Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:24
The example of the two parties is like the blind and deaf, and the seeing and hearing. Are they equal in comparison? Then, will you not remember?
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: مَثَلُ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كَالأَعْمَى وَالأَصَمِّ وَالْبَصِيرِ وَالسَّمِيعِ هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلا أَفَلا تَذَكَّرُونَ ("The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf, and the seeing and the hearing. Are they equal in likeness? Will you then not take heed?") (24)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: The likeness of the two parties of unbelief and faith is as the likeness of the blind man who sees nothing with his eyes and the deaf man who hears nothing. Such is the party of unbelief — they do not see the truth so as to follow it and act by it, on account of their preoccupation with their unbelief in Allah and the prevailing of Allah's forsaking of them. They do not hear the caller of Allah to the straight path, so as to answer him and be guided thereby. Thus they remain in their error, reeling to and fro in their confusion. And the hearing and the seeing are the party of faith (īmān). They saw the proofs of Allah and acknowledged what they indicate of the oneness of Allah, the freedom from the gods and rivals, and the prophethood of the prophets, may peace be upon them all. They heard the caller of Allah and answered him and acted in obedience to Allah, as in:
18102 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: ("The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf, and the seeing and the hearing"), he said: "The blind" and "the deaf" are the unbeliever (kāfir), and "the seeing" and "the hearing" are the believer.
18103 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: ("The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf, and the seeing and the hearing") — the two parties are the unbeliever and the believer; the blind and the deaf are the two unbelievers, and the seeing and the hearing are the two believers.
18104 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ("The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf, and the seeing and the hearing"), the whole verse: this is a likeness that Allah has set forth for the unbeliever and the believer. The unbeliever is deaf to the truth — he does not hear it — and blind to it — he does not see it. The believer heard the truth and profited from it, and saw it and understood it, preserved it and acted by it.
Allah the Exalted says: ("Are they equal in likeness") — are these two parties, despite the difference of their condition in their own eyes, equal in your sight, O people? For they are not equal in your sight. Likewise the unbeliever and the believer are not equal in the sight of Allah. ("Will you then not take heed") — Allah the Exalted says: Will you then not take a lesson, O people, and reflect, so that you may understand the reality of the difference in their condition, and keep yourselves away from the error in which you are and pass over to guidance, from unbelief (kufr) to faith (īmān)?
Thus "the blind" and "the deaf", and "the seeing" and "the hearing" are in the text four, but in meaning two. For that reason it was said: ("Are they equal in likeness").
And it says: ("as the blind and the deaf"), while what is meant is: as the blind-deaf one. Likewise "the seeing and the hearing", whereby what is meant is: the seeing-hearing one. As when someone says: "the elegant and the sensible man stood up", whereby he describes a single person.
