An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 44 of 176

An-Nisa 4:44

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ نَصِيبًا مِّنَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ يَشْتَرُونَ ٱلضَّلَـٰلَةَ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن تَضِلُّوا۟ ٱلسَّبِيلَ

“Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture, purchasing error [in exchange for it] and wishing you would lose the way?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Holding part of a revelation is no protection: one can still trade guidance for error, and then want others to lose the road too.

A reflection

Buying error, knowingly

The verb is commercial: yashtarūna, they buy. The lexicons explain that in barter each side both buys and sells, so the word faces both ways. They add a striking line. The Arabs said of anyone who let go of one thing and held on to another: he has bought it.

So every choice is a purchase, and every purchase costs what you let go. An early grammarian, quoted in one commentary, adds the point that matters. Whoever buys a thing has preferred it.

The commentaries describe what made this purchase so serious. It was made knowingly. One explains that they chose error while knowing the straight road. Another records a view that they kept their position for the sake of payments and leadership.

One commentary also notices the tense. Both verbs are in the present: they buy, they want. It reads this as a purchase renewed again and again, not a single lapse. Each day the old choice is made once more.

That is a human pattern, and no community is immune to it. A belief, or a silence, can be kept because a living depends on it.

Picture a mechanic at a used-car dealership. He knows the gearbox on the silver hatchback is failing. His bonus depends on the month's sales. He signs the inspection sheet and tells himself everyone does it. He has not been deceived. He has bought something, and paid for it with what he knew.

The ayah asks the reader to look honestly at their own trades. What do I keep believing, or keep quiet about, because it pays? What have I let go of, and what did I take in its place? The question is not addressed only to people long ago. It is addressed to anyone with something to lose by telling the truth.

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.