Surah Al-Mumtahanah

Surah Al-Mumtahanah is the 60th surah of the Quran. It is a short Madani surah dealing with the loyalty of the believer: to whom he gives his friendship, how he treats those who are not Muslims, and how the Muslim community deals with the women who leave disbelief and join it.

Why is it called Al-Mumtahanah?

In 60:10 Allah commands: when believing women come to you as emigrants, «فَامْتَحِنُوْهُنَّ», test them. The surah is named after this command about the testing of the emigrant women (the word «ممتحنہ» means the woman who is tested).

Period and occasion of revelation

In Dhul-Qa'dah 6 AH the Prophet (ﷺ) made the Treaty of Hudaybiyah with the Quraish. One clause said that a man who came from the Quraish to the Muslims without his guardian's permission would be sent back. Soon after, believing women began to leave Makkah and emigrate to Madinah, and the question arose whether they too must be returned; ayat 10 to 12 answered it.

The Quraish later broke the treaty, and the Prophet (ﷺ) secretly prepared to march on Makkah (Ramadan 8 AH). At that time Hazrat Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah (RA), a Badr veteran, wrote a letter to the Quraish telling them of the coming march. The Prophet (ﷺ) learned of it by revelation and had the letter recovered (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim). The first ayat of the surah were revealed about this event (60:1).

According to the common view (Tafheem-ul-Quran) the surah therefore came in two parts: ayat 10 to 13 first, after Hudaybiyah, and ayat 1 to 9 shortly before the conquest; they were joined in one surah because they deal with the same subject.

Central theme and main topics

The central theme is that the believer's loyalty belongs first to Allah, His Messenger (ﷺ) and the Muslim community; relations with the enemies of Islam must not endanger the community, but justice and kindness are due to non-Muslims who live in peace.

• Do not take Allah's enemies as allies; the story of Hazrat Hatib (RA) (60:1 to 3)
• The excellent example of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and his companions (60:4 to 6)
• Hope of future affection, and kindness and justice to those who do not fight (60:7 to 9)
• The testing of the emigrant women and the rules about marriage and dowries (60:10 to 11)
• The pledge of the believing women (60:12)
• Final warning against befriending a people with whom Allah is angry (60:13)

Background

Hazrat Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah (RA) was an early Muslim who had migrated to Madinah and had fought at Badr. He was not from the Quraish by blood; his family was still in Makkah and he had no clan there to protect them. When the Prophet (ﷺ) was preparing in secret to march on Makkah in Ramadan 8 AH, Hatib wrote a letter to the Quraish telling them that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) intended to attack them, hoping they would remember the favour and protect his family. He gave it to a woman travelling to Makkah.

What happened (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

1. Allah informed the Prophet (ﷺ) of the letter. He sent Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Zubair and Hazrat Miqdad (RA) to a place called Rawdat Khakh, saying that a woman there was carrying a letter.
2. She first denied it; when they said they would search her, she took the letter out of her braided hair.
3. The Prophet (ﷺ) called Hatib and asked him what made him do it.
4. Hatib said that he had not apostatised and had no love for disbelief; he only wanted a favour with the Quraish because his family was there and he had no tribe to protect them, while the other Muhajirun had relatives in Makkah who protected their families.

The Prophet's (ﷺ) response

• The Prophet (ﷺ) said: he has told you the truth, and he accepted his explanation.
• Hazrat Umar (RA), out of zeal for the religion, asked permission to strike off his neck as a hypocrite. The Prophet (ﷺ) answered that Hatib had been present at Badr, and that perhaps Allah had looked at the people of Badr and said: do what you wish, I have forgiven you. Hazrat Umar (RA) wept.
• Allah then revealed the opening ayah of the surah, addressing Hatib and others as «يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا», O you who believe, so he was still counted a believer.

The lesson

• Giving the enemy secrets of the army or the state is a grave wrong, whatever the motive; the ayah says whoever does this has strayed from the straight path.
• Family love and worldly benefit must not override loyalty to Allah and the community; relatives and children will not benefit on the Day of Resurrection (60:3).
• Hatib's honesty and his Badr record saved him: a sincere believer who errs and admits it is dealt with mercifully, but the act itself is condemned.
• The Prophet (ﷺ) judged by the facts and the person's explanation, not by suspicion.

Hazrat Hatib's (RA) letter was sent out of love for his family in Makkah, but it endangered the security of the whole Muslim community and its plan for Makkah. The surah decides between the two: the security of the community comes first.

The points of the answer

1. National security comes first: the believers must not make Allah's and their own enemies close friends, nor pass them secret information out of affection (60:1).
2. The enemy does not respect family ties: if they gain the upper hand they become enemies and harm the believers with hands and tongues and wish them to disbelieve (60:2).
3. Relatives and children will be of no benefit on the Day of Resurrection; Allah will judge between all (60:3), so the hereafter must not be risked for family.
4. Family love is not forbidden in itself: Allah permits kindness and justice to non-Muslim relatives who do not fight the Muslims (60:8) and gives hope that affection may be restored (60:7); only betrayal of the community is forbidden.

After forbidding friendship with the enemies of Islam, the surah gives the believers a model to follow: Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and those who were with him, who broke with their own people for the sake of tawhid.

What Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and his companions did and said

1. They openly declared their disassociation from their people and from the idols they worshipped instead of Allah (60:4).
2. They said that enmity and hatred had appeared between them and the people for ever, until the people believe in Allah alone (60:4).
3. The one exception was Hazrat Ibrahim's (AS) promise to his father to ask forgiveness for him; this is not an example to follow, since he did so only as a promise and later gave it up when it became clear that his father was an enemy of Allah (the Quran explains this in 9:114).
4. They turned to Allah in dua: we rely on You, we return to You, to You is the final return (60:4).
5. They asked: our Lord, do not make us a trial for the disbelievers, and forgive us (60:5).

Ayah 6 repeats that this is an excellent pattern for whoever hopes for Allah and the Last Day, and whoever turns away should know that Allah is free of need and worthy of praise.

Lessons

• Faith is a bond stronger than blood: loyalty goes first to Allah.
• A believer states his belief clearly and does not hide it for fear of or love for others.
• A believer relies on Allah and returns to Him in repentance and dua.

The surah draws a clear line. It does not ask Muslims to be harsh to all non-Muslims, and it does not allow close friendship with those who are at war with Islam.

Principles drawn from the surah

1. Justice and kindness to the peaceful non-Muslim are a command, not a favour (60:8).
2. Alliance and close friendship are forbidden only with those who fight Islam and drive Muslims out (60:9).
3. Hope for better relations: Allah may put affection between the Muslims and those they now oppose (60:7).
4. The community's security is never to be risked for these relations (60:1 to 2).

In practice: Hazrat Asma bint Abi Bakr (RA) asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about her mother, who was still a polytheist and had come to her wishing for help, and he told her to keep good relations with her mother (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).

After Hudaybiyah believing women left their disbelieving families and came to Madinah. The treaty spoke of men; the Quran gave a separate ruling for women.

The rulings of 60:10 to 11

1. Test the women who arrive as emigrants. Only Allah knows the truth of their faith; the test is to make sure they came for Islam and not for a worldly reason (according to the tafsirs, they were asked to swear that they had left only for the love of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ)).
2. If they are found to be believers, do not send them back to the disbelievers: they are no longer lawful for their disbelieving husbands, nor those husbands for them (60:10).
3. Return to the husbands the dowry they had paid (60:10).
4. The Muslims may marry such women if they pay their dowries; and they must not keep disbelieving wives in their own marriage (60:10).
5. Both sides may ask for what they spent; if something is lost to the disbelievers, the Muslims whose wives went there are to be given the equivalent (60:10 to 11).

The women's pledge (60:12)

When believing women came to the Prophet (ﷺ) to pledge allegiance, they promised six things:

1. Not to associate anything with Allah
2. Not to steal
3. Not to commit zina
4. Not to kill their children
5. Not to invent a slander («بُهْتَان»)
6. Not to disobey the Prophet (ﷺ) in what is right («مَعْرُوْف»)

Hazrat Aishah (RA) said that the Prophet (ﷺ) took the pledge of the women by words only, and his hand never touched the hand of a woman he did not own (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim). Hazrat Umm Atiyyah (RA) reports that in this pledge the Prophet (ﷺ) also took a promise not to wail over the dead (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).

Ruku 1 (ayat 1 to 6) forbids making Allah's enemies close friends and secret informants (60:1), warns that they will harm the believers if they gain the upper hand (60:2), reminds them that relatives and children will not help on the Day of Resurrection (60:3), and gives the example of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and his companions (60:4 to 6).

Teachings

• Loyalty to Allah and the community comes before family and personal gain.
• Allah knows what is hidden and what is declared (60:1).
• Follow the example of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS): declare your belief openly and rely on Allah (60:4 to 6).

Ruku 2 (ayat 7 to 13) holds out hope of future affection between the believers and their present enemies (60:7), distinguishes between peaceful and hostile non-Muslims (60:8 to 9), gives the rules for the believing women who emigrate (the test, no return to disbelieving husbands, dowries, marriage) in 60:10 to 11 and the pledge of the believing women in 60:12, and ends with the command not to take as friends a people with whom Allah is angry, who have despaired of the Hereafter as the disbelievers in the graves have despaired (60:13).

Teachings

• Never lose hope that enmity can turn into affection (60:7).
• Be just and kind to the peaceful, firm with the hostile (60:8 to 9).
• Faith decides marriage bonds: a believing woman is not lawful for a disbelieving man (60:10).
• Rights are respected on both sides: dowries are returned (60:10 to 11).
• Women are full moral persons who pledge directly to the Prophet (ﷺ) (60:12).
• Do not befriend those who deny the Hereafter and have Allah's anger (60:13).

• Al-Mumtahanah is the 60th surah, Madani, 13 ayat, 2 rukus, para 28.
• The name comes from the command to test the emigrant women (60:10).
• The first ayat were revealed about Hazrat Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah (RA) and his letter to the Quraish, about 8 AH before the conquest of Makkah (Sahih Bukhari).
• Hatib was a Badr veteran; the Prophet (ﷺ) accepted his excuse and Hazrat Umar (RA) was told that Allah may have forgiven the people of Badr.
• The letter was carried by a woman and recovered at Rawdat Khakh by Hazrat Ali, Zubair and Miqdad (RA).
• 60:1: do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies.
• 60:3: relatives and children will not benefit on the Day of Resurrection.
• 60:4 to 6: the excellent example («أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ») of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and his companions; the exception is his promise to ask forgiveness for his father.
• 60:7: hope that Allah will put affection between the Muslims and their present enemies.
• 60:8: kindness and justice to those who do not fight; Allah loves the just («الْمُقْسِطِيْنَ»).
• 60:9: no friendship with those who fight the Muslims, expel them and help in expelling them.
• 60:10: test the emigrant women; do not return them to the disbelievers; return the dowry; marry them after paying dowries.
• 60:12: the pledge of the women: six promises (no shirk, theft, zina, killing children, slander, disobedience in what is right).
• The three words of the 80-list from this surah: «فَقَدْ ضَلَّ» (then he has certainly strayed), «سَوَآءَ السَّبِيْلِ» (the straight path), «بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ» (between us and you).

If an ayah of this surah is printed in the paper, spot it by these key words and know what the examiners ask.