Do not take disbelievers as friends instead of believers (Surah An-Nisa' 4: 144)

The Prohibition of Wilayah with the Disbelievers


Allah forbids His believing servants from taking the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers. This includes being friends and associates of the disbelievers, advising them, being intimate with them and exposing the secrets of the believers to them. In another Ayah, Allah said,

Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers, and whoever does that, will never be helped by Allah in any way, except if you indeed fear a danger from them. And Allah warns you against Himself (Surah Al-‘Imran 3: 28)  meaning, He warns you against His punishment if you fall into what He has prohibited. This is why Allah said here,

Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest Sultan against yourselves  meaning, proof against you that warrants receiving His torment. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ibn `Abbas (Radhi Allahu Anhuma) commented;

manifest Sultan, "The word Sultan in the Qur'an means proof. '' There is an authentic chain of narration for this statement, which is also the saying of Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi, Ad-Dahhak, As-Suddi and An-Nadr bin `Arabi.


Source: Tafsir ibn Kathir (Abridged)