Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 91 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:91

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُوا۟ نُؤْمِنُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا وَيَكْفُرُونَ بِمَا وَرَآءَهُۥ وَهُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ ۗ قُلْ فَلِمَ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنۢبِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ مِن قَبْلُ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

“And when it is said to them, "Believe in what Allāh has revealed," they say, "We believe [only] in what was revealed to us." And they disbelieve in what came after it, while it is the truth confirming that which is with them. Say, "Then why did you kill the prophets of Allāh before, if you are [indeed] believers?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

They said 'we believe in what came to us' and rejected the truth confirming it: truth loved only as ours was never loved as truth.

A reflection

True only when it comes from 'us'

A man shares a hadith on his phone when a scholar from his own group quotes it. A month later, a scholar from a rival group quotes the same hadith, with the same grading. He dismisses it as 'their propaganda' without reading it.

The ayah records a reply that sounds reasonable. They were told to believe in what Allah had revealed. They answered that they believed in what was revealed to them. Two words carry the weight: 'to us'. A later commentator notices that they took a general command, believe in what Allah revealed, and quietly narrowed it to their own share.

Then the ayah adds: 'and it is the truth, confirming what is with them'. A classical scholar of the heart draws out a striking conclusion from this. If they had believed in their own scripture because it was true, they would have believed in the next truth too. Truth is accepted wherever it is found and whoever brings it. Rejecting the second truth shows that the first was never held for being true. It was held for being theirs.

He adds that this applies to anyone who divides the truth, accepting part and rejecting part. That is a mirror for every community, including ours. We can love a ruling because our teacher gave it, and reject the same ruling from another. We can share a hadith from our side and ignore it from theirs. What we love then is not the truth, but the badge.

The test is easy to describe and hard to pass. When a truth comes to you from someone you do not like, does it still feel true? If it does not, it is worth asking what you were really attached to all along.

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.