What Can We Learn From the Supplication of the Witr Prayer Regarding Our Relations With Non-Muslims?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: As salam alaykum,

In one part of the supplication of the qunut (Hanafi) in the Witr prayer there is the line “we alienate and forsake those who disobey You”. I believe the Arabic is ونخلع من يفجرك. What is the meaning of this part, and what can we learn from it in terms of dealing with non-Muslims or non-practising family and neighbours?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.

A superior translation of that line would be, “and we part and break off with all those who disobey You.” [see: What is the Preferred Method to Recite the Qunut Supplication?]

Imam Shurunbulali explains this line in his Imdad al-Fattah stating, “those who disobey You by denying Your blessings and worshipping other than You. We distance ourselves from them and their state by considering them to be non-existent out of supreme exaltation of You…we cast off their belief and their way, and we do not incline towards any of it.”

In those intimate moments of discourse, we affirm our belief in Allah Most High and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and negate all meanings of disbelief and those who associate themselves with it, just as we do so, for example, by saying the testimony of faith during the sitting (tashahhud).

However, this is not the way we determine how to deal with our non-Muslim colleagues and neighbours, particularly as it is merely a phrase taken out of context. Rather, Allah Most High Himself tells us in the Qur’an how to deal with non-Muslims by saying, “and He does not forbid you to deal kindly and justly with anyone who has not fought you for your faith or driven you out of your homes: God loves the just.” [60.8]

For further discussion, please see: Is it Haram to Befriend Non-Muslims? and: Friendship With Non-Muslims: Explaining Verse 5:51

And Allah alone gives success.

wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani