Sūrah Al-Mumtaḥanah She Who Is Examined: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahAl-MumtaḥanahMedinanRelations with non-Muslim family and community

Key Fiqh IssueMuwālāh (deep alliance) vs. muʿāmalah (dealings) which is permitted with non-Muslims?Muwālāh ḥarām / Muʿāmalah permittedCritical distinction for Muslim-nonMuslim relations in fiqh

School ComparisonAll four schools: muwālāh with hostile non-Muslims is ḥarām; muʿāmalah with non-hostile non-Muslims is permitted; birr (goodness) to non-hostile non-Muslim relatives is permitted by consensusProhibited / Permitted (context-dependent)Context of hostility is the legal trigger for prohibition

Uṣūl PrincipleFurūq legal distinctions between types of relationshipsCategorical differentiationPrevents over-application of prohibition to all non-Muslim relationships

Al-Qurṭubī derives the central legal distinction of this surah from verses 8-9: verse 8 permits muʿāmalah and birr (dealing justly and showing goodness) with non-Muslims who do not fight Muslims over religion; verse 9 prohibits tawallī (allegiance) only to those who fight Muslims over religion and expel them from their homes. The distinction is not between Muslim and non-Muslim but between hostile and non-hostile non-Muslims.

Al-Qurṭubī maps the four permitted forms of relationship with non-hostile non-Muslims: (1) commercial dealings (buyūʿ, contracts), (2) financial obligations (nafaqah to non-Muslim parents), (3) gifts and courtesies (hadāyā), (4) treatment with justice (ʿadl). The prohibited muwālāh is taking non-Muslims as awliyāʾ trusted allies who hold Muslims' secrets, are relied on in governance, or are given political loyalty over Muslim interests. The uṣūl principle of furūq (legal distinctions) prevents collapsing all non-Muslim relationships into one prohibited category.

لَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ Lā yanhākumu llāhu ʿani lladhīna lam yuqātilūkum fī l-dīn Meaning: "Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you over religion..." Al-Qurṭubī: this verse is the primary Qurʾānic permission for positive relations with non-hostile non-Muslims; al-Qurṭubī notes it establishes that religion alone is not the ground for prohibition hostility is. The verse permits birr (goodness) and qisṭ (justice) as two positive relationship modes.

إِنَّمَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ قَاتَلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ Innamā yanhākumu llāhu ʿani lladhīna qātalūkum fī l-dīn Meaning: "Allah only forbids you from those who fought you over religion..." Al-Qurṭubī: "innamā" (only) restricts the prohibition it is not a blanket prohibition against all non-Muslims; the specific criterion is active hostility toward Muslims over religion and expulsion from Muslim lands.

The critical legal distinction: muwālāh (deep political allegiance) to hostile non-Muslims is ḥarām; muʿāmalah (dealings) and birr (goodness) to non-hostile non-Muslims is permitted.
Commercial dealings, financial obligations, gifts, and courteous treatment of non-hostile non-Muslims are permitted by consensus across all four schools.
Birr (goodness) to non-Muslim parents, relatives, and neighbors who are non-hostile is permitted and recommended kinship and neighborly rights are not cancelled by religious difference.
The prohibition triggers on hostility non-Muslims who actively war against Muslims or expel them from their lands are the sole target of the prohibition.
Al-Qurṭubī applies this surah to derive that unjust treatment of non-hostile non-Muslims under a Muslim ruler is itself prohibited justice (qisṭ) is owed to all.

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