Read through the lens of the Hadiths, Tafsir reports and biographies of the Prophet that constituted the first layers of Islam’s tradition, however, this verse was easily explained and misunderstandings easily defused. The word commonly misunderstood in modern colloquial Arabic and by Hirsi Ali as ‘friends’ (awliya’) actually meant ‘patrons’ or those to whom one has some commitment, either as a protector or a subordinate. The verse thus warns Muslims against taking the side of unbelievers against fellow Muslims in conflicts, since these other groups ‘are but allies of themselves,’ the Qur’an
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