CAUSE OF THE REVELATION

      Many of the commentators have narrated that, after the Battle of Badr; EBAD- IBN- SطBIT, the HELPER said to the prophet:- ``I have many important and powerful confederates among the Jews, with whom we have been united in a league for long. But now that I have found them threatening Muslims, and that Allah has separated our accounts of theirs; I shall ignore my covenant with them, leaving the confederacy. I seek clearance from all our mutual obligations, and henceforth consider my only true friends my Lord Creator and His Messenger.''

      ABDULLAH- IBN- ABISELLUL, the grand hypocrite interrupted and said:- ``you are wrong Ebجd! You shouldn't do that! There are men of power and wealth among our Jewish confederates, and we should not break our union and friendship with them. I feel that we shall always be in need of such friends, and we have to keep on with their friendship and confederacy.''

      The prophet said to ABDULLAH:- ``My fear of your intimacy with the Jews is similar to my fear of EBAD'S friendship with them.''

      ABDULLAH answered:- ``If so, I too will cut off my friendly ties with them.'' He said so, but future proved that he kept his relations with the enemies of Islam safe and sound! The verse came down to define Muslim's relations with the Jews and a group of the Christians called NASطRط who lived in the suburbs of Median.

      The verse warns Muslims on their friendship with the Jews and a sect of the Christians who lived nearby.

      The Arabic word; `OWLIA' translated to `FRIENDS' here is rooted in the; `VALAYAT' which means extraordinary nearness. It also means confederacy and guardianship, considering the above mentioned cause of the revelation and other factors and verses; here, the purpose is not to cut all of the ties and relations with the Jews and the Christians. It rather means not to rely on their obligations to you, and depend not upon their compacts and union, and always try to rely upon yourselves.

      Worthy of consideration here is that the reference of the verse is not the PEOPLE OF THE BOOK which consists of all the Israelites, as well as the Christians. The emphasis is laied upon the Jews and NASطRط who were a sect, or a tribe of Arab Christians, and so all of them is not meant here.

      Then the verse by a short and concised sentence, gives the reasons for that order of separating the accounts, saying:- ``Some of them are friends to some others.''