Al-Mumtahana (She that is to be Examined) - الممتحنة
60.8
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(Allah forbideth you not) to help and have relations with (those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes) i.e. from Mecca, nor helpe those who drove you out of it, (that ye should show them kindness) that you should have relations with them and help them (and deal justly with them) by honouring your pledges to them. (Lo! Allah loveth the just dealers) the just ones who honour their pledges. The latter are Khuza'ah, the people of Hilal Ibn 'Uwaymir, and Khuzaymah and the Banu Mudlij who signed a treaty with the Prophet (pbuh) before the year of the al-Hudaybiyyah and which stipulated that they will not fight against him, drive him out of Mecca or help anyone to drive him out of Mecca. It is for this reason that Allah did not forbid him from having relations with them.
God does not forbid you in regard to those who did not wage war against you from among the disbelievers on account of religion and did not expel you from your homes that you should treat them kindly an tabarrūhum is an inclusive substitution for alladhīna ‘those who’ and deal with them justly this was revealed before the command to struggle against them. Assuredly God loves the just.
60.8-9
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
Here a doubt may arise in the minds. It is all right to treat the disbelievers, who are not hostile, kindly, but should only they be treated unjustly? And should the disbelievers, who arc hostile, be treated unjustly? The answer is that in this context, the word justice, in fact, has been used in a special sense. It means: "Justice demands that you should not be hostile to those who are not hostile to you, for it is not justice to treat the enemy and the non-enemy alike. You have every right to adopt a stem attitude towards those who persecuted you for embracing Islam and compelled you to leave yew homes and pursued you even after your expulsion. But as for those who were not partners in persecuting you, you should treat them well and should fulfill the right they have on you because of blood and other relationships. "
The instructions to sever relations with the disbelievers given in the preceding verses, could cause the people the misunderstanding that this was because of their being the disbelievers. Therefore, in these verses it has been made clear that its actual cause is not their disbelief but their hostility to Islam and their tyrannical treatment of the followers of Islam. The Muslims, therefore, should distinguish between the hostile disbeliever and the non-hostile disbeliever, and should treat those disbelievers well who have never treated them evilly. Its best explanation is the incident that took place between Hadrat Asma', daughter of Abu Bakr, and her disbelieving mother. A wife of Hadrat Abu Bakr's was Qutaylah bint 'Abdul `Uzza, who wax a disbeliever and had remained behind in Makkah after the migration. Hadrat Asma' had been born of her. After the peace treaty of Hudaibiyah when the traffic opened between Makkah and Madinah, she came to Madinah to see her daughter and also brought sane gifts. Hadrat Asma' herself has related that she went to the Holy Prophet and asked: "Should I see my mother? And can I treat her as a daughter should treat her mother?" The Holy Prophet replied: "Yes, treat her as your mother. " (Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim). Hadrat Asma's son, 'Abdullah bin Zubair, has given further details of this incident. He says that Hadrat Asma' in the beginning had refused to see her mother. Then, when she received Allah and His Messenger's permission she met her. (Musnad Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim). This by itself leads to the conclusion that a Muslim's serving his unbelieving parents and his helping his unbelieving brothers and sisters and relatives is permissible when they are not hostile to Islam; Likewise one can spend one s charities also on the indigent among the dhimmis (Al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur'an; Ruh al-Ma ani)
(Verily ye have in them a goodly pattern for everyone who looketh to Allah and the Last Day…) [60:6-8]. Allah, exalted is He, says to the believers: "You have in Abraham as well as in the prophets and friends of Allah good role models, regarding their declaration of enmity towards their relatives who were idolaters, which should be emulated". So when this verse was revealed, the believers declared their relatives who were idolaters to be their enemies. They showed this enmity to them and absolved themselves of all the things that they did or believed in. Allah, exalted is He, knew that this was hard on the believers and so He revealed (It may be that Allah will ordain love between you and those of them with whom ye are at enmity) [60:7]. And He did just that when many of them embraced Islam, thus becoming brothers and friends. Consequently, they mingled with and married from among each other. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Umm Habibah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. As a result, Abu Sufyan mellowed a little. When he heard of the news of his daughter's marriage, he said while he was still an idolater: "He is an outstanding person, no harm shall come to him". Abu Salih Mansur ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bazzaz informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Abu Ya'la> Ibrahim ibn al-Hajjaj> 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak> Mus'ab ibn Thabit> 'Ami ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr> his father who said: "Qutaylah bint 'Abd al-'Uzza went to visit her daughter Asma' bint Abi Bakr and took with her gifts: desert lizards, clarified butter and dry cheese. However, Asma' refused to let her in her house and rejected her gifts. 'A'ishah went on behalf of Asma' to ask the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about this. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion) [60:8]. Asma' then let her mother into her house and accepted her gifts". This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu 'Abd Allah in his Sahih> Abu'l-'Abbas al-Sayyari> 'Abd Allah al-Ghazal> Ibn Shaqiq> Ibn al-Mubarak.
