Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:104
And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful.
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: وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (104) (And let there be among you a community that calls to good, that enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong; and it is they who are the successful) (104).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means thereby: "And let there be among you" — O believers — "a community," that is to say: a group; "that calls" the people "to good," that is to say: to Islam and its ordinances which Allah has instituted for His servants; "and enjoins what is right," that is to say: who enjoins upon the people to follow the Prophet ﷺ and his religion which he brought from Allah; "and forbids what is wrong," that is to say: who forbids disbelief in Allah and the denial of the Prophet ﷺ and of what he brought from Allah, by fighting them with the hands and the limbs (jihād), until they submit to you in obedience.
And His word: "and it is they who are the successful," that is to say: those who attain success with Allah, who abide in His gardens and His bliss.
We have already, elsewhere, expounded the meaning of "success" (al-iflāḥ), in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
7595 — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn ʿUmar al-Qārī related to us, on the authority of Abū ʿAwn al-Thaqafī: that he heard Ṣubayḥ say: I heard ʿUthmān recite: وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إلَى الخَيْرِ وَيَأمُرُونَ بالمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ المُنْكَرِ وَيَسْتَعِينُونَ اللهَ عَلَى مَا أَصَابَهُم ("And let there be among you a community that calls to good, enjoins what is right, forbids what is wrong, and seeks the help of Allah against what befalls them").
7596 — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, saying: I heard Ibn al-Zubayr recite — and he mentioned precisely the same recitation as that of ʿUthmān which we have mentioned before.
7597 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "And let there be among you a community that calls to good, enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong," he said: these are in particular the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, and in particular the transmitters.
