al-Anfāl 8:72-75 — The bond of walāya

Wa'lladhīna āmanū wa lam yuhājirū mā lakum min walāyatihim min shayʾin ḥattā yuhājirū · Wa ini'stanṣarūkum fi'd-dīni fa-ʿalaykumu'n-naṣru illā ʿalā qawmin baynakum wa baynahum mīthāq

"As for those who believed but did not emigrate: you owe them nothing of walāya (the bond of mutual protection) until they emigrate. If they ask you for help in the matter of religion, then help is your duty — except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty."

The verse's final record is worth recording: illā ʿalā qawmin baynakum wa baynahum mīthāq.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the placing of the exception: the obligation of help that comes by the bond of religion is limited by the bond of the treaty. That is: a word that has been given takes precedence over a call to solidarity.

And this overlaps with the fifty-eighth verse of the sūra: wa immā takhāfanna min qawmin khiyānatan fa'nbidh ilayhim ʿalā sawāʾ — even the breaking of a treaty is done by giving notice.

ن-ب-ذ is the root: to throw, to set aside. The root was treated in Maryam 19/16 and in al-Baqara. And ʿalā sawāʾ — "upon equality, openly": that is, with the other side being informed.

I record this as an observation: even in the middle of a state of war, the sūra regulates the procedure for a word that has been given.