Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:102
O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].
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 His word — exalted is He: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (102) ("O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared, and do not die except as those who have submitted (Muslims)") (3:102)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means thereby: O community of those who have truly affirmed Allah and His Messenger = "fear Allah," fear Allah and watch over Him scrupulously by obeying Him and avoiding disobedience to Him = "as He truly ought to be feared," that is to say: with the true fear of Him, which is that He be obeyed and not opposed, that He be thanked and not treated with ingratitude, that He be remembered and not forgotten = "and do not die," O believers in Allah and His Messenger = "except as those who have submitted (Muslims)" to your Lord, submitting to Him in obedience, reserving divinity and worship exclusively for Him.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
7536 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us = and al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us = on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: "fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," he said: that He be obeyed and not opposed, and remembered and not forgotten, and thanked and not treated with ingratitude.
7537 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
7538 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
7539 — Abū Kurayb and Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, they said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard Layth, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra ibn Sharāḥīl al-Bakīlī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, the same.
7540 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
7541 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Misʿar related to us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
7542 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of al-Masʿūdī, on the authority of Zubayd al-Iyāmī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
7543 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the same.
7544 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn: "fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," he said: that He be obeyed and not opposed, and thanked and not treated with ingratitude, and remembered and not forgotten.
7545 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, something similar.
7546 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Murra related to us, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, he said: that He be obeyed and not opposed, and thanked and not treated with ingratitude, and remembered and not forgotten.
7547 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, he said: I heard Murra al-Hamdānī transmit, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, concerning the word of Allah — mighty and exalted is He —: "fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," and he mentioned it in a similar manner.
7548 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," that He be obeyed and not opposed.
7549 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, saying: ʿAbbād related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," he said: "as He truly ought to be feared," that He be obeyed and not opposed.
7550 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: then He addressed them — that is, the believers among the Anṣār — and said: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared, and do not die except as those who have submitted." As for "as He truly ought to be feared": that He be obeyed and not opposed, and remembered and not forgotten, and thanked and not treated with ingratitude.
7551 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," that He be obeyed and not opposed; he said: "and do not die except as those who have submitted."
* * *
And others have said: its interpretation is rather as follows:
7552 — Al-Muthannā related this to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," he said: "as He truly ought to be feared," is that in the cause of Allah they wage the true jihād as is His due, and that in the cause of Allah no blame of any blamer affect them, and that they uphold justice for the sake of Allah, even were it against themselves, their fathers, and their sons.
* * *
Then the people of interpretation differed concerning this verse: whether it is abrogated (mansūkh) or not.
Some of them said: it is in force (muḥkam), not abrogated.
* Mention of those who said that:
7553 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," that it is not abrogated, but "as He truly ought to be feared" is that you wage the true jihād in the cause of Allah as is His due = then he mentioned its interpretation which we have just mentioned on his authority.
7554 — Al-Muthannā 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 Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," and if you do not do that and are not able to, then do not die except as those who have submitted.
7555 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ṭāwūs said concerning His word "and do not die except as those who have submitted," he says: if you do not fear Him as is fitting, then do not die except as those who have submitted.
* * *
And others have said: it is abrogated; abrogated by His word: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ ("So fear Allah as much as you are able") [Surah al-Taghābun: 16].
* Mention of those who said that:
7556 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared, and do not die except as those who have submitted," then He revealed the relief and the easing, and again bestowed His favor and mercy, in consideration of what He knows of the weakness of His creation, and said: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ ("So fear Allah as much as you are able"). Thus came this verse, in which there is relief, deliverance, and easing.
7557 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl al-Anmāṭī related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared, and do not die except as those who have submitted," he said: it is abrogated by this verse which is in "al-Taghābun": فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا ("So fear Allah as much as you are able, and listen and obey"), and upon that the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — took the oath of allegiance, upon hearing and obeying as far as they were able.
7558 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: when "fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared" was revealed, there was revealed afterward: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ ("So fear Allah as much as you are able"), and thus that abrogated this verse which is in "Āl ʿImrān."
7559 — Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared, and do not die except as those who have submitted," and the people were not able to do this, so Allah abrogated it for them and said: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ ("So fear Allah as much as you are able").
7560 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "O you who believe, fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared," he said: a severe command came! They said: and who can know or attain the measure of this? When He knew that this was hard upon them, He abrogated it for them, and brought this other verse and said: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ ("So fear Allah as much as you are able"), and thus He abrogated it.
* * *
As for His word "and do not die except as those who have submitted," its interpretation is as follows:
7561 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: "and do not die except as those who have submitted," he said: upon Islam, and upon the sanctity of Islam.
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The footnotes:
(12) See the exposition of the meaning of "tuqāt" in what preceded, 6: 313–317.
(13) In the printed edition it reads: "al-ulūhiyya," and that is correct; I have, however, retained what is in the manuscript, and that is also correct as to its meaning; but this is how Abū Jaʿfar writes it, and see what preceded, 6: 275, note 2.
(14) Tradition 7537 and the traditions that follow it are different isnāds for this tradition. Al-Ḥākim included it in al-Mustadrak by way of Abū Nuʿaym, on the authority of Misʿar, which is tradition no. 7541, in which "and thanked and not treated with ingratitude" does not occur, and he said: "this is a ṣaḥīḥ tradition according to the condition of the two shaykhs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim), but they did not include it," and al-Dhahabī concurred with that.
(15) Tradition 7539: in the printed edition it reads: "Murra ibn Sharāḥīl al-Hamdānī," contrary to what is in the manuscript, and both are correct and sound; see tradition no. 2521 and the note thereto.
(16) Tradition 7544: "Yaḥyā" is "Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr al-Asadī," already mentioned under no. 5797; "Sufyān" is al-Thawrī, and "Abū Isḥāq" is Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī. In the manuscript and the printed edition it read: "Yaḥyā ibn Sufyān related to us," but there exists among the transmitters no one by that name, and the correct reading is what I have established.
(17) Traditions 7546 and 7547: "al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym al-Thawrī"; his biography passed under no. 1430. In the printed edition it read "ibn Khaytham," and that is an error which also occurred in the other tradition, and in other places; I have corrected it according to the manuscript.
(18) Tradition 7552: Abū Jaʿfar al-Naḥḥās transmitted it in al-Nāsikh wa-l-mansūkh: 88, with some difference in wording. In the manuscript it reads: "that you wage jihād in the cause of Allah" in the singular, whereas the context requires the plural, and it came in the correct form in the printed edition and in al-Nāsikh wa-l-mansūkh, except that he said: "that you wage jihād ... and that there does not befall them ... and that you uphold ... even were it against yourselves, your fathers, and your sons," in the second-person form of address.
(19) Tradition 7553: this is the foregoing tradition, and in the manuscript and the printed edition it reads: "that you wage jihād," and see the foregoing note.
(20) Abū Jaʿfar — may Allah be pleased with him — refrained from preferring one of the two opinions over the other, although it was his duty to make this clear. Abū Jaʿfar al-Naḥḥās did clarify it in al-Nāsikh wa-l-mansūkh: 88, 89, where, after citing tradition 7542 and his rendering of the word of Qatāda, he said: "Abū Jaʿfar said: it is impossible that it be said here that there is an abrogator or an abrogated, except by way of artifice, and that is because the meaning of abrogating a thing is: removing it and bringing its opposite; it is therefore impossible that it be said: 'fear Allah' is abrogated, especially in connection with the word of the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — in which lies the clarification of the verse, as was read out to Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Sulaymān, he said: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, saying: Abū Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Jabal, he said: the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — said: 'O Muʿādh, do you know what the right of Allah upon the servants is? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best! He said: that they worship Him and associate nothing with Him as a partner.' Do you not then see that it is impossible that abrogation should fall upon this ... Abū Jaʿfar said: everything mentioned in the verse is obligatory for the Muslims to apply, and no abrogation falls upon it, and that is the word of the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace —: 'that they worship Allah and associate nothing with Him as a partner,' and likewise it rests upon the Muslims — as Ibn Masʿūd said —: that you obey Allah and do not oppose Him, and remember Him and do not forget Him, and thank Him and do not treat Him with ingratitude, and that you wage the true jihād in His cause as is His due. And as for the word of Qatāda — despite his rank in knowledge — that it is abrogated: it may be that the meaning of this is that 'fear Allah as much as you are able' was revealed as a relief from 'fear Allah as He truly ought to be feared,' and that it is equivalent to it, for He burdens no one beyond his capacity."
(21) See the interpretation of Abū Jaʿfar at the verse that parallels this in what preceded, 3: 96, 97.
