Surah Al-Baqarah Ayat 13 (2:13 Quran) With Tafsir

Surah Al-Baqarah >> Currently viewing Surah Baqarah Ayat 13 (2:13)

Surah Baqarah Ayat 13 in Arabic Text

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمۡ ءَامِنُواْ كَمَآ ءَامَنَ ٱلنَّاسُ قَالُوٓاْ أَنُؤۡمِنُ كَمَآ ءَامَنَ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُۗ أَلَآ إِنَّهُمۡ هُمُ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَعۡلَمُونَ

Wa izaa qeela lahum aaminoo kamaaa aamanan naasu qaalooo anu’minu kamaaa aamanas sufahaaa’; alaaa innahum humus sufahaaa’u wa laakil laa ya’lamoon

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 13

Sahih International
And when it is said to them, “Believe as the people have believed,” they say, “Should we believe as the foolish have believed?” Unquestionably, it is they who are the foolish, but they know [it] not.

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.

Muhsin 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.

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.

Dr. Ghali
And when it is said to them, “Believe just as mankind has believed, ” they say, “Shall we believe just as the fools have believed?” Verily, they, (only) they, are surely the fools, but they do not know.

Abdel 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.

Muhammad Junagarhi
اور جب ان سے کہا جاتا ہے کہ اور لوگوں (یعنی صحابہ) کی طرح تم بھی ایمان لاؤ تو جواب دیتے ہیں کہ کیا ہم ایسا ایمان ﻻئیں جیسا بیوقوف ﻻئے ہیں، خبردار ہوجاؤ! یقیناً یہی بیوقوف ہیں، لیکن جانتے نہیں

Quran 2 Verse 13 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Baqarah ayat 13, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(2:13) Whenever they are told: “Believe as others believe,”^[13] they answer: “Shall we believe as the fools have believed?”^[14] Indeed it is they who are the fools, but they are not aware of it.

13. They are being asked to become Muslims in the same manner as others of their community became Muslims

14. They think that those people who sincerely embraced Islam and thereby exposed themselves to all kinds of trials and persecutions, and confronted risks and dangers, were merely fools. To them it seems sheer folly to invite the hostility of the entire land merely for the sake of Truth and righteousness. In their view, wisdom consists not in bothering oneself with the distinction between truth and falsehood, but in remaining concerned only with one’s own interests.

Ibn-Kathir

13. 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.

Allah said that if the hypocrites are told,

﴿ءَامِنُواْ كَمَآ ءَامَنَ 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 أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَآ آمَنَ السُّفَهَآءُ﴾

(“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,

﴿وَلاَ تُؤْتُواْ السُّفَهَآءَ 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,

﴿أَلاَ إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَآءُ﴾

(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.

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