Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 136 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:136

قُولُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا بِٱللَّهِ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلَ وَإِسْحَـٰقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَٱلْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَمَآ أُوتِىَ ٱلنَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُۥ مُسْلِمُونَ

“Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allāh and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants [al-Asbāṭ][48] and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."”

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Essence

The believer's creed takes in every prophet: what came to us, to Ibrāhīm and his line, to Mūsā, to ʿĪsā and to all the prophets, with none set aside.

A reflection

At a friend's table, neither yes nor no

A Muslim student is invited to her Jewish friend's family table for Passover. The grandfather reads the story of the Exodus aloud. Mūsā, Pharaoh, the plagues, the sea. She knows almost all of it from the Quran. A few details she has never heard. She is not sure what to do with them.

The Prophet ﷺ gave his Companions guidance for exactly this. Sahih al-Bukhari records that the People of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. He said: 'Do not affirm the People of the Book, and do not deny them. Say: We believe in Allah and in what was sent down to us', reciting this ayah.

That is a remarkable posture. It is neither credulous nor dismissive. A narration-based commentary explains the shape of this faith. Believers accept what was sent to them in detail. They accept what was sent to the earlier prophets in general. Some prophets are named; the rest are included in 'what the prophets were given'.

So the student does not need to argue with the grandfather, or to nod at everything. She can listen with respect, recognise what she shares, and hold the rest gently. Where the Quran confirms a detail, she knows it. Where it is silent, she neither adds nor denies.

The ayah also names the earlier books with honour: what was given to Mūsā and ʿĪsā. A Muslim at that table is not a stranger to the story. Mūsā is her prophet too.

The grandfather noticed she knew the ending. 'You've heard this before,' he said. 'Many times,' she said. 'He is in our Book again and again.'

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.