Translation:
People of Faith should favor friendship with other people of faith and not with the deniers of faith [who are in active opposition]. Such friendship is to sustain your faith and to guard against those who are in opposition and guard yourselves with diligence. God cautions you to avert His displeasure, and to God is the eventual destiny.176
Say, “God is ever powerful over all things—He knows what one hides in his or her heart or exposes it, and He knows what is in the universe and what is on Earth. On a day [the Day of Judgment or during our daily existence], every soul will find itself confronted by what it has done of good or of evil and would wish that itself and its evils were far apart. God continues to caution you about Him while He is ever Compassionate to His creations.”177
Interpretation
176. The conflict between faith and lack of faith is ever present in our social dialogues, freedom of expressions in public squares, in the bedrooms, and in our living rooms. Sometimes it is not necessarily lack of faith but different shades or theologies of faith. To reinforce their faiths, people of similar faith build temples, synagogues, churches, and mosques and meet for social outings. Also, when there are real conflicts that manifest themselves in the form of violence, sectarian war, or civil war, it becomes ever more important to only mix with people you can trust and can relate to. While this verse was revealed at times of such conflicts between the newly formed Muslim community and the larger communities, another set of verses, 60:8–9 makes it amply clear that such restriction or guidance is more of an exception. There are conservative elements in various religions, including Muslims who take such verses and try to impose communal isolations and segregation. This is unacceptable and should not be the norm.
177. As humans and as a people of faith, we are bound to make mistakes and fall short of our own expectations, let alone how we follow the guidance of our Maker. We should be under no illusion that God is unaware of our whereabouts or our doings at any given moment, whether in public or in private. We should also recognize that sooner or later our good works and evil deeds will be exposed to our own sense of accountability as well as to fellow human beings. It is a matter of paramount importance that our faith in God and our commitment to fellow human beings always be kept in the forefront in our daily dealings with ourselves, our family, our coworkers, our community, and our neighbors as well as strangers so that we will never have to regret our past or be afraid of our future. Eventually we will return to our Maker, and we will be made to face and reconcile our lifelong pursuits and priorities but will be extended no opportunities to amend, an opportunity that is available only in our current life on this planet.
REFLECTION
The elegance of Islam is its uncompromising stance on the oneness of God and oneness of guidance for human society. This is the fundamental truth that humanity needs to acknowledge so that we can build our common humanity.
ACTION
The Muslims and all people of faith have a fundamental responsibility to unify among ourselves and to unify the world based on this unique message of oneness of God and oneness of human purpose. Frankly, there has been a serious lack of unity and purpose among Muslims and among the leaders of the world. We need to act responsibly, be God conscious, and truly appreciate the purpose of human existence on this planet and not get swayed by party politics, personal ego, ethnic biases, religious dogma, harmful ideology, and evil inclinations.