His saying - exalted and glorified is He -: "Indeed, your ally is Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed, those who establish prayer and give zakah while bowing." "And whoever allies with Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed, then indeed, the party of Allah will be the victorious." "O you who have believed, do not take those who have taken your religion in ridicule and play from among those who were given the Scripture before you and the disbelievers as allies. And fear Allah if you should be believers." (p-198) The address in His saying: "Indeed, your ally is Allah"; this verse is for the people who were told: "Do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies" [Al-Ma'idah: 51]; and "Indeed"; in this verse; is restrictive; it gives that meaning; and "ally"; is a generic noun; and Ibn Mas'ud read: "Indeed, your protector is Allah"; and His saying: "and those who have believed"; means: and whoever has truly believed among the people, not hypocritically; and they are those who "establish prayer"; the obligatory prayer with all its conditions; "and give zakah"; and here it is a general term for the obligatory zakah; and for voluntary charity; and for all acts of righteousness; as it is a means of increasing good deeds; a purification for a person from the filth of sins; so the believers give from that; each according to their ability; and Ibn Mas'ud read: "believed and those who establish"; with a conjunction. And His saying - exalted is He -: "while bowing"; is a phrase conjoined to a phrase; and its meaning is their description with the abundance of prayer; and He specified bowing with mention due to it being one of the greatest pillars of prayer; and it is a state of humility; so He expressed it by all of prayer; as He said: "and those who bow and prostrate" [Al-Baqarah: 125]; and it is an expression for the praying ones; and this is the saying of the majority of the interpreters; but it is agreed that Ali ibn Abi Talib gave charity while bowing; Al-Suddi said: This verse is about all believers; but Ali ibn Abi Talib - may Allah be pleased with him - passed by a beggar while he was bowing in the mosque; so he gave him his ring; and it was narrated in this that "the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - came out of his house and the verse had been revealed to him and he found a poor man; so he said to him: 'Has anyone given you anything?' He said: 'Yes, that man who is praying gave me a silver ring; and he gave it to me while he was bowing'; so the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - looked and saw the man whom Ali ibn Abi Talib - may Allah be pleased with him - had pointed to; and the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - said: 'Allah is the Greatest' and recited the verse to the people." Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And Mujahid said: The verse was revealed about Ali ibn Abi Talib; he gave charity while bowing; and in this (p-199) saying there is consideration; and the correct is what we have presented from the interpretation of the majority; and it has been said to Abu Ja'far: This verse was revealed about Ali; he said: "Ali is among the believers"; and the conjunction - in this saying - in His saying: "and they"; is a conjunction of state.

And a group said: The verse was revealed from the beginning because of 'Abadah ibn al-Samit; and it exonerates him from the Banu Qaynuqa. And Ibn al-Kalbi said: It was revealed because of a group who embraced Islam from the People of the Book; they came and said: O Messenger of Allah; our houses are far away; and there is no one to talk to us except your mosque; and our people have sworn not to associate with us; nor to support us; so the verse was revealed comforting them.

Then Allah, the Exalted, informed that whoever takes Allah and His Messenger; and the believers as allies; then he is victorious over all who oppose him; and the expression is general; ﴿For indeed, the party of Allah—they are the victorious﴾; this is a summary because the one who takes Allah and His Messenger and the believers as allies is from the party of Allah; and the party of Allah is victorious; so whoever takes Allah and His Messenger and the believers as allies is victorious; and "and whoever"; is intended to refer to the general category; not a specific individual; and the party: is the supporters; and those who belong to the leader of the party; and those who assist in what the party does; and from this is the saying of 'Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - regarding Hamnah - who was fighting in the matter of the slander -: "So she perished among those who perished."

Then Allah, the Exalted, forbade the believers from taking the Jews and the Christians as allies; and He characterized them with a description that urges the souls to avoid them; and that is taking their religion as a mockery and play by the believers; and mockery: is ridicule; and disdain; and it can be read as "huzū'an"; with the zay being pronounced and the hamzah; and "huz'aan"; with the zay being silent; and the hamzah; and it can be stopped at "huz'an"; with the zay being doubled and open; and "huzū'an"; with the zay being pronounced; and the waw being marked with tanween; and "huz'an"; with an open zay; marked with tanween; then the Exalted clarified the type of these that they are from the People of the Book; the Jews and the Christians.

And the readers differed in the grammatical case of: "and the disbelievers"; Ibn Kathir; and Nafi'; and Ibn 'Amir; and 'Asim; and Hamzah read: "and the disbelievers"; in the accusative; and Abu 'Amr; and al-Kisai read: "and the disbelievers"; in the genitive; and Husayn al-Ju'fi narrated from Abu 'Amr the accusative; Abu Ali said: The evidence for the one who read in the genitive is the carrying of the statement on the nearest governing word; and this is the language of revelation.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The disbelievers enter; according to the reading of the genitive; among those who took the religion of the believers as mockery; and it has been established that the disbelievers mocked in His saying: ﴿Indeed, We have sufficed you against the mockers﴾ [al-Hijr: 95]; and it has been established that the People of the Book mocked in the wording of this verse; and it has been established that the hypocrites mocked in their saying to their devils: ﴿Indeed, we are with you; we are only mocking﴾ [al-Baqarah: 14]; and whoever read "and the disbelievers"; in the accusative; carried it on the action which is: "do not take"; and the disbelievers are excluded from being included in the wording of this verse regarding their mockery; and Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: "and from the disbelievers"; with the addition of "from"; and this supports the reading of the genitive; and likewise in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: "from before you from those who associated partners."

And the verse distinguishes between the disbelievers and those who were given the Book. The predominant meaning of the term 'disbelievers' is that it refers to those who associate partners with Allah by worshipping idols. This is because they are further away in disbelief. And Allah, the Most High, said: ﴿Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites﴾ [At-Tawbah: 73]. Thus, He distinguished between them, intending clarification. All are disbelievers, and this is because the idol worshippers are disbelievers from every aspect. These groups are included with them in the ruling of disbelief, but they differ in ranks. The people of the Book believe in Allah and in some of the prophets, while the hypocrites believe with their tongues. Then Allah, the Most High, commanded to have fear of Him and alerted the souls with His saying: ﴿If you are believers﴾; meaning true believers.