Translation:
God is the friend of those who believe—He pulls them out of darkness into light. But those who disbelieve, their friends are the devils that pull them out of light into darkness. They are the companions in Hellfire, where they will stay.141
Interpretation:
141 The analogy above is very important to understand and have ingrained in our psyche. God befriends those who wish to follow His light and guidance. In a similar vein, those who wish to be rightly guided toward light, knowledge, and purity have to look toward God as the guiding hand and be willing to follow the values and prin- ciples laid down by Him and His prophets. The definition of a sincere believer is one who has a constant desire to follow the light of God and affirm his friendship with God on a daily basis and in the face of every temptation that the Devil may bring forth. In contrast, those who disbelieve and deny the guiding hand of God will seek out the Devil to be their guide and companion, and the Devil will lead them to igno- rance, immoral behavior, and oppression.
We also need to be able to distinguish between material well-being and spiritual well- being. Islam asks for a balance between what is material and what is spiritual, and going toward either extreme is discouraged. It is not the accumulation of wealth that is discouraged but how one acquires it and what one does with it. In a similar fashion, spirituality is good if it does not lead to arrogance or the deception of others.
Unfortunately, Muslims today are falling into the hands of the Devil more often than being in the presence of God. Some groups of people are pursuing wealth and comfort to the degree that they ignore the moral values and impact of others in the society and have no desire to increase the level of material well-being of the rest of the society. Unfortunately, also true is the fact that the vast majority of Muslims is being pushed to illiteracy and a lack of hope because they are unwilling and unable to better their futures and because they are leading lives of despair. Concerned and sincere Muslims need to rise to the occasion and demonstrate their friendship with God by increasing the human spirit within themselves and others, as the Prophet of Islam magnificently demonstrated in his lifetime of struggle, teaching, and mercy for mankind.
Reflection:
We need to understand the contrasts between God and the Devil, as this verse describes in simple terms but with broad meaning. The company we keep, the knowledge we seek, and the purpose for which we live have fundamentally important bearings in our lives and act as enormous levers that pull us toward the right or wrong direction. Islam has always symbolized God as truth, truth as light, light as knowledge, and knowledge as freedom, whereas falsehood, symbolized by the Devil, has always been associated with darkness, which refers to ignorance, which translates into despair and imprisonment.
Action:
Each one of us needs to make a very important choice in life: Who will be our friend and guide: God or the Devil? This choice should be made by focusing on the true purpose of who we are and what we want to be and not based on day-to-day circumstances where we react with or without the guiding hand of God. We also need to help others make the proper choices and make the world a better place for all people. Seeking knowledge and truth is a fundamental responsibility of a Muslim, and the Prophet of Islam once said that if you need to go to distant China to seek knowledge, then do so. Knowledge properly acquired and put to use for the benefit of humanity is an essential element of Islamic teaching, as the Prophet of Islam also said that if God wishes to benefit someone, He gives him knowledge. It is ironic that a religion that places so much emphasis on knowledge and whose early followers were the leading scientists, educators, and legal counsels of their times now has followers who fall far behind in literacy, who tolerate governance that is contrary to serving the common good, and who are lead by imams and leaders who are themselves inept and corrupt and dominate the mosques and the public. The beauty of this situation is that our great history teaches us that we can turn this around, just as the Prophet turned Arabia around and just as Muslims for over a thousand years contributed to the world in countless and productive ways.