Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Ma'idah Verse 42

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They are listeners to the fallacy, devourers of the unlawful. So, if they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they can do you no harm. But if you judge, judge between them with justice. Surely, Allah loves those who do justice.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

They eagerly listen to falsehood and consume forbidden gain.[[ i.e., bribes and interest.]] So if they come to you ˹O Prophet˺, either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you whatsoever. But if you judge between them, then do so with justice. Surely Allah loves those who are just.

Ruwwad Translation Center

They eagerly listen to lies and consume unlawful gains. If they come to you [O Prophet], either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in the least. But if you judge, then judge between them with justice, for Allah loves those who are just.

A. J. Arberry

who listen to falsehood, and consume the unlawful. If they come to thee, judge thou between them, or turn away from them; if thou turnest away from them, they will hurt thee nothing; and if thou judgest, judge justly between them; God loves the just.

Abdul Haleem

they listen eagerly to lies and consume what is unlawful. If they come to you [Prophet] for judgement, you can either judge between them, or decline- if you decline, they will not harm you in any way, but if you do judge between them, judge justly: God loves the just-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Listeners are they to falsehood, devourers of the forbidden. Wherefore if they come to thee, either judge between them or turn away from them. And if thou turnest away from them, they shall not be able to hurt thee in aught; and if thou judgest, judge between them with equity, verily Allah loveth the equitable.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

(They are fond of) listening to falsehood, of devouring anything forbidden. If they do come to thee, either judge between them, or decline to interfere. If thou decline, they cannot hurt thee in the least. If thou judge, judge in equity between them. For Allah loveth those who judge in equity.

Abul Ala Maududi

They are listeners of falsehood and greedy devourers of unlawful earnings. If they come to you you may either judge between them or turn away from them. And were you to turn away from them they shall not be able to harm you; and were you to judge between them judge with justice. Surely Allah loves the just.

Ahmed Ali

Eavesdropping for telling lies, earning through unlawful means! So, if they come to you, judge between them or decline. And if you decline, they can do you no harm; but if you judge, you should do so with justice, for God loves those who are just.

Ahmed Raza Khan

The excessively eager listeners of falsehood, extreme devourers of the forbidden; so if they come humbly to you (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), judge between them or shun them; and if you turn away from them they cannot harm you at all; and if you do judge between them, judge with fairness; indeed Allah loves the equitable.

Ali Quli Qarai

Eavesdroppers with the aim of [telling] lies, eaters of the unlawful—if they come to you, judge between them, or disregard them. If you disregard them, they will not harm you in any way. But if you judge, judge between them with justice. Indeed Allah loves the just.

Ali Ünal

Listening out for lies and falsehood eagerly, and consuming unlawful earnings greedily! If they come to you (for judgment), you may either judge between them or turn away from them (and decline to give judgment). If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. But if you judge, judge between them with equity and justice. Surely God loves the scrupulously equitable.

Amatul Rahman Omar

(They are) habitual listeners to falsehood, too much given to eat things forbidden. If they come to you (seeking your judgment) judge between them or turn aside from them. If you turn aside from them, they shall do you no harm at all. But if you judge, then judge between them with justice, for surely Allâh loves the just.

English Literal

(They are) often listening/hearing to the lie/falsehood, gluttons/eating exaggeratedly to the forbidden/possession through cheatery , so if they came to you, so judge/rule between them or turn away from them, and if you turn away from them, so they will never/not harm you (in) a thing, and if you judged/ruled, so judge/rule between them with the just/equitable, that God loves/likes the just/equitable.

Faridul Haque

The excessively eager listeners of falsehood, extreme devourers of the forbidden; so if they come humbly to you (Prophet Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him), judge between them or shun them; and if you turn away from them they cannot harm you at all; and if you do judge between them, judge with fairness; indeed Allah loves the equitable.

Hamid S. Aziz

But why should they make you their judge, when they have their own Law, wherein is Allah´s judgment? Yet they turn back even after that, for they do not really believe.

Hilali & Khan

(They like to) listen to falsehood, to devour anything forbidden. So if they come to you (O Muhammad SAW), either judge between them, or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot hurt you in the least. And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

O Messenger, let not those grieve thee who hasten to disbelief, from among those who say with their mouths, We believe, and their hearts believe not, and from among those who are Jews -- they are listeners for the sake of a lie, listeners for another people who have not come to thee. They alter the words after they are put in their (proper) places, saying: If you are given this, take it, and if you are not given this, be cautious. And he for whom Allah intends temptation, thou controllest naught for him against Allah. Those are they whose hearts Allah intends not to purify. For them is disgrace in this world, and for them a grievous chastisement in the Hereafter.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

(They are) listeners of a lie, devourers of what is forbidden; therefore if they come to you, judge between them or turn aside from them, and if you turn aside from them, they shall not harm you in any way; and if you judge, judge between them with equity; surely Allah loves those who judge equitably.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Listeners for the sake of falsehood! Greedy for illicit gain! If then they have recourse unto thee (Muhammad) judge between them or disclaim jurisdiction. If thou disclaimest jurisdiction, then they cannot harm thee at all. But if thou judgest, judge between them with equity. Lo! Allah loveth the equitable.

Muhammad Sarwar

They deliberately listen to lies (for deceitful purposes) and live on usury. If they come to you (seeking your judgment to settle their differences), you may settle their disputes or keep aloof from them. Should you choose not to bother with them, it will not harm you in the least. If you decide to issue your decree, decide their case with justice. God loves those who are just.

Qaribullah & Darwish

They are listeners to lies and devourers of the unlawful. If they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them. If you avoid them they cannot harm you in anything; but if you judge, judge between them with fairness. Allah loves the just.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

They (like to) listen to falsehood, to devour Suht. So if they come to you, either judge between them, or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot hurt you in the least. And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly.

Wahiduddin Khan

They listen eagerly to falsehood, and devour forbidden things voraciously. If they come to you, then judge between them or avoid them. If you avoid them, they can in no way harm you, but if you do judge, judge them with fairness: God loves those that deal justly.

Talal Itani

Listeners to falsehoods, eaters of illicit earnings. If they come to you, judge between them, or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they will not harm you in the least. But if you judge, judge between them equitably. God loves the equitable.

Tafsir jalalayn

They are, listeners to calumny and consumers of unlawful gain (read suhut or suht), that which is illicit, such as bribes. If they come to you, to judge between them, then judge between them or turn away from them; the [second] option given here was abrogated by His saying, So judge between them [to the end of] the verse [Q. 5;48]. Therefore, we [Muslims] are obliged to judge between them if they request arbitration before us -- and this is the more sound of al-Shfi`'s two opinions. If their request for arbitration involves a Muslim, however, then we are obliged to judge according to the consensus [of legal scholars and not just al- Shfi`]); if you turn away from them, they cannot harm you at all; and if you judge, between them, then judge justly between them; God loves the just, those that judge fairly, meaning that He will reward them.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

سَمَّاعُونَ لِلْكَذِبِ أَكَّالُونَ لِلسُّحْتِ

And whomsoever Allah wants to put in Fitnah, you can do nothing for him against Allah. Those are the ones whose hearts Allah does not want to purify; for them there is a disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter a great torment. They (like to) listen to falsehood, to devour Suht.

Ibn Mas`ud and others stated that;

`Suht' refers to bribes.

The Ayah states that if one is like this, how can Allah cleanse his heart and accept his supplication.

Allah said to His Prophet,

فَإِن جَأوُوكَ

So if they come to you...,

so that you judge between them,

فَاحْكُم بَيْنَهُم أَوْ أَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ وَإِن تُعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ فَلَن يَضُرُّوكَ شَيْيًا

either judge between them, or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot hurt you in the least.

meaning, there is no harm if you do not judge between them. This is because when they came to you to judge between them, they did not seek to follow the truth, but only what conformed to their lusts.

We should mention here that Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi, Zayd bin Aslam, Ata Al-Khurasani, and several others said that;

this part of the Ayah was abrogated by Allah's statement,

وَأَنِ احْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَأ أَنزَلَ اللّهُ

And so judge among them by what Allah has revealed. (5;49)

وَإِنْ حَكَمْتَ فَاحْكُم بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْقِسْطِ

And if you judge, judge with justice between them.

and with fairness, even if the Jews were unjust and outcasts from the path of fairness,

إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ



Verily, Allah loves those who act justly.
Chastising the Jews for Their Evil Lusts and Desires, While Praising the Tawrah

Allah then chastises the Jews for their false ideas and deviant desires to abandon what they believe is true in their Book, and which they claim is their eternal Law that they are always commanded to adhere to. Yet, they do not adhere to the Tawrah, but they prefer other laws over it, although they believe that these other laws are not correct and do not apply to them.

Allah said,

وَكَيْفَ يُحَكِّمُونَكَ وَعِندَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ فِيهَا حُكْمُ اللّهِ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّوْنَ مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ وَمَا أُوْلَـيِكَ بِالْمُوْمِنِينَ