Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 4

Mufti Taqi Usmani

and who believe in what has been revealed to you and what has been revealed before you; and they have faith in the Hereafter.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

and who believe in what has been revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺[[ See Notes on Translation for information about the use of ˹O Prophet˺.]] and what was revealed before you, and have sure faith in the Hereafter.

Ruwwad Translation Center

and those who believe in what has been sent down to you [O Prophet] and in what was sent down before you, and in the Hereafter they believe with certainty.

A. J. Arberry

who believe in what has been sent down to thee and what has been sent down before thee, and have faith in the Hereafter;

Abdul Haleem

those who believe in the revelation sent down to you [Muhammad], and in what was sent before you, those who have firm faith in the Hereafter.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And who believe in that which hath been sent down unto thee and that which hath been sent down before thee and of the Hereafter they are convinced.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter.

Abul Ala Maududi

who believe in the Book We have sent down to you (i.e. the Qur'an) and in the Books sent down before you, and firmly believe in the Hereafter.

Ahmed Ali

Who believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed to those before you, and are certain of the Hereafter.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And who believe in this (Qur’an) which has been sent down upon you, O beloved Prophet, (Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) and what was sent down before you; and are certain of the Hereafter.

Ali Quli Qarai

and who believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, and are certain of the Hereafter.

Ali Ünal

And those who believe in what is sent down to you, and what was sent down before you (such as the Torah, Gospel and Psalms, and the Scrolls of Abraham); and in the Hereafter they have certainty of faith.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And who (also) believe in that (Message) which has been revealed to you and in that which had been revealed before you, and who have firm faith in the Hereafter.

English Literal

And those who believe with what was descended to you, and what was descended from before you, and with the end (other life) they are sure/certain .

Faridul Haque

And who believe in this (Qur’an) which has been sent down upon you, O beloved Prophet, (Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him) and what was sent down before you; and are certain of the Hereafter.

Hamid S. Aziz

Who believe in what is revealed to you (Muhammad), and what was revealed before you, and are sure of the Hereafter.

Hilali & Khan

And who believe in (the Quran and the Sunnah) which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him) and in [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.] which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And who believe in that which has been revealed to thee and that which was revealed before thee, and of the Hereafter they are sure.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And who believe in that which is revealed unto thee (Muhammad) and that which was revealed before thee, and are certain of the Hereafter.

Muhammad Sarwar

who have faith in what has been revealed to you and others before you and have strong faith in the life hereafter.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Who believe in that which has been sent down to you (Prophet Muhammad) and what has been sent down before you (to Prophets Jesus and Moses) and firmly believe in the Everlasting Life.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And who have faith in what is revealed to you and in what was revealed before you, and in the Hereafter they are certain.

Wahiduddin Khan

those who believe in the revelation sent down to you and in what was sent before you, and firmly believe in the life to come --

Talal Itani

And those who believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you, and are certain of the Hereafter.

Tafsir jalalayn

and who believe in what has been revealed to you, namely, the Qur'n; and what was revealed before you, that is, the Torah, the Gospel and other [scriptures]; and of the Hereafter, they are certain, that is, they know [it is real].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah says;

والَّذِينَ يُوْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ

And who have faith in what is revealed to you and in what was revealed before you.

Ibn Abbas said that,

means, "They believe in what Allah sent you with, and in what the previous Messengers were sent with, they do not distinguish between (believing) them, nor do they reject what they brought from their Lord."

وَبِالاخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ

And in the Hereafter they are certain.

that is the resurrection, the standing (on the Day of Resurrection), Paradise, the Fire, the reckoning and the Scale that weighs the deeds (the Mizan). The Hereafter is so named because it comes after this earthly life.
Attributes of the Believers

The people described here (2;4) are those whom Allah described in the preceding Ayah,
الَّذِينَ يُوْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ

وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
(Those who have faith in the Ghayb and perform Salah, and spend out of what we have provided for them).

Mujahid once stated,

"Four Ayat at the beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah describe the believers, two describe the disbelievers, and thirteen describe the hypocrites."

The four Ayat mentioned in this statement are general and include every believer, whether an Arab, non-Arab, or a person of a previous Scripture, whether they are Jinns or humans. All of these attributes complement each other and require the existence of the other attributes.

For instance, it is not possible that one believes in the Unseen, performs the prayer and gives Zakah without believing in what the Messenger of Allah and the previous Messengers were sent with.

The same with certainty in the Hereafter, this is not correct without that, for Allah has commanded the believers,

يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ءَامِنُواْ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَـبِ الَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَـبِ الَّذِى أَنَزلَ مِن قَبْلُ

O you who believe! Believe in Allah, and His Messenger, and the Book (the Qur'an) which He has revealed to the Messenger, and the Book which He sent own to those before (him). (4;136)

وَلَا تُجَـدِلُواْ أَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ إِلاَّ بِالَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مِنْهُمْ وَقُولُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِالَّذِى أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَإِلَـهُنَا وَإِلَـهُكُمْ وَاحِدٌ

And argue not with the People of the Book, unless it be in (a way) that is better, except with such of them as do wrong; and say (to them);"We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our Ilah (God) and your Ilah (God) is One (i.e. Allah)." (29;46)

يَـأَيُّهَأ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَـبَ ءَامِنُواْ بِمَا نَزَّلْنَا مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ

O you who have been given the Book (Jews and Christians)! Believe in what We have revealed (to Muhammad) confirming what is (already) with you. (4;47)

and,

قُلْ يَـأَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ حَتَّى تُقِيمُواْ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالاِنجِيلَ وَمَأ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ

Say (O Muhammad);"O People of the Book (Jews and Christians)! You have nothing until you act according to the Tawrah (Torah), the Injil (Gospel), and what has (now) been revealed to you from your Lord (the Qur'an)." (5;68)

Also, Allah the Exalted described the believers;

ءَامَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَأ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُوْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَـيِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ

The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) "We make no distinction between any of His Messengers". (2;285)

and,

وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلَمْ يُفَرِّقُواْ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ

And those who believe in Allah and His Messengers and make no distinction between any of them (Messengers). (4;152)

This is a sample of the Ayat that indicate that the true believers all believe in Allah, His Messengers and His Books.

The faithful among the People of the Book, have a special significance here, since they believe in their Books and in all of the details related to that, so when such people embrace Islam and sincerely believe in the details of the religion, then they will get two rewards. As for the others, they can only believe in the previous religious teachings in a general way. For instance, the Prophet stated,

إِذَا حَدَثَكُمْ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ فَلَ تُكَذِّبُوهُمْ وَلَا تُصَدِقُوهُمْ وَلكِنْ قُولُوا امَنَّا بِالَّذِي أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُم

When the People of the Book narrate to you, neither reject nor affirm what they say. Rather, say, 'We believe in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to you.'

However, the faith that many Arabs have in the religion of Islam as it was revealed to Muhammad might be more complete, encompassing and firmer than the faith of the People of the Book who embraced Islam. Therefore, if the believers in Islam among the People of the Book gain two rewards, other Muslims who have firmer Islamic faith might gain an equal reward that compares to the two the People of the Book gain (upon embracing Islam). And Allah knows best