The Quran

لا تَجِدُ قَومًا يُؤمِنونَ بِاللَّهِ وَاليَومِ الآخِرِ يُوادّونَ مَن حادَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسولَهُ وَلَو كانوا آباءَهُم أَو أَبناءَهُم أَو إِخوانَهُم أَو عَشيرَتَهُم ۚ أُولٰئِكَ كَتَبَ في قُلوبِهِمُ الإيمانَ وَأَيَّدَهُم بِروحٍ مِنهُ ۖ وَيُدخِلُهُم جَنّاتٍ تَجري مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهارُ خالِدينَ فيها ۚ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنهُم وَرَضوا عَنهُ ۚ أُولٰئِكَ حِزبُ اللَّهِ ۚ أَلا إِنَّ حِزبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ المُفلِحونَ

Ali Unal

You never find a people who truly believe in God and the Last Day loving toward those who oppose God and His Messenger, even if they be their (own) parents, or their children, or their brothers (and sisters), or their clan.¹ Those (are they) in whose hearts God has inscribed faith and has strengthened them with a spirit from Him (which is the source of their spiritual vigor and intellectual enlightenment). And He will admit them into Gardens through which rivers flow, therein to abide. God is well-pleased with them, and they are well-pleased with Him. Those are the party of God. Be aware: the party of God are those who are the prosperous.

As pointed out by Hamdi Yazır in interpreting this verse, this Qur’ānic statement should be understood in the light of, or considered together with, 60: 8–9. God never forbids the believers to be good and beneficial to others, even if they are unbelievers or hypocrites. He always orders goodness and justice. So what is forbidden in this verse concerning love is that a believer cannot love an unbeliever or the followers of other false religions because of their unbelief or false belief. The believers cannot prefer blood relations over the relationship created by faith. This means that the Qur’ān categorically rejects racism. It also forbids loving and taking for friends those who fight against the Muslims because of their Religion and who try to violate the most fundamental rights of human beings, notably the right to believe in God and obey His commands.