Some Muslims claim that the Quran prohibits us from taking non-Muslims as friends and allies by quoting the following verses,

“The believers should not make the disbelievers their [supporting] allies rather than other believers – anyone who does such a thing will isolate himself completely from God – except when you need to protect yourselves from them.” (Al’Imran: 28)

“You who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as [supporting] allies: they are [supporting] allies only to each other. Anyone who takes them as an ally becomes one of them – God does not guide such wrongdoers.” (Al-Maaidah: 51)

These verses are often quoted to justify claims that Muslims should not be taking non-Muslims as their friends, or to curb our social relationship with the religious others. This is clearly not the intended message of the revelation. A look into the exigencies of tafsir of these verses, we will realise that they are in fact making a specific reference to forming alliances with non-Muslims who seek to harm the Muslim community. In addition, these verses were revealed against the backdrop of political hostility and not during peaceful times. According to At-Tabari and other scholars of tafsir, this verse is not a blanket prohibition for Muslims from dealing with religious others.

A careful examination of the overarching message of the Quran, together with the Prophetic practices, would render to us reject any narrow and exclusivist interpretations of these verses. There have been various verses in the Quran that call us to do good to non-Muslims and encourage us to establish good relations with them. Allah s.w.t. mentioned,

“And He does not forbid you to deal kindly and justly with anyone who has not fought you for your faith or driven you out of your homes: God loves the just.” (Al-Mumtahinah: 8)

As a matter of fact, besides his uncle who was also one of his closest confidantes, the Prophet s.a.w. also trusted several other non-Muslims in pivotal moments of the Islamic history, including during the event of hijrah, when he tasked Abdullah bin Urayqit to guide him and Abu Bakar r.a to safely reach Madinah. In fact, there were other various historical examples of the Prophet s.a.w. which demonstrated how Muslims can establish cordial and healthy social relationship with non-Muslims.