Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 147 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:147

ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ ۖ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْمُمْتَرِينَ

“The truth is from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The truth is what comes from your Lord, so do not settle among those who keep wavering over it.

A reflection

A doubt that arrives, and a doubt you keep

A second-year student reads a long post questioning God late one night. She closes the laptop, but the question follows her to bed. Over the next weeks she keeps returning to it, turning it over and over. She half expects an answer to drip out if she strokes it long enough.

The ayah does not say 'do not doubt'. It says: 'do not be among the mumtarīn'. A concise commentary notes that this is more emphatic than 'do not doubt': it is about belonging to a category, becoming a waverer.

A later commentary asks a sharp question. Doubts often arrive unbidden; how can anyone be forbidden what they did not choose? It answers that while a passing doubt may not be chosen, letting it stay is in our power. That is why the ayah says 'do not be among them', rather than simply 'do not doubt'.

One lexicon traces the word for doubt, mirya, to an old picture: stroking a she-camel's udder so the milk comes down. That is one classical view. It fits a certain kind of doubt well: the question stroked again and again, waiting for something that never comes.

The Prophet ﷺ was gentle with people troubled by such thoughts. Some Companions told him they found things in their minds too terrible to say. He replied: 'That is clear faith' (Sahih Muslim). Their distress at the thought was itself the sign of faith. He also said Allah has pardoned his community for what their selves whisper, unless they act on it or speak it (Sahih al-Bukhari).

So when a doubt comes, do not panic. Turn to Allah, ask Him, seek refuge in Him, and look for knowledge. Then put the question down. You do not have to stroke it all night.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.