to Christianity except for trinity concept and a lot was common between Jewish & Muslim practices. Therefore, in order to safeguard the newly introduced ideology of Islam it was felt necessary by Allah (God) that Muslims might not mix up with the Jewish & Christians.

Whenever God addressed the “unbelievers” of the Jewish & Christians, He addresses them like this, “O! Unbelievers of the People of the Book”

Answer 3

What's racist or rather, intolerant, is your chosing to ignore any of the logic to this -- so you can rant against others. Judaism has obligations within a marriage that are Jewish based. Judaism is a community & family religion. Islam may think the woman is not very important to raising the kids (maybe that's what it is?) but in Judaism, it's considered that the MOM has the most influence & responsiblity in shaping them. In Judaism the woman is a key to the family & critical. So, to marry someone not Jewish means, the kids won't be Jewish. Fine, but not very effective if you want a Jewish family to go to services & holidays & study together. I don't know what Christianity believes.

Answer 4

Maam you have asked an excellent question. First see the translation of Khalifa:
(http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse)

“”O you who believe, do not take certain Jews and Christians as allies; these are allies of one another. Those among you who ally themselves with these belong with them. GOD does not guide the transgressors””

First of all the correct translation is above and here it has mentioned certain Jews and Christian not ALL. And in every religion u have good people and bad people too. I think it has clear ur mind……… but for the sake of discussion if we agree that the translation of pictal is also correct. Even then Quran has told about the era of prophet and not of today. And God is cautioning the people of that era that some Jews and Christian may be not ur friends and they are ur foe.

Please read the whole chapter from the source I have told and then u will get the idea that God has not ordered Muslims of today to act like that rather he is depicting the conditions of certain era of past and not of today.

Hope ur mind is now clear. Thanks for ur question as this type of questions clear the misunderstanding and minds of west.

Answer 5

Quran being the last message of Allah SWT, prophesises for
coming events. When Qur'an was revealved Christians and
Jews were awoved enemies, because Christians hated Jews for crucifying Jesus Christ. For hundreds of years they lived in Ghettos in Europe, as they were not allowed to live with Christians. Quran has prophesised that a time would come when Jews and Christians would join hands against Muslims. When such a time comes, it will not be permissible for Muslims to make friends with the unholy alliance. Whosoever does so, shall be counted amongst them. Therefore it is clear that Muslims can make friends with
people of the book who live in Muslim countries or declare their opposition to the alliance.

Muslisms are even allowed to marry Christians and Jews (peoople of the book) who live in Muslim countries or are not
enemies of Islam and Muslims.

So the Ayat you referred to is a proof of Quran's truthfullnes!

Javed Kaleem

Answer 6

The Sura you mentioned - I have not come accross this before - I'll check about it. Thank you.

Petaining to Muslims man can marry women of the old holy books such as Toorah and the Bible well learned women - I did read about it once, but I forget why they were allowed. In those days thousands of years ago - it is a different world - now we are living in a different era - I guess it is better not
- we are not so well learned about it now, not like the eras of Prophet Muhammad - it is better to stick to the common rule and regulation and when in doubt always consult a learned Iman for clearance of any doubts.

I am learning everyday about Islam and I hope we all can learn together for the rest of our lives for the better of us and our world community - may Allah bless us all

Answer 7

it does say this in Quran , before this message of Islam many Muslims had friends who were other religion and they used to tell them their plans and trust them so much , so it said to them be careful cause they can never be your friends , because Allah (swt) knows what they do when your back is turned and Allah (swt) is our friend and master and is with the Muslims so he is gona tell us , it is also for the future as well . like now so called Muslims leaders befriend other country leaders and then they listen to their advise and do as they say , but then they get stabbed in the back and have war - like iraq and iran - america helped iraq , fight iran , then attacked iraq after they became weak - see their tactics

Answer 8

The word awliya’ (“wali”), which we in the original Arabic text, has been commonly translated into English as “friends.” Given this translation, the verse appears to be a very clear statement opposing “normative” or “kindly relations” between Muslims and Jews and Christians, however, when we look at the traditional Quranic commentaries of Medieval times, which discuss the events surrounding the revelation of this verse, the modern translation becomes suspect.

Put within its proper historical context, the word awliya’ here does not mean “friends” at all. While it is true that one of the meanings of awliya’ is “friends,” it also has additional meanings such as “guardians,” “protectors” and even “legal guardians.” Interestingly enough, we find that when we consult the traditional commentaries on the Quran we are told that this verse was revealed at a particularly delicate moment in the life of the early Muslim community, and here it is necessary to explain, to a certain extent, what was the existential situation of the Muslims at this time in Arabia so as to situate verse 5:51 within its proper circumstances.

Before 5:51 was revealed, the Prophet of Islam and the Muslims had only recently migrated as a community from Makkah to Medina, some 400 km to the north. They had done so, according to Islamic histories, due to the persecution to which they were subjected at the hands of their fellow tribesmen and relatives in Makkah. Most Makkans worshipped various idols as “gods” and feared the rise of interest in the message of Muhammad within the city, even though Muhammad was himself a son of Makkah. The

Makkans feared the growing presence of the Muslims because the Muslims claimed that there was only one true God, who had no physical image, and who required of men: virtue, generosity and fair and kind treatment of the weaker members of society. This simple message, in fact, threatened to overturn the social order of Makkah, based as it was upon the worship of multiple gods and the privilege of the strong and the wealthy. It also threatened to disrupt the economic benefits of this privilege, the annual pilgrimage season when people from all over the Arabian peninsula would come to worship the many idols/gods at the Ka`bah—a cubical structure which the Quran claims was originally built by Abraham and his son, Ishmael, as a temple to the one God, before the decadence of religion in Arabia.

The message of Islam threatened to replace the social and economic system of Makkan polytheism, with the worship of the one God, Who—as in the stories of the Old Testament—would not allow that others be worshipped alongside Him. In this difficult environment the Prophet of Islam preached peacefully his message of monotheism and virtue, but he and his small band of followers were eventually driven from the city by torture, threats of assassination and various other forms of humiliation and abuse. The Muslims then migrated to the city of Medina where the Prophet had been invited to come and live in safety with his followers and where the main Arab tribes of the city had willingly accepted his message.

According to the commentary tradition in Islam, it was not long after this migration to Medina that verse 5:51 was revealed. Specifically, we are told that this verse came down around the time of the battle of Badr (2 A.H. / 623 A.D.) or perhaps after the battle of Uhud (3 A.H. / 625 A.D.). In these early days, even though the Muslim community constituted no more than perhaps a few hundred people and had already left the city of Makkah, yet the Makkans continued to confront them militarily, and these two early battles, as well as others, were crucial events in the history of the early Islamic community.

Militarily, the Makkans were a far more powerful force than the Muslims, and in addition, the Makkans had allies throughout Arabia. Given the small numbers of the Muslims, the Prophet and his fledgling community faced the real possibility of utter annihilation should they lose any of these early conflicts. Within this highly charged environment some members of the Muslim community wanted to make individual alliances with other non-Muslim tribes in the region. Within the city of Medina there were Jewish tribes who constituted a powerful presence in the town and who were on good terms with the Makkans, and to the north of the city there were also numerous Christian Arab tribes. Some Muslims saw the possibility of taking alliances with one or more of these groups as a way of guaranteeing their own survival should the Makkan armies ultimately triumph. This was the stark reality of Arabia at that time, that it was only through the protection of one’s tribe or one’s alliances with other tribes or clans that one’s own individual security was insured.

From the perspective of Islam, however, the Prophet realized that a young community, faced with great peril, could not allow such “dissension” in the ranks of the faithful as would be created by various individuals taking bonds of loyalty with other groups not committed to the Islamic message. Indeed, from the Islamic point of view such actions, had they been allowed, would have been a kind of communal suicide that would have seriously undermined Muslim unity, broken the morale of the community and perhaps caused the many individuals taking such alliances to lack fortitude in the face of the clear and present danger of the Makkan armies and their allies.

Keeping all these historical issues in mind, it becomes obvious that the translation of awliya’ as “friends” is wrong and that it should be rendered as “protectors” or “guardians” in the strict military sense of these terms. The verse should be read as, “Do not take Christians and Jews as your protectors. They are protectors to one another....” This is the message of the verse, and the appropriateness of this understanding is supported not only by the historical context for its revelation but also by the fact that nowhere does the Quran oppose simple kindness between peoples, as is clear from other Quranic verses such as,

God does not forbid that you should deal kindly and justly with those who do not fight you for the sake of [your] religion or drive you out of your homes. Truly, God loves those who are just. [60:8]

and

The good deed and the evil deed are not equal. Repel [the evil deed] with one that is better. Then truly the one, between you and he is enmity, shall become as a bosom friend. [41:34]

The holy Quran actually is far more complex in some matter than may be immediately apparent and requires a deep knowledge of both Quranic commentary and Islamic history to understand some verses. The very least that can be said is that it is a matter more complex than the rhetoric of extremists on all sides of this issue. I pray that this question and my answer may be something of an opening for greater understanding between all people of faith, people for whom the truth, and not rhetoric, must be paramount, precisely because in all religious traditions truth belongs to God.

Please read this link

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ar2kX7ENr76HESxbwGGUTs_ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070807071256AAqGLXs

Answer 9

Yes because they can all become Muslim, one religion.
Very simple.
One god, one religion.

Answer 10

here
islam can sleep wif the cris (not sexs like sleepover)
islam can eat wif the hindu
isalm can marry non islam UNLESS THE PERSON THE ISLAM MAN IS MARRYING HAS CONVERT TO ISLAM
TAT'A ALL
islam men can marry up to 5 women i mean not marry 5 times but can ev 5 wife at one times but he must know how to treat them equally