Can Muslims be friends with non-Muslims?

What the scholars permit

Ibn Baz, in his answer on how a Muslim deals with a non-Muslim, lists a series of things that are mashrū' — legislated and good — for the Muslim toward the non-Muslim, whether that person is a dhimmī living under Muslim rule, a resident of his own country, or someone in whose land the Muslim lives.

• Calling them to Islam: this is the greatest kindness a Muslim can offer, and Ibn Baz calls it "the most important of duties and among the most excellent of acts of nearness."
• Not wronging them: in life, wealth or honour — no theft, no betrayal, no cheating, no striking. Their covenant or safe-conduct protects them.
• Trade and dealings: buying, selling, hiring and the like are permitted. The Prophet ﷺ bought from idolaters and from Jews, and died with his shield mortgaged to a Jew for food he had bought for his family.
• Good neighbourliness: if they are neighbours, you treat them well, do not harm them, give charity to them if poor, give gifts, and advise them in what benefits them.
• Charity: giving voluntary charity to a non-Muslim who is not fighting you is legislated, on the basis of the verse in Surah al-Mumtahanah.

The verse that sets the boundary

The scholars ground this whole area in one verse, which Ibn Baz cites in both his answer on dealing with non-Muslims and his answer on donating blood:

"Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly."— Qur'an 60:8

The verse draws the line itself: kindness and justice are not forbidden toward the non-Muslim who is not at war with you. What is forbidden is something else — walāyah and muwālāt, the loyalty and love that belongs to faith.

What is not permitted

IslamWeb, answering a man who wanted to befriend a European woman in order to learn her language, ruled that this is not permitted for any reason, and gave the reasoning in layers:

• The ajnabiyyah barrier comes first: a man may not take up companionship with a woman who is not his mahram, whatever the stated purpose, because "you are not safe from the steps of Shaytan."
• Then the kufr barrier: the woman is also a disbeliever, and Allah has forbidden us muwālāt and muwādah toward disbelievers.
• The environment matters: she belongs to a society in which immorality is widespread, so the danger is compounded.

The fatwa cites two verses for the loyalty prohibition:

"O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you — then indeed, he is one of them."— Qur'an 5:51

"You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred."— Qur'an 58:22

Ibn Baz makes the same distinction in his ruling on commercial partnership with a non-Muslim: the partnership is permissible if it involves no corruption, no making lawful what is forbidden, and no muwālāt or taking him as a friend. He adds that keeping away from this is safer, and that many scholars disliked partnership with a disbeliever — but if it happens, it is valid, provided it is purely a partnership of capital for profit, with no loyalty, love or friendship attached, "for the obligation is to hate him for the sake of Allah."

Friendship, partnership and service

The rulings separate three things that English collapses into one word:

On that last point, Ibn Qudamah records Ahmad's position in the narration of al-Athram: a Muslim may not hire himself out to a dhimmī for his service, because the contract entails the Muslim being detained under the disbeliever and humiliated by him. But hiring himself out for a specified job — sewing a garment, fulling cloth — is permitted, because 'Ali رضي الله عنه hired himself to a Jew, drawing water for a date per bucket, and told the Prophet ﷺ, who did not object.

What this means in practice

The scholars are not asking the Muslim to be cold or hostile. Ibn Baz's list is full of positive obligations — charity, gifts, good neighbourliness, calling to Islam. What they forbid is the inner loyalty that would make a Muslim's heart belong to the disbeliever's cause, and the close private companionship that the Shari'ah closes off for other reasons.

So a Muslim may have non-Muslim colleagues, neighbours, business partners, classmates and acquaintances, and should treat them well. What the rulings do not permit is the intimate friendship of confiding loyalty — and where the person is of the opposite sex and not a mahram, the prohibition is firmer still, whatever the stated purpose.

Key takeaways

• Kindness and justice toward non-Muslims are legislated, not merely tolerated — Qur'an 60:8 explicitly permits it toward those not fighting you.
• Loyalty of the heart (walā') is forbidden, and this is what the verses on not taking them as awliyā' address.
• Business partnership is permitted with conditions, though many scholars disliked it and a Muslim partner is preferable.
• Friendship with the opposite sex is a separate prohibition, and IslamWeb ruled it forbidden even when the stated purpose was learning a language.
• The Prophet's ﷺ own dealings — buying from Jews and idolaters, mortgaging his shield — show that ordinary transactions and fair treatment are part of the Sunnah.

Further reading

• Shaykh Ibn Baz, Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat, the section on a Muslim's dealings with a non-Muslim
• Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, the chapter on hiring
• IslamWeb fatwa 457921 on partnership with a non-Muslim

And Allah knows best.