Al-Wala' wal-Bara' (Loyalty and Disavowal)

Indeed, there is for you a good example in Ibrahim and those with him when they said to their people: Surely we are clear of you and of what you serve besides Allah; we declare ourselves to be clear of you, and enmity and hatred have appeared between us and you forever until you believe in Allah alone-- but not in what Ibrahim said to his father: I would certainly ask forgiveness for you, and I do not control for you aught from Allah-- Our Lord! on Thee do we rely, and to Thee do we turn, and to Thee is the eventual coming:

Allah declares that without doubt, Muhammad is truly His Messenger,

(Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.) and this quality includes every beautiful description. Allah praises the Companions of the Messenger , may Allah be pleased with them all,

(And those who are with him are severe against disbelievers, merciful among themselves.) just as He, the Exalted and Most Honored, said in another Ayah,

(Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers.)(5:54) This is the description of the believers; harsh with the disbelievers, merciful and kind to the believers, angry without smiling before the disbelievers, smiling and beaming with pleasure before his believing brother. Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah,

(O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you.) (9:123) The Prophet said,

(The parable of the believers in their kindness and mercy for each other, is that of the body: when one of its organs falls ill, the rest of the body responds with fever and sleeplessness.) The Prophet also said,

(A believer to another believer is like a building whose different parts enforce each other.)

Allah the Exalted says to His faithful servants, whom He commanded to disown the disbelievers, to be enemies with them, and to distant themselves and separate from them:

(Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him,) meaning, his followers who believed in him,

(when they said to their people: "Verily we are free from you...) meaning, `we disown you,

(and whatever you worship besides Allah: we rejected you,) meaning, `we disbelieve in your religion and way,'

(and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred forever) meaning, `Animosity and enmity have appeared between us and you from now and as long as you remain on your disbelief; we will always disown you and hate you,'

(until you believe in Allah alone,) meaning, `unless, and until, you worship Allah alone without partners and disbelieve in the idols and rivals that you worship besides Him.' Allah's statement,

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:

If Allah has loved a servant [of His] He calls Gabriel (on whom be peace) and says: I love So-and-so, therefore love him. He (the Prophet pbuh) said: So Gabriel loves him. Then he (Gabriel) calls out in heaven, saying: Allah loves So-and-so, therefore love him. And the inhabitants of heaven love him. He (the Prophet pbuh) said: Then acceptance is established for him on earth. And if Allah has abhorred a servant [of His], He calls Gabriel and says: I abhor So-and-so, therefore abhor him. So Gabriel abhors him. Then Gabriel calls out to the inhabitants of heaven: Allah abhors So-and-so, therefore abhor him. He (the Prophet pbuh) said: So they abhor him, and abhorrence is established for him on earth.

It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, Malik, and at-Tirmidhi).

Narrated AbuUmamah:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If anyone loves for Allah's sake, hates for Allah's sake, gives for Allah's sake and withholds for Allah's sake, he will have perfect faith.

Narrated AbuDharr:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The best of the actions is to love for the sake of Allah and to hate for the sake of Allah.

"The strongest bond of faith is loyalty for the sake of Allah and opposition for His sake, love for the sake of Allah and enmity for His sake

'offer counsel to every Muslim and to steer clear of every disbeliever. '^[1]

"The strongest bond of faith is love for the sake of Allah and enmity for His sake."^[1]

Narrated AbuHurayrah:
Suhayl ibn AbuSalih said: I went out with my father to Syria. The people passed by the cloisters in which there were Christians and began to salute them. My father said: Do not give them salutation first, for AbuHurayrah reported the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) as saying: Do not salute them (Jews and Christians) first, and when you meet them on the road, force them to go to the narrowest part of it.

"The declaration of faith, there is no god but Allah, requires you to love only for the sake of Allah, to hate only for the sake of Allah, to ally yourself only for the sake of Allah, to declare enmity only for the sake of Allah; it requires you to love what Allah loves and to hate what Allah hates^[1]

"Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, and hates for the sake of Allah, and whoever seals a friendship for His sake, or declares an enmity for His sake, will receive, because of this, the protection of Allah. No one may taste true faith except by this, even if his prayers and fasts are many. People have come to build their relationships around the concerns of the world, but it will not benefit them in any way.^[1]

In the Book of Allah (Qur'an) there is no ruling more apparent and significantthan the ruling of al- Wala' Wal Bara', after the requirement of Tawhid and the prohibition of its opposite

Islam of a man can never be accepted, even if he abandons polytheism, unless he shows enmity towards the disbelievers and polytheists, as Allah says in Surat al-Muja'dilah, verse: 22, You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred (people)

Shariat can be fostered through the sword.

Kufr and Islam are opposed to each other. The progress of one is possible only at the expense of the other and co-existences between these two contradictory faiths in unthinkable.

The honor of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects kafirs, dishonors the Muslims. To respect them does not merely mean honouring them and assigning them a seat of honor in any assembly, but it also implies keeping company with them or showing considerations to them. They should be kept at an arm's length like dogs. ... If some worldly business cannot be performed without them, in that case only a minimum of contact should be established with them but without taking them into confidence. The highest Islamic sentiment asserts that it is better to forego that worldly business and that no relationship should be established with the kafirs.

The real purpose in levying jizya on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that, on account of fear of jizya, they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honor and might of Islam.

. . .

Whenever a Jew is killed, it is for the benefit of Islam.^[2]

With regard to non-Muslims, the Muslim should disavow himself of them, and he should not feel any love in his heart towards them. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):...[quotes Quran 60:1 below]

Something else that will help you to stop mixing with non-Muslims is to remember that these kaafirs – even though they may have good manners and some good qualities – also do a number of seriously wrong things, any one of which is sufficient to nullify any good deeds that they may do. Among these evil things is the belief of the Christians – for example – that God is one of three (trinity), as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):...[quotes Quran 5:73 below]

Even if they give you some of your rights by treating you nicely, they do not give Allaah His rights and they do not give the Qur’aan its rights and they do not give our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) his rights. The rights of Allaah and His Book and His Prophet are more important than our personal rights. Remember this, for this is one of the things that will help you to hate them and regard them as enemies until they believe in Allaah alone, as mentioned in the aayah quoted above (interpretation of the meaning):...[quotes Quran 60:4 below]

The belief in al-wala’ wa’l-bara’ (loyalty and friendship vs. disavowal and enmity) is one of the most important basic principles of Islam. Just as faith increases and decreases, so too people vary in the extent to which they adhere to this important principle, and their adherence to it increases and decreases. But if this principle is destroyed completely in a person’s heart and he does not do what it implies, this means that faith has been destroyed entirely as well, and faith is the basis on which he loves the close friends of Allaah and hates His enemies. This principle is indicated by a number of verses in the Book of Allaah and ahaadeeth from the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). These include the following:...[quotes Quran 58:22, Quran 4:144, Quran 5:51, Quran 3:118, Muslim 1817, Bukhari 415, Muslim 33, below]

There are many such reports, which indicates that it is haraam to take the kaafirs as close friends and to love them. This friendship may take many forms, such as approving of their kufr, mixing with them and being friendly towards them, living with them, taking them as close friends, loving them, preferring them to the believers, referring to their laws for judgement and so on. See question no. 2179.

From the above, you will see that loving a kaafir is a serious matter, because it goes against one of the most important principles of Tawheed, which is loving and being loyal towards the believers, and disavowing and rejecting the disbelievers.