Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:193
Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous.
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 statement concerning the interpretation of His word, exalted is He: rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni an āminū bi-rabbikum fa-āmannā rabbanā fa-ghfir lanā dhunūbanā wa-kaffir ʿannā sayyiʾātinā wa-tawaffanā maʿa al-abrār (193)
(Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith: "Believe in your Lord", whereupon we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins and efface from us our evil deeds, and cause us to die together with the righteous) (3:193).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have differed concerning the interpretation of "the caller" (al-munādī) whom Allah, exalted is He, has mentioned in this verse.
Some of them said: "the caller" in this place is the Qurʾān.
* Mention of those who said that:
8361 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Qabīṣa ibn ʿUqba related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb: "innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni" (we have heard a caller calling to faith), he said: it is the Book; not all of them met the Prophet ﷺ.
8362 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Manṣūr ibn Ḥakīm related to us, on the authority of Khārija, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī concerning His word: "rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", he said: not all people heard the Prophet ﷺ, but the caller is the Qurʾān.
* * *
Others said: no, it is Muḥammad ﷺ.
* Mention of those who said that:
8363 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word: "innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", he said: it is Muḥammad ﷺ.
8364 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", he said: that is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the two statements herein is the statement of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, namely that "the caller" is the Qurʾān. For many of those whom Allah has described with this attribute in these verses do not belong to those who saw the Prophet ﷺ or beheld him and thus heard his call to Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and his summons; rather it is the Qurʾān. And that is comparable to His word, exalted is His praise, in which He informs about the jinn when they heard the Word of Allah recited to them, that they said: innā samiʿnā qurʾānan ʿajaban * yahdī ilā al-rushd [Surah al-Jinn: 1, 2] (we have heard a wondrous Qurʾān that guides to right conduct).
And in the same sense:
8365 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni", up to His word: "wa-tawaffanā maʿa al-abrār": they heard a call from Allah and answered it, and they answered it in a good manner and held fast to it with patience. Allah informs you about the believer among mankind, how he spoke, and about the believer among the jinn, how he spoke. As for the believing jinn, he said: innā samiʿnā qurʾānan ʿajaban * yahdī ilā al-rushdi fa-āmannā bihi wa-lan nushrika bi-rabbinā aḥadan (we have heard a wondrous Qurʾān that guides to right conduct, whereupon we believed in it, and we shall not ascribe to our Lord anyone as a partner). And as for the believer among mankind, he said: "innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni an āminū bi-rabbikum fa-āmannā rabbanā fa-ghfir lanā dhunūbanā", the verse.
* * *
And it has been said: "innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī li-l-īmāni" means: who calls to faith (ilā al-īmān), just as He, exalted is His mention, said: al-ḥamdu li-llāhi alladhī hadānā li-hādhā [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 43] (praise be to Allah who has guided us to this) in the meaning: who has guided us to this (ilā hādhā). And just as the rajaz-poet said:
"He revealed to her steadfastness, so that she stood firm, and He strengthened her with the firm, fixed mountains,"
in the meaning: He revealed to her (awḥā ilayhā). And of that also is His word: bi-anna rabbaka awḥā lahā [Surah al-Zalzala: 5] (because your Lord revealed to her).
* * *
And it has been said: it may mean: we have heard a caller to faith, who called: "Believe in your Lord."
* * *
The interpretation of the verse is then: Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith — He says: to the affirmation of You, the acknowledgment of Your oneness, the following of Your Messenger and obedience to him in what he has commanded and forbidden us of that which he has brought from You — "fa-āmannā rabbanā" (whereupon we believed, our Lord), He says: we have thus affirmed it, O our Lord. "fa-ghfir lanā dhunūbanā" (so forgive us our sins), He says: so cover for us our missteps and do not disgrace us with them on the Day of Resurrection before the witnesses by punishing us for them, but efface them from us, as well as the evil deeds of our conduct, and blot them out by Your grace and Your mercy towards us. "wa-tawaffanā maʿa al-abrār" (and cause us to die together with the righteous), by this He means: and take us to You, when You take us to You, in the company of the righteous, and raise us up at their gathering place and with them.
* * *
And "al-abrār" (the righteous) is the plural of "barr", and they are those who served Allah, blessed and exalted is He, righteously through their obedience to Him and their service to Him, until they pleased Him and He was pleased with them.
