CORANO 5:51: Possono i musulmani essere amici dei cristiani e degli ebrei?
A nome di Dio, il Compassionevole, il Misericordioso.
O voi che credete, non sceglietevi per awliya i giudei e i nazareni, essi sono awliya gli uni degli altri. E chi li sceglie come alleati è uno di loro. In verità Allah non guida un popolo di ingiusti. (5:51)
Quando la parola araba 'awliya' viene tradotta come 'amici', il versetto appare discoraggiante alle relazioni amichevoli fra musulmani, cristiani ed ebrei. Questa interpretazione e' stata accettata da alcuni, ma, molti scolari musulmani e non musulmani preferiscono interpretare la parola araba 'awliya' come 'guardiani', 'alleati', 'protettori', e non come 'amici', come alcuni hanno suggerito.
Inoltre, 5:51 non si riferisce a tutti i cristiani ed ebrei, ma si riferisce soltanto a quelli che sono in guerra con la comunita' musulmana, 1400 anni fa. Il seguente versetto coranico prova che 5:51 si riferisce soltanto ai nemici che sono in guerra contro i musulmani e che loro non debbano essere presi come alleati o amici.
Traduzione: O credenti, non prendetevi per alleati (awliya) il Mio nemico e il vostro, dimostrando loro amicizia, mentre essi non hanno creduto alla verità che vi è giunta e hanno scacciato l'Inviato e voi stessi, solo perché credete in Allah vostro Signore. Se siete usciti in combattimento per la Mia causa, bramando il Mio compiacimento, pensate di poter mantenere segreta la vostra relazione con loro, mentre Io conosco meglio [di chiunque altro] quel che celate e quel che palesate? Chi di voi agisse in questo modo si allontanerebbe dalla retta via. (60:1)
Le seguenti citazioni sono di scolari musulmani e non le quali commentano il versetto 51 della quinta sura.
Professor Ibrahim Kalin dice:
The word awliya is the plural of wali, which is rendered in most English translations of the Qur’an as ‘friend.’ According to this interpretation, the verse reads as, ‘do not take Jews and Christians as friends’. Even though the word wali mean friend in the ordinary sense of the term, in this context, it has the meaning of protector, legal guardian, and ally. This rendering is confirmed by al-Tabari’s explanation that the verse 5:51 was revealed during one of the battles (the battle of Badr in 624 or Uhud in 625) that the Muslims in Medina had fought against the Meccans. Under the circumstances of a military campaign, the verse advises the new Muslim community not to form political alliances with non-Muslims if they violate the terms of a treaty they had signed with them. It is important to note that Muslims, Jews or Christians to whom the verse represent not only religious but also socio-political communities. The meaning of ‘ally’ or ‘legal guardian’ for wali/Awliya makes sense especially in view of Ibn Qayyim’s explanation that ‘whoever forms alliance with them through a treat [ahd] is with them in violating the agreement’. - (Religious Tolerance in World Religions [Copyright 2008 By Timpleton Foundation Press] – Ibrahim Kalin page 264)
Scolaro Muhammad Asad:
72 According to most of the commentaries (e.g., Tabari), this means that each of these two communities extends genuine friendship only to its own adherents – i.e., the Jews to the Jews and the Christians to the Christians – and cannot, therefore, be expected to be really friendly towards the followers of the Qur’an. See also 8:73, and the corresponding notes.
73 Lit., ‘the evildoing folk’: i.e., those who deliberately sin in this respect. As regards the meaning of the ‘alliance’ referred to here, see 3:28, and more particularly 4:139 and the corresponding note, which explains the reference to a believer’s loss of his moral identity if he imitates the way of life of, or – in Qur’anic terminology – ‘allies himself’ with, non-Muslims. However, as has been made abundantly clear in 60:7-9 (and implied in verse 57 of this Surah), this prohibition of a ‘moral alliance’ with non-Muslims does not constitute an injunction against normal, friendly relations with such of them as are well-disposed towards Muslims. It should be borne in mind that the term wali has several shades of meaning: ‘ally’, ‘helper’, ‘protector’, etc. The choice of the particular term – and sometimes a combination of two terms – is always dependent on the context. - (The Message of The Quran translated and explained by Muhammad Asad Page 233)
Malik Ghulam Farid:
756. The verse should not be construed to prohibit or discourage just or benevolent treatment of Jews, Christians and other disbelievers (60:9). It refers only to those Jews or Christians who are at war with Muslims and who are always hatching plots against them.
757. Jews and Christians forget their own differences and become united in their opposition to Islam. Truly, has the Holy Prophet said, ‘All disbelief forms on community’, viz., all disbelievers, however inimical to one another, behave like one when opposed to Muslims. - (The Holy Qur’an Arabic text With English Translation & Short Commentary By Malik Ghulam Farid page 250)
Maulana Muhammad Ali:
51a. All non-believers, whatever their own differences, had made common cause against Islam; this is what is meant by their being ‘friends of each other’. The Muslims are warned that they should not expect help or friendship from any party of them, whether Jews, Christians or idolaters. It would have been weakness of faith in the ultimate triumph of Islam if, from fear of a powerful enemy, they had sought help and friendship here and there are among a hostile people, as the next verse shows. When two nations are at war, an individual of one nation having friendly relations with the enemy nation is treated as an enemy; that is exactly what the Qur’an says here. - (The Holy Quran Arabic Text with English Translation, Commentary and comprehensive Introduction [Year 2002 Edition] by Maulana Muhammad Ali page 264)
Professor Olivier Leaman:
There are verses in the Qur’an which suggest a negative answer to this question. The first verse appears in 5. 51 of the Qur’an and says, ‘O, you who believe, do not take Jews and Christians as awliya. They are awliya to one another, and the one aming you who turns to them is of them. Truly, God does not guide wrongdoing people’ (5.51). The word awliya (sing. Wali) is commonly translated as ‘friends’. The verse appears to be a very clear statement opposing friendly relations between Muslims, on the one hand, and Jews and Christians, on the other. However, while it is true that one of the meanings of awliya is friends, it also means ‘guardians’ and ‘protectors’. According to many of the traditional commentaries on the Qur’an we are told that this verse was revealed at a particularly difficult moment in the life of the early Muslims community, and here it is necessary to describe the situation of the Muslims at this time in Arabia to put verse 5.51 within the right context. Qur’anic commentators do normally link verses with the particular context in which they were revealed, since it is this that gives them a guide to how they should be interpreted.
Before 5.51 was revealed, Muhammed and the Muslims had just migrated as a community from Mecca to Medinah. They had done so, according to the Islamic account, because of the persecution to which they were subjected at the hands of their fellow tribesmen and relatives in Mecca.
Most Meccans worshipped various idols as gods and were concerned at what would happen to the idol business given the rise of interest in the message of Muhammed within the city, even though Muhammed was himself from Mecca. Islam threatened to disrupt the economic benefits of annual pilgrimage season when people from all over the Arabian Peninsula would come to worship the may idols at the Ka’ba- a cubical structure
which the Qur’an claims was originally built by Abraham and his son, Ishmael, as a temple to the one God, before the corruption of religion in Arabia hid the monotheist message of Abraham and his successors. The prospect of the bottom falling out of the idol business could not have enthused those who made their living in it, so it is hardly surprising that Muhammed faced considerable resistance at the beginning.
Muhammed and his small band of followers were eventually expelled from Mecca and found sanctuary in Medinah. According to the commentaries, it was not long after this migration to Medinah that verse 5.51 was revealed. Specifically, we are told that this verse came down around the time of the battle of Badr (3.123) or perhaps after the battle of Uhud (3.152-3).
In these early days, even though the Muslim community continued no more than perhaps a few hundred people and had already Mecca, the Meccans continued to challenge them militarily, and these two early battles, as well as others, were crucial events in the history of the early Islamic community.
The Meccans were a far more powerful force than the Muslims, and in addition, the Meccans had allies throughout Arabia. Given the small numbers of the Muslims, the Prophet and his fledging 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 Medinah, there were Jewish tribes who constituted a powerful presence in the town and who were on good terms with Meccans, and to the north of the city there were also numerous Christian Arab tribes. Some Muslims thought it would be a good idea to make alliances with one or more of these groups as a way of preserving themselves should the Meccan armies’ ultimately triumph. The view might have been that a young community, in such dire straits, could not allow dissension in the ranks of the faithful as would be created by various individuals linking themselves with non-Islamic groups. So we can see that the translation of awliya as ‘friends’ is misleading and that it should be rendered perhaps 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 Interpretation is supported not only by the historical context of its revelation but also by the fact that nowhere does the Qur’an oppose simple kindness between peoples, as is clear from other Qur’anic verses. - (Jewish Thought: An Introduction [Copyright 2006] By Oliver Leaman Page 70 – 71)
Scolaro Jonathan A. C. Brown:
The word commonly misunderstood in modern colloquial Arabic… as friends (awliya) actually meant ‘patrons’ or those to whom one has some commitment, either as a protector or a subordinate. The verse thus warns Muslims against taking the side of unbelievers against fellow Muslims in conflicts, since these groups ‘are but allies of themselves’, the Qur’an explains. - (Misquoting Muhammad – The Challenge and choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy, By Jonathan A. C. Brown, page 210)
Inoltre, l'idea che i musulmani sono incoraggiati a non essere amici con i cristiani e gli ebrei non e' in armonia con diversi versetti dove il Corano ordina i musulmani al non discriminare nessuno.
O voi che credete, siate testimoni sinceri davanti ad Allah, secondo giustizia. Non vi spinga all'iniquità l'odio per un certo popolo. Siate equi: l'equità è consona alla devozione. (5:8)
O uomini, vi abbiamo creato da un maschio e una femmina e abbiamo fatto di voi popoli e tribù, affinché vi conosceste a vicenda. Presso Allah, il più nobile di voi è colui che più Lo teme. In verità Allah è sapiente, ben informato. (49:13)
Allah non vi proibisce di essere buoni e giusti nei confronti di coloro che non vi hanno combattuto per la vostra religione e che non vi hanno scacciato dalle vostre case, poiché Allah ama coloro che si comportano con equità. Allah vi proibisce soltanto di essere alleati di coloro che vi hanno combattuto per la vostra religione, che vi hanno scacciato dalle vostre case, o che hanno contribuito alla vostra espulsione. Coloro che li prendono per alleati, sono essi gli ingiusti. (60:8-9)
Propongo la seguente domanda a qualunque persona che ancora dice che i musulmani non possono essere amici dei cristiani/ebrei, utilizzando 5:51 come prova:
Perche' il Corano permette il matrimonio fra un uomo musulmano e una donna cristiana?
Oggi vi sono permesse le cose buone e vi è lecito anche il cibo di coloro ai quali è stata data la Scrittura, e il vostro cibo è lecito a loro. [Vi sono inoltre lecite] le donne credenti e caste, le donne caste di quelli cui fu data la Scrittura prima di voi, versando il dono nuziale - sposandole, non come debosciati libertini! Coloro che sono miscredenti vanificano le opere loro e nell'altra vita saranno tra i perdenti. (5:5)
In conclusione, quando esaminiamo il passaggio nel suo contesto storico, possiamo vedere che 5:51 proibisce i musulmani di allearsi con i cristiani e gli ebrei che sono in guerra contro i musulmani. Leggere 60:1 conferma questo. Inoltre, scolari musulmani e non hanno dichiarato che la traduzione appropriata per la parola 'awliya' e' guardiani, alleati, patroni e non amici, come qualcuno suggerisce.