An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 136 of 176

An-Nisa 4:136

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَـٰلًۢا بَعِيدًا

“O you who have believed, believe[224] in Allāh and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allāh, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Believers are told to believe: to renew, deepen and complete their faith in Allah, His Messenger, and every book and messenger He sent.

A reflection

You who believe, believe

The ayah opens with what sounds like a puzzle. Yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū āminū: O you who believe, believe.

One classical commentator meets the puzzle directly. This is not asking for what you already have. It is perfecting what is already whole, establishing it, making it firm and keeping it going. He compares the prayer every believer says in each unit of prayer: guide us to the straight path (1:6). The one who prays is already guided. He is asking to see the path more clearly, to be given more guidance, and to be kept on it.

A rhetorical commentator gives the command three verbs: stay firm in faith, keep it up, and increase it.

The root of īmān carries a picture. The Arabs called a sturdy she-camel amūn: one you could trust not to stumble or tire on a long road. To believe someone is to rest your weight on them, as a rider rests on a camel that will not fall. Faith, in this language, is not a certificate filed away. It is weight you go on resting, mile after mile.

Picture a man of fifty-two who has prayed all his life. One winter he reads the whole Quran in translation, start to finish, for the first time. He is unsettled to find how much is new to him. He was a believer the whole time. Now he is believing again, deliberately.

Worship is more than ritual. It is reverence for His command and compassion for His creation. Allah needs none of it (51:57). Whoever strives, strives only for himself (29:6).

In the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest (13:28). That rest is not reached once and kept in a drawer. It is renewed, as this ayah renews it.

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.