Enmity and affection (al-adawa wal-mawadda)

"Enmity" (al-ʿadawa) and "affection" (al-mawadda) are two terms in a verse of Surat al-Ma'ida ¹. Muhammad Rashid Rida defines enmity as a hatred whose effect appears in speech and action, and affection as a love whose effect appears in speech and action. In this he differs from the majority of scholars, who understood affection simply as love ¹.

Rida mentions a view that traces enmity and affection to the competition over interests and power, carried out in the name of religion or of worldly matters, and says it is "correct as a whole but not in its details." He then holds that the true cause is the spiritual state produced by religious traditions and by moral and social upbringing, and that this is neither religion alone nor descent alone. This is his reading, attributed to him; it is not presented as a general ruling among exegetes ^{2 3}.

In explaining Qur'an 5:82, Rida holds that the closeness of Christians in affection is due to the priests and monks among them, who teach people and embody asceticism and humility. He holds that the distance of Jews and polytheists from affection is due to traits they shared, such as arrogance, tribal partisanship and selfishness, which he discusses in the context of the verse ^{3 4}.

Rida responds to those who ask about the Crusades. He holds that the Crusaders' picture of Muslims was distorted, and that wars between states have political causes that are not to be attributed to the nature of religion. This is his opinion, and it is recorded here as attributed to him ^{5 6}.