Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 13

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And when it is said to them, “Believe as people have believed,” they say, “Shall we believe as the fools have believed?” Beware, it is, in fact, they who are the fools, but they do not know.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And when they are told, “Believe as others believe,” they reply, “Will we believe as the fools believe?” Indeed, it is they who are fools, but they do not know.

Ruwwad Translation Center

When it is said to them, “Believe as the people have believed,” they say, “Shall we believe as the fools have believed?” Indeed, it is they who are the fools, but they do not know.

A. J. Arberry

When it is said to them, 'Believe as the people believe', they say, 'Shall we believe, as fools believe?' Truly, they are the foolish ones, but they do not know.

Abdul Haleem

When it is said to them, ‘Believe, as the others believe,’ they say, ‘Should we believe as the fools do?’ but they are the fools, though they do not know it.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And when it said unto them: believe even as mankind have believed, they say: shall we believe even as the fools have believed? Lo! verily it is they who are the fools; and yet they know not.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When it is said to them; "Believe as the others believe;" They say; "Shall we believe as the fools believe?" Nay, of a surety they are the fools, but they do not know.

Abul Ala Maududi

And when it is said to them, "Believe sincerely as the other people have believed", they reply, "Should we believe as fools have believed?" Beware! they themselves are the fools, but they know it not.

Ahmed Ali

When asked to believe as others do, they say: "Should we believe like fools?" And yet they are the fools, even though they do not know.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when it is said to them, “Believe as the others believe”, they say, “Shall we believe as the foolish believe?” It is they who are the fools, but they do not know.

Ali Quli Qarai

And when they are told, ‘Believe like the people who have believed,’ they say, ‘Shall we believe like the fools who have believed?’ Behold! They are themselves the fools, but they do not know.

Ali Ünal

Again, whenever they are told (as a duty of calling to faith), "Believe as the people believe," (in a way to demonstrate their self-pride and disparagement of the people) they say: "Shall we believe as the fools believe!?" Beware, they themselves are the fools, but they do not know (seeing that they have no true knowledge to distinguish between truth and falsehood, sincere faith and hypocrisy, right and wrong.)

Amatul Rahman Omar

And when it is said to them, `Believe as (other) people (- Companions of the Prophet) believed,´ they say, `Shall we believe as the weak-minded have believed?´ Beware! it is they only who are weak-minded, but they do not know (this fact).

English Literal

And if (it was/is) said to them: "Believe as the people believed." They said: "Do we believe as the ignorant/foolish believed?" Is it not that they truly are, they are the ignorant/foolish and but they do not know?

Faridul Haque

And when it is said to them, "Believe as the others believe", they say, "Shall we believe as the foolish believe?" It is they who are the fools, but they do not know.

Hamid S. Aziz

And when it is said to them, "Believe as other men believe," they say, "Shall we believe as fools believe?" Are not they themselves the fools? And yet they do not know.

Hilali & Khan

And when it is said to them (hypocrites): "Believe as the people (followers of Muhammad Peace be upon him, Al-Ansar and Al-Muhajirun) have believed," they say: "Shall we believe as the fools have believed?" Verily, they are the fools, but they know not.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when it is said to them, Believe as the people believe, they say: Shall we believe as the fools believe? Now surely they are the fools, but they know not.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when it is said to them: Believe as the people believe, they say: Shall we believe as the fools believe? Now surely they themselves are the fools, but they do not know.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when it is said unto them: believe as the people believe, they say: shall we believe as the foolish believe? are not they indeed the foolish? But they know not.

Muhammad Sarwar

When they are told to believe as everyone else does, they say, "Should we believe as fools do?" In fact, they themselves are fools, but they do not know it.

Qaribullah & Darwish

When it is said to them: 'Believe as (other) people believe,' they reply, 'Are we to believe as fools believe?' It is they who are the fools, if only they knew!

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And when it is said to them: Believe as the people believe," They say: "Shall we believe as the fools have believed" Verily, they are the fools, but they do not know.

Wahiduddin Khan

And when they are told, "Believe as other people have believed," they say, "Are we to believe just as fools believe?" Surely they are the fools, even though they do not realize it.

Talal Itani

And when it is said to them, “Believe as the people have believed,” they say, “Shall we believe as the fools have believed?” In fact, it is they who are the fools, but they do not know.

Tafsir jalalayn

When it is said to them, `Believe as the people believe', that is, as the Companions of the Prophet (s), They say, `Shall we believe as fools believe?', that is, as the ignorant do? No we do not follow their way. The exalted One refutes them, saying; Truly, they are the foolish ones, but they know, this, not.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah tells;

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ

And when it is said to them;

Allah said that if the hypocrites are told,

امِنُواْ كَمَا امَنَ النَّاسُ

"Believe as the people believe,"

meaning, `Believe just as the believers believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, Resurrection after death, Paradise and Hellfire, etc. And obey Allah and His Messenger by heeding the commandments and avoiding the prohibitions.'

Yet the hypocrites answer by saying,

قَالُواْ أَنُوْمِنُ كَمَا امَنَ السُّفَهَاء

"Shall we believe as the fools have believed!"

they meant (may Allah curse the hypocrites) the Companions of the Messenger of Allah.

This is the same Tafsir given by Abu Al-Aliyah and As-Suddi in his Tafsir, with a chain of narration to Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas`ud and other Companions.

This is also the Tafsir of Ar-Rabi bin Anas and Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.

The hypocrites said,

"Us and them having the same status, following the same path, while they are fools!"

`The fool' is the ignorant, simple-minded person who has little knowledge in areas of benefit and harm. This is why, according to the majority of the scholars, Allah used the term foolish to include children, when He said,

وَلَا تُوْتُواْ السُّفَهَأءَ أَمْوَلَكُمُ الَّتِى جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَـماً

And do not give your property, which Allah has made a means of support for you, to the foolish. (4;5)

Allah answered the hypocrites in all of these instances. For instance, Allah said here,

أَلا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَاء

Verily, they are the fools.

Allah thus affirmed that the hypocrites are indeed the fools.

yet,

وَلَـكِن لاَّ يَعْلَمُونَ



But they know not.

Since they are so thoroughly ignorant, the hypocrites are unaware of their degree of deviation and ignorance, and such situation is more dangerous, a severer case of blindness, and further from the truth than one who is aware