Sheikh Yusuf Motala, an Indian Muslim scholar of Islam, is the founder and patron of numerous Islamic institution in UK.
On August 3, 2018 Motala was a guest speaker at Masjid Dar Us Salaam (Islamic Society of Toronto) in Thorncliffe, Toronto .
In his book “Ita’at-Ur-Rasul – Obedience to the Messenger”, Sheikh Yusuf Motala wrote the following (P. 145-6):
This Has Also Been the Habit of the Jews and Christians
Similarly, scoffing at and ridiculing religion and things religious has also been the habit of the Jews and Christians who received the Scripture before. As such, Allah Most High says: -“O ye who believe! Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture before you, and of the disbelievers, as make a jest and sport of your religion. But keep your duty to Allah if ye are true believers. And when ye call to prayer they take it for a jest and sport. That is because they are a folk who understand not.” (V:57-58)
In these verses Allah Most High hath forbidden friendship with Jews and Christians because they have made religion a plaything and a jest. Hence, as it has already been stated in the foregone, that the unfortunate, deprived, unlucky wretches who, notwithstanding their oral claims of Islam, consider the methods and Sunnahs of Islam archaic and look at them contemptuously and who gibe at those who act upon the Islamic ways and Sunnahs, but in fact also talk blasphemy, should be completely avoided; neither should anyone have friendship nor relations with them; on the contrary, other Muslims should also be saved from them, because association with such ill-natured people puts faith into jeopardy, while to save one’s own as well as other Muslim brethren’s faith and belief is a duty.
In the first verse there is mention of making fun of absolute religion or anything religious and in the second it is about jesting at the prayer-call (Azan). Imam Zutiri says that there is mention of the prayer-call in the Quran also and then he recited the above-quoted verse.