Muhammad · Madani · ayah 3 of 38

Muhammad 47:3

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلْبَـٰطِلَ وَأَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَضْرِبُ ٱللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ أَمْثَـٰلَهُمْ

“That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood, and those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does Allāh present to the people their comparisons.[1493]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Everyone follows something; the only question is whether what you follow is real, and has a Lord behind it.

A reflection

Following a voice with nobody behind it

The two ayat before this one gave two outcomes. Here comes the reason, in one plain sentence. Those who disbelieve follow al-bāṭil. Those who believe follow al-ḥaqq from their Lord.

One classical commentator asks a sharp question about the first half. One meaning of bāṭil, he says, is what does not exist and cannot exist. A god other than Allah is exactly that. So how can anyone follow something that is not there?

His answer is unsettling. They did their acts for the idols, believing those gods would reward them. In their own minds they were followers. Yet there was nobody there to be followed. The procession was real. The leader was not.

Picture a retired man who spends eight years sending money to an online investment adviser. He has a name, a smiling photograph, a London office address and monthly statements showing healthy growth. One day the statements stop. The office is a mail-forwarding shop. The photograph belongs to a stranger in another country. The man really did follow. He made real sacrifices and kept real faith. There was never anyone at the other end.

Notice also what the ayah attaches to the truth and withholds from falsehood. The believers follow the truth from their Lord. Falsehood is given no "from". It has no source, no sender and nobody accountable for it.

That is the test worth carrying out of this ayah. Of every voice I obey, I can ask a simple question. Who is actually behind it, and will they still be there at the end?

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.