Al-Qur'an Surah Ali 'Imran Verse 104

Mufti Taqi Usmani

There has to be a group of people from among you who call towards the good, and bid the Fair and forbid the Unfair. And it is these who are successful.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Let there be a group among you who call ˹others˺ to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Let there be a group from among you who call to goodness: enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. It is they who are successful.

A. J. Arberry

Let there be one nation of you, calling to good, and bidding to honour, and forbidding dishonour; those are the prosperers.

Abdul Haleem

Be a community that calls for what is good, urges what is right, and forbids what is wrong: those who do this are the successful ones.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And let there be of you a community calling others to good and commanding that which is reputable and prohibiting that which is disreputable. And these they are the blissful.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong; They are the ones to attain felicity.

Abul Ala Maududi

And from among you there must be a party who invite people to all that is good and enjoin the doing of all that is right and forbid the doing of all that is wrong. It is they who will attain true success.

Ahmed Ali

So let there be a body among you who may call to the good, enjoin what is esteemed and forbid what is odious. They are those who will be successful.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And there should be a group among you that invites to goodness, and enjoins good deeds and forbids immorality; it is they who are the successful.

Ali Quli Qarai

There has to be a nation among you summoning to the good, bidding what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. It is they who are the felicitous.

Ali Ünal

There must be among you a community calling to good, and enjoining and actively promoting what is right and forbidding and trying to prevent evil (in appropriate ways). They are those who are the prosperous.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And let there always be a community (of such people) among you who should call people to goodness and enjoin equity and forbid evil. It is these who shall attain to their goal.

English Literal

And to be (E) (should be) from you a nation , (who) call to the good , and they order/command with the kindness/known , and they forbid/prevent from the awfulness/obscenity , and those, they are the successful/winners .

Faridul Haque

And there should be a group among you that invites to goodness, and enjoins good deeds and forbids immorality; it is they who are the successful.

Hamid S. Aziz

Be not like those who parted in sects and disagreed after there came to them manifest signs; for them is mighty woe.

Hilali & Khan

Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma'ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited. And remember Allah’s favour to you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts so by His favour you became brethren. And you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes clear to you His messages that you may be guided.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and these it is that shall be successful.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And there may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they who are successful.

Muhammad Sarwar

Let there be a group among you who will invite others to do good deeds, command them to obey the Law, and prohibit them from committing sins. These people will have eternal happiness.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Let there be one nation of you that shall call to righteousness, ordering honor, and forbidding dishonor. Those are the prosperous.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma`ruf (all that Islam orders) and forbidding Al-Munkar (all that Islam has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful.

Wahiduddin Khan

Let there be a group among you who call others to good, and enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong: those who do this shall be successful.

Talal Itani

And let there be among you a community calling to virtue, and advocating righteousness, and deterring from evil. These are the successful.

Tafsir jalalayn

Let there be one community of you calling to good, to Islam, and enjoining decency, and forbidding indecency; those, that call, bid and forbid, are the successful, the victorious (the particle min, `of', [in minkum, `of you'] is partitive, since what is mentioned is a collective obligation [fard kifya], and is not incumbent upon every individual of the community, for not every person, such as the ignorant, is up to it. However, it is also said that this particle is extra, and what is meant is, `so that you are a community [calling to good and so on]').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Command to Establish the Invitation to Allah

Allah said,

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ

Let there arise out of you a group of people,

يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ

inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma`ruf (all that Islam orders) and forbidding Al-Munkar (all that Islam has forbidden).

that calls to righteousness, enjoins all that is good and forbids evil in the manner Allah commanded.

وَأُوْلَـيِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ



And it is they who are the successful.

Ad-Dahhak said,

"They are a special group of the Companions and a special group of those after them, that is those who perform Jihad and the scholars."

The objective of this Ayah is that there should be a segment of this Muslim Ummah fulfilling this task, even though it is also an obligation on every member of this Ummah, each according to his ability.

Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِع فَبِقَلْبِهِ وَذلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الاِْيمَان

Whoever among you witnesses an evil,

let him change it with his hand.

If he is unable, then let him change it with his tongue.

If he is unable, then let him change it with his heart, and this is the weakest faith.

In another narration, The Prophet said,

وَلَيْسَ وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الاِْيمَانِ حَبَّةُ خَرْدَل

There is no faith beyond that, not even the weight of a mustard seed.

Imam Ahmad recorded that Hudhayfah bin Al-Yaman said that the Prophet said,

وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِه لَتَأْمُرُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلَتَنْهَوُنَّ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ أَوْ لَيُوشِكَنَّ اللهُ أَنْ يَبْعَثَ عَلَيْكُمْ عِقَابًا مِنْ عِنْدِهِ ثُمَّ لتَدْعُنَّــهُ فَلَا يَسْتَجِيبَ لَكُم

By He in Whose Hand is my soul! You will enjoin righteousness and forbid evil, or Allah shall send down a punishment from Him to you. Then, you will supplicate to Him, but He will not accept your supplication.

At-Tirmidhi also collected this Hadith and said, "Hasan".

There are many other Hadiths and Ayat on this subject, which will be explained later.
The Prohibition of Division

Allah said