(51–53) “O you who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies. They are allies of one another. Whoever among you takes them as allies is indeed one of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. * You see those whose hearts are diseased hastening to ally themselves with them, saying, ‘We fear that a reversal of fortune may befall us.’ Yet Allah may bring victory or some other command from Himself, whereupon they will regret what they concealed within themselves. * Those who believe will say, ‘Are these the ones who swore their strongest oaths by Allah that they were indeed with you?’ Their deeds have come to nothing, and they have become losers.”
After explaining the circumstances of the Jews and Christians and their objectionable qualities, the Most High directs His believing servants not to take them as allies. “They are allies of one another”: they support one another and form a united front against everyone else. You, therefore, must not take them as allies, for they are enemies in truth. They care nothing for the harm that befalls you; indeed, they spare no effort to misguide you. No one takes them as allies except one who is like them. This is why He said: “Whoever among you takes them as allies is indeed one of them,” for complete allegiance to them entails adopting their religion. A lesser degree of allegiance leads to a greater one, then progresses little by little until the servant becomes one of them.
“Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people”: those whose defining trait is wrongdoing, to which they continually return and on which they rely. Even if you brought them every sign, they would neither follow you nor submit to you.
When Allah prohibited the believers from taking them as allies, He informed them that a group of those who claim to believe nevertheless ally themselves with them. He said: “You see those whose hearts are diseased”—that is, afflicted by doubt, hypocrisy, and weakness of faith. They say that they ally themselves with them out of necessity, for “we fear that a reversal of fortune may befall us.” That is, they fear that the Jews and Christians may gain the upper hand; if they do, these people will have rendered them a service for which they will be repaid. This reflects their evil suspicion of Islam. Refuting their evil suspicion, the Most High said: “Yet Allah may bring victory,” by which Allah will give Islam ascendancy over the Jews and Christians and enable the Muslims to overpower them, “or some other command from Himself,” which will cause the hypocrites to despair of the disbelievers—Jews and others—ever prevailing. “Whereupon they will regret what they concealed”—that is, harbored—“within themselves.” They will regret what they did and the harm it caused them without bringing them any benefit. The victory then came through which Allah supported Islam and the Muslims and brought disbelief and the disbelievers low. They were filled with regret and afflicted by anguish whose extent Allah alone knows.
“Those who believe will say,” in astonishment at the condition of those whose hearts are diseased: “Are these the ones who swore their strongest oaths by Allah that they were indeed with you?” That is, they swore, reinforced their oaths, and made them solemn with every form of emphasis, claiming that they stood with you in faith and in all that faith entails—support, love, and allegiance. Yet what they concealed became manifest and what they had kept secret was exposed. Their plot and their assumptions about Islam and its people proved false: their plot was thwarted and “their deeds” in this world came to nothing. Thus “they have become losers,” for their objective eluded them, while misery and punishment overtook them.