“Surely Allah defends those who believe. Certainly Allah has no love for the perfidious, the thankless…. Allah will most certainly help those who will help Him. Verily Allah is Immensely Strong, Overwhelmingly Mighty.”
(Al-Qur’ān – 22:38, 40)
These verses were revealed on the occasion of the first Hajj after the Muslims had migrated to Madinah. Both the Muhajirun and Ansar were quite annoyed that they had been forcibly restrained from visiting Makkah to perform Hajj. Moreover, the persecution perpetrated on the Muslims in Makkah was still fresh in their minds. And that even after Hijrah, the Makkan Quraysh were not prepared to leave them in peace in Madinah.
The statement that ‘Allah defends those who believe’ means that the believers are not alone; that God, Himself, is a party with them. He helps and supports them, counters the stratagems of their enemies, and wards off the harm that their enemies try to inflict upon them. Undoubtedly, nothing else could have inspired them with greater assurance or be a source of greater comfort than this bounty from God.
That ‘certainly Allah has no love for the perfidious, the thankless’ explains why God becomes a party with the votaries of the truth in the conflict between faith and unbelief. The reason being that those who fight against the truth engage in treachery and are guilty of ingratitude to God for all the bounties bestowed on them by Him. They are guilty of breaching every trust, of responding to each of God’s innumerable bounties with ingratitude.