This Is What Al Qaeda Has to Say about Friendship with Non-Muslims

In a lecture posted online, Al Qaeda offers advice on friendship in which it asserts that Muslims should never become friends with non-Muslims, who are considered to be a perpetual enemy.

“Enmity towards infidels is a must,” says Abdul Samad, a militant Pakistani cleric in an audio lecture posted on jihadi online forums by Al Qaeda broadcaster Al-Sahab.

The lecture, "Standards of Friendship and Enmity in Islam," focuses on Islamic rules for relationships with non-Muslims, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) which translated an excerpt.

Abdul Samad uses the Koran to make the point that those who do not believe in Allah - even if they are relatives - are foes; that Jews, Christians and atheists are “enemies” of Islam; and that jihad is needed in order to get rid of “infidels” and spread Islam worldwide.

Cover of the Quran (Photo: Wikipedia)

Here are some highlights from the lecture as described by MEMRI (emphasis added):

• Our friendship, relationship and love should only be with the people who believe in Islam and Allah as the ruler.

• The people, who do not accept Allah as the ruler and do not believe in Islam are our enemy and we should disassociate ourselves from them even if they are our close relatives and from our tribe.

• The infidels, whether they are the Jews or Christians, atheists and polytheists, are the real infidels and are the enemies of Allah's faith (Islam).

• The people declared by Allah as our enemy can never be our friends.

• The non-believers are the enemies of our elderly people, women and children. They kill the Muslims with bombs either in Kashmir, Iraq, or Palestine. There is hardly a day when a Muslim escapes their cruelty.

The cleric’s words suggest that animosity in the Muslim world toward the U.S. and Israel is not connected to politics, but is rather a matter of faith:

“Our enmity towards Hindus is not due to the Kashmir issue; our enmity towards America is not due to Iraq and Afghanistan; the enmity between us and the Jews is not due to the Palestine; the real cause is that they do not accept our system and Islam,” he said (emphasis added).

“Our enmity towards them (the non-believers) will continue even if they renounce all their crimes,” he added.

According to the cleric, hostility is a requirement. “Enmity towards infidels is a must. It is part of our faith. Islam says the Muslims should stay away from the infidels and their countries,” he said.

And the solution is jihad: “The best way to get rid of them (infidels) is to continue jihad until the Allah's faith (Islam) is completely enforced all over the world.”

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