Mincing the message of the Quran

All praise is due to Allah, the Magnificent, the Magnanimous. Peace & blessings on our noble Prophet Muhammed, his family and his righteous companions.

Asalamalaikum wa rahmatullah wabarakatu dearest Muslims.

A little while back someone received an email from a sister discussing her views on the ayat number 24 from Surah At-Tawbah, which says; 
"If your fathers and your sons and your brethren and your mates and your kinsfolk and property which you have acquired, and the slackness of trade which you fear and dwellings which you like, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His way, then wait till Allah brings about His command: and Allah does not guide the transgressing people." 
In her words, “This verse clearly indicates that one's love for God has to be superior to one's love for everything else that one may come to love in one's life.”
And then she went on to describe how love for Allah Azawjal should be absolute.  The sister's intentions maybe sound, however, her details on that ayah were incomplete. She addressed only a portion of the ayat, while leaving out the other.  

This is often the case with those who fear discussing topics related to jihad feesabililAllah and offer incomplete tafsirs of the ayah or mince words. And this approach is also akin to those who are among the pacifist group in the Ummah.

Please allow me to explain, Insha'Allah.

The interpretation for this ayah is incomplete/ partial since it does not deliver the absolute message of the ayah. In addition to that, by relying on the English interpretation alone and ignoring the Arabic shari' details, the interpretation is misleading.

Imam Ibn Kathir's (RaheemAllah) tafseer of this ayah is under the title “The Prohibition of taking the Idolators as Supporters, even with Relatives.” The noble Imam then states how in this ayah,

“Allah commands shunning the disbelievers, even if they are one's parents or children, prohibits taking them as supporters it they choose disbelief instead of faith.”

So specifically, as Imam Ibn Khathir (RA) has highlighted that the first part of the ayah deals with disliking the disbelievers even if they are one's parents.

The second part of the ayah is a reminder for the Muslims that Jihad is an essential part of Islam & it should be loved for the sake of Allah. And here to avoid any confusion we refer to the meaning of jihad that Islam assigned it, or in other words the definition that the shariah gave jihad, which is fighting in the path of Allah. Yes, the sister was correct when she used the word "striving" to interpret the meaning of "Jihad" in the ayah.  However, that is the linguistic meaning and hence inaccurate as far as Islam and Muslims are concerned.

In fact, this ayah is often used as a daleel by the ulema with the correct aqeedah to emphasize the critical role of jihad for the ummah. In the same tafseer, Imam Ibn Khatir supports this by mentioning the authentic hadith of Prophet (pbuh),
“If you transact in Iynah, follow the tails of your cows, become content with the life of agriculture, and abandon jihad, then Allah will send on you disgrace that He will not remove until, you return to your religion.” (Ahmad 2:42 and Abu Dawud:3643).

Here, Prophet (pbuh) equated jihad or fighting in the path of Allah to returning to one's religion.

In conclusion, the ayah prescribes to Muslims what in our creed is referred to as “Al-walaa-wal-baraa”, i.e. loving something for the sake of Allah and hating something for the sake of Allah. So essentially, the Muslims ought to love Allah, his Prophet (pbuh), and jihad (fighting) in his cause. And in contrast Muslims should hate the disbelievers for the sake of Allah., even if those disbelievers are their parents.

I hope Insha'Allah I have conveyed clearly what was intended. I urge Muslims to InshahAllah research the ahadith & the tafsir I have quoted herein. We should never take for granted any view points on the Quran and the Sunnah without throughly researching the classical sources.  

I pray that may Allah enable us to correctly follow the true source and guidance, the Quran & the sunnah of Prophet (pbuh).

All praise is due to Allah and all mistakes are mine alone. And Allah knows best.