Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 66 of 200

Ali 'Imran 3:66

هَـٰٓأَنتُمْ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ حَـٰجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُم بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَآجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

“Here you are - those who have argued about that of which you have [some] knowledge, but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allāh knows, while you know not.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Arguing about what you know is one thing; arguing about what you never knew is folly, for Allah knows and you do not.

A reflection

The seven-year-old and the marine biologist

A seven-year-old explains to her grandmother, with total confidence, how whales breathe underwater. The grandmother spent forty years as a marine biologist. She listens, nods, and offers gently to tell her what she once saw.

The ayah ends with five words that put every human argument in its place. 'Allah knows, and you do not know.' A classical commentator spells out the scope. Allah knows what was hidden from you, what you never saw or witnessed. Nothing in the heavens or the earth escapes Him. You know only what you have seen, or what has reached you by report.

That is the real size of human knowledge: what we have witnessed, plus what we have been told. Everything else is guesswork dressed as certainty. The lexicons picture ʿilm as a waymark, a tall peak that shows travellers where they are. We see a few waymarks. He sees the whole land.

The ego dislikes this ayah. Pride wants to be the expert in every room. It wants an opinion on every question, from the nature of God to the motives of strangers. It confuses having a view with having knowledge.

Yet there is relief here too. You do not have to know everything. You never could. The One who does know is not a rival to be argued with. He is the source to be asked. Another commentator says the remedy was simply to hand back what they did not know to the Knower of the unseen and the seen.

We are all the seven-year-old, explaining the ocean. Humility is not pretending to know less. It is remembering Who knows more.

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.