Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:105
O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To Allah is you return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do.
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.
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ لا يَضُرُّكُمْ مَنْ ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ (O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls, so set them in order, strive to deliver them from the punishment of Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, and attend to that which brings them nearer to their Lord. For truly: "he who errs cannot harm you" — He says: he who disbelieves and treads a path other than that of the truth cannot harm you, when you follow the right guidance, believe in your Lord, and obey Him in what He has commanded and forbidden you, so that you forbid what He has forbidden and permit what He has permitted.
* * *
He put the word "your own souls" (أنفسكم) in the accusative because of incitement (al-ighrāʾ). The Arabs incite with certain particles by means of "ʿalayka" (upon you), "ʿindaka" (with you), "dūnaka" (before you) and "ilayka" (toward you). (4)
The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of this.
Some of them said, the meaning of it is: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls" — when you enjoin good and forbid evil and it is not accepted from you.
* Mention of who said that:
12848 - Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: Abū al-Ashhab related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that this verse was recited to Ibn Masʿūd: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance." Then Ibn Masʿūd said: "This is not yet its time; speak it out as long as it is accepted from you, but when it is rejected from you, then upon you is the care of your own souls." (5)
12849 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Ashhab, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: in the presence of Ibn Masʿūd "O you who believe" was mentioned, and then he mentioned something similar.
12850 - Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: A man said to Ibn Masʿūd: Has Allah not said: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance"? He said: This is not yet its time; speak it out as long as it is accepted from you, but when it is rejected from you, then upon you is the care of your own souls. (7)
12851 - Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Shabāba ibn Sawwār related to us, saying: al-Rabīʿ ibn Ṣabīḥ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn ʿUqqāl, he said: It was said to Ibn ʿUmar: Could you not stay at home during these days and neither enjoin nor forbid, for Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, says: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance"? Then Ibn ʿUmar said: Truly, this does not apply to me nor to my companions, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Let the present convey to the absent", and we were the present and you are the absent. But this verse applies to people who will come after us: if they speak, it is not accepted from them. (9)
12852 - Aḥmad ibn al-Miqdām related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard my father say: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Abū Māzin, he said: I set out in the time of ʿUthmān to Medina, and there sat a group of Muslims; one of them recited this verse: "upon you is the care of your own souls", and most of them said: The interpretation of this verse has not yet come today. (10)
12853 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Māzin, in similar fashion. (11)
12854 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar and Abū ʿĀṣim both related to us, they said: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Sawwār ibn Shabīb, he said: I was with Ibn ʿUmar when a man came to him, fierce of gaze and sharp of tongue, and said: O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, we are six men, all of them have read the Qurʾān and have advanced in it, and all of them are diligent and do not spare themselves, and all of them deem it detestable that they should commit anything base, yet at the same time each one of them testifies against the other to shirk (ascribing partners to Allah)! Then a man from the gathering said: And what baseness do you want more than that one testifies against the other to shirk! The man said: It is not you whom I am asking, I am asking the old master! So he repeated the story to ʿAbd Allāh, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar said: Perhaps you think — may your father not be there — that I will command you to go there to kill them! Admonish them and forbid them; if they disobey you, then upon you is the care of your own soul, for Allah, the Exalted, says: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance; to Allah is the return of you all, and He will inform you of what you used to do." (16)
12855 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that a man asked Ibn Masʿūd about His saying: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance." He said: Truly, this is not yet its time; today it [the word of truth] is accepted, but there is soon to come a time in which you will enjoin good and you will be treated thus and thus — or he said: and it will not be accepted from you — and then: upon you is the care of your own souls, he who errs cannot harm you. (18)
12856 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of a man, he said: I was during the caliphate of ʿUthmān in Medina, in a circle in which companions of the Prophet ﷺ sat, and in it was an old man upon whom they relied. A man recited: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", whereupon the old man said: Truly, the interpretation of it comes only at the end of times.
12857 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: Abū Māzin related to us, a man from the righteous of the Azd, from Banū al-Ḥuddān, he said: I set out during the lifetime of ʿUthmān to Medina and sat down in a circle of companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. A man from the gathering recited this verse: "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", whereupon one of the elders of the gathering said: Leave this verse alone, for the interpretation of it lies only at the end of times. (22)
12858 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ibn Faḍāla related to us, on the authority of Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Nufayr, he said: I was in a circle in which companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat, and I was the youngest of the gathering. They discussed enjoining good and forbidding evil, and I said: Does Allah not say in His Book: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance"? Then they turned upon me with one tongue and said: Do you invoke a verse of the Qurʾān that you do not know, while you do not know what its interpretation is!! — until I wished that I had not spoken. Then they continued talking, and when it was time for them to rise, they said: Truly, you are a young lad of tender age, and you have invoked a verse of which you do not know what it is; and perhaps you will yet live to see that time, when you see an obeyed avarice, a followed desire, and the self-conceit of everyone who has an opinion with his own opinion — then upon you is the care of your own soul; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance. (24)
12859 - Hannād related to us, saying: Layth ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Isḥāq al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, concerning His saying: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance; to Allah is the return of you all, and He will inform you of what you used to do", he said: They were sitting with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and between two men there occurred what occurs among people, until each of them rose up against the other. Then one of those present with ʿAbd Allāh said: Shall I not rise and enjoin upon them good and forbid them evil? But another beside him said: Upon you is the care of your own soul, for Allah, the Exalted, says: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance"! Ibn Masʿūd heard this and said: Be silent! The interpretation of this has not yet come! Truly, the Qurʾān was revealed as it was revealed; and among it are verses whose interpretation was already fulfilled before they were revealed, and among it are verses whose interpretation was fulfilled in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and among it are verses whose interpretation was fulfilled shortly after the Prophet ﷺ, and among it are verses whose interpretation will be fulfilled after today, and among it are verses whose interpretation will be fulfilled at the Hour according to what is mentioned about the Hour, and among it are verses whose interpretation will be fulfilled on the Day of Reckoning according to what is mentioned about the Reckoning, the Paradise and the Fire. As long as your hearts are one, and your desires are one, and you are not divided into sects, and one of you has not yet tasted the fighting-strength of the other — then enjoin and forbid. But when the hearts and the desires diverge, and you become divided into sects, and one of you tastes the fighting-strength of the other — then it is every man for himself; at that moment comes the interpretation of this verse. (30)
12860 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd: that between two men there occurred something of what occurs among people, until each of them rose up against the other, and then he mentioned something similar. (31)
12861 - Aḥmad ibn al-Miqdām related to me, saying: Ḥaramī related to us......... he said: I heard al-Ḥasan say: Some companions of the Prophet ﷺ interpreted this verse: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", and some of his companions said: Leave this verse alone, it is not for you. (32)
12862 - Ismāʿīl ibn Isrāʾīl al-Laʾʾāl al-Ramlī related to me, saying: Ayyūb ibn Suwayd related to us, saying: ʿUtba ibn Abī Ḥakīm related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Jāriya al-Lakhmī, on the authority of Abū Umayya al-Shaʿbānī, he said: I asked Abū Thaʿlaba al-Khushanī about this verse: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls", and he said: Truly, you have asked one knowledgeable about it; I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it and he said: O Abū Thaʿlaba, enjoin one another to good and forbid one another evil; but when you see a worldliness that is preferred, an obeyed avarice, and the self-conceit of everyone who has an opinion with his own opinion — then upon you is the care of your own soul! Truly, after you come days of patience; for whoever holds fast on that day to that which you now hold fast, there is the reward of fifty workers! They said: O Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty workers from them? He said: No, the reward of fifty workers from you. (34)
12863 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim informed us, on the authority of Ibn al-Mubārak and others, on the authority of ʿUtba ibn Abī Ḥakīm, [on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Jāriya al-Lakhmī], on the authority of Abū Umayya al-Shaʿbānī, he said: I asked Abū Thaʿlaba al-Khushanī: How should we deal with this verse: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance"? Then Abū Thaʿlaba said: You have asked one knowledgeable about it; I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it and he said: Enjoin one another to good and forbid one another evil, until you see an obeyed avarice, a followed desire, and the self-conceit of everyone who has an opinion with his own opinion — then upon you is the care of your own, personal soul, and leave the common mass of them alone, for truly, behind you lie days in which the reward of him who works is like the reward of fifty from you. (36)
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is that when the servant acts in obedience to Allah, he suffers no harm from those who err and perish after him.
* Mention of who said that:
12864 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you", he says: When the servant obeys Me in that which I have commanded him of permitted and forbidden matters, then whoever errs after him will not harm him, as long as he acts in accordance with what I have commanded him.
12865 - 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 ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he says: Obey My command and keep My charge.
12866 - Hannād related to us, saying: Layth ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Isḥāq al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn al-Jawn, he said: A young man from the adherents of [reprehensible] desires came in to him, and he related something of his affair. Then Ṣafwān said: Shall I not point you to the special favor of Allah with which He has favored His close friends? "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you" — the verse. (37)
12867 - ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī ʿUmayr related to us, saying: Abū al-Muṭarrif al-Makhzūmī related to us, saying: Juwaybir related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance" — as long as there is no sword or whip. (38)
12868 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Ḍamra ibn Rabīʿa related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan recited this verse: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", and al-Ḥasan said: Praise be to Allah for it, and praise be to Allah because of it; there was in the past no believer, nor will there be in the future a believer, but beside him is a hypocrite (munāfiq) who detests his conduct. (39)
* * *
And others said: No, the meaning of it is: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls", so act in obedience to Allah — "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", so that you enjoin good and forbid evil.
* Mention of who said that:
12869 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām ibn Salm related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Saʿd al-Baqqāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab: "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he said: When you enjoin good and forbid evil, he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance.
12870 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū al-ʿUmays, on the authority of Abū al-Bakhtarī, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa: "upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he said: When you enjoin and forbid.
12871 - Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us = and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us = on the authority of Ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, he said: Abū Bakr said: You recite this verse: "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", but truly, when the people see the wrongdoer — Ibn Wakīʿ said — and do not seize him by the hand, then it is about to be that Allah strikes them all with His punishment. (40)
12872 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr and Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Bayān, on the authority of Qays, he said: Abū Bakr said: Truly, you recite this verse: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", but truly, when the people see the wrongdoer and do not seize him by the hand, Allah strikes them all with His punishment. (41)
12873 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, and he mentioned something similar.
12874 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His saying: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he says: Enjoin good and forbid evil. Abū Bakr ibn Abī Quḥāfa said: O people, do not be deceived by the saying of Allah: "upon you is the care of your own souls", so that one of you says: upon me is the care of my own soul. By Allah, you shall surely enjoin good and forbid evil, or else Allah will set over you your worst ones, who will make you undergo the most severe punishment; then your best ones will call upon Allah, but He will not answer them.
12875 - Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, saying: Bayān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, he said: Abū Bakr said, while standing on the pulpit: O people, truly, you recite this verse out of its place: "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", but truly, when the people see the wrongdoer and do not seize him by the hand, Allah strikes them all with His punishment.
12876 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn al-Musayyab al-Bajalī related to me, saying: Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim related to us, saying: I heard Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, recite this verse: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", and he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: When the people see evil and do not change it, and the wrongdoer and do not seize him by the hand, then it is about to be that Allah strikes them all with a punishment because of it. (42)
12877 - Al-Rabīʿ related to us, saying: Asad ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Sālim related to us, saying: Manṣūr ibn Dīnār related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysara, on the authority of Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, he said: Abū Bakr ascended the pulpit, the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, praised Allah and lauded Him, and then said: O people, truly, you recite a verse from the Book of Allah and regard it as a license, while Allah, by Allah, has not sent down in His Book anything more severe than this: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance." By Allah, you shall surely enjoin good and forbid evil, or else Allah will strike you all with a punishment because of it. (43)
12878 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Zayd related to us, saying: Mujālid ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, he said: I heard Abū Bakr say, while addressing the people: O people, truly, you recite this verse and do not know what it is: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", and truly, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: Truly, when the people see a reprehensible deed and do not change it, Allah strikes them all with a punishment. (44)
* * *
And others said: No, the meaning of this verse is: he who deviates from the right way and disbelieves in Allah from among the People of the Book cannot harm you.
* Mention of who said that:
12879 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His saying: "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he said: By it is meant he who errs from among the People of the Book.
12880 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning this verse: "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he said: It was revealed concerning the People of the Book.
* * *
And others said: By it was meant everyone who strays from the true religion of Allah.
* Mention of who said that:
12881 - Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he said: When a man embraced Islam, they would say to him: You have declared your forefathers foolish and branded them as those who erred, and you have done this and that, and you have made your forefathers thus and thus! It would have befitted you to support them and to do such and such! Then Allah, the Exalted, said: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls; he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most well-founded of these sayings and the most correct of the interpretations according to us concerning the explanation of this verse, is what is transmitted from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, about it, namely: "O you who believe, upon you is the care of your own souls" — hold fast to acting in obedience to Allah and to what He has commanded you, and abstain from what Allah has forbidden you — "he who errs cannot harm you when you follow the right guidance", he says: truly, the error of him who errs cannot harm you, when you hold fast to acting in obedience to Allah, and when you accomplish toward whoever of the people errs that which Allah has made obligatory upon you therein, namely the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding the evil that he commits or attempts to commit, and seizing him by the hand when he intends wrong against a Muslim or a covenanter (muʿāhad) and restraining him from that — and when he then refuses to desist from that, then there is no blame upon you on account of his persistence in his folly and error, as long as you yourselves follow the right guidance and have accomplished the right of Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, therein.
We have said that this is the most correct of the interpretations therein, because Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, has commanded the believers to uphold justice and to help one another in piety and god-fearingness. And to the upholding of justice belongs the seizing of the wrongdoer by the hand, and to the helping of one another in piety and god-fearingness belongs the enjoining of good. This accords with what is established in numerous reports from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning his command to enjoin good and forbid evil. And if it had been permitted to the people to omit that, then the command to it would have no meaning, except in the case in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted omitting it, namely the state of incapacity to accomplish it with the outward limbs; then it is permitted to him to omit it, provided that he accomplishes at that moment the obligation that Allah imposes upon him therein with his heart.
And when that which we have described of the explanation of the verse is the most well-founded, then it is clear that within the meaning of His saying "when you follow the right guidance" lies that which Ḥudhayfa and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said, namely that this means: "when you have enjoined good and forbidden evil", as well as the meaning of what Abū Thaʿlaba al-Khushanī transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* * *
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: إِلَى اللَّهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (To Allah is the return of you all, and He will inform you of what you used to do.) (105)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says to the believers among His servants: Act, O believers, in accordance with what I have commanded you, and abstain from what I have forbidden you, and enjoin upon the people of straying and error, and whoever deviates from My path, the good, and forbid them evil. If they accept that, then it is to the benefit of them and of you; and if they persist in their folly and error, then to Me is the return of you all and your destination in the Hereafter, as well as their destination. And I am the One who knows what you all perform of good and evil; there I shall then inform each group of you of what it used to do in this worldly life, and then I shall recompense him for his deeds with which he has come to Me, according to what he deserves. For truly, the deed of no doer among you, whether man or woman, remains hidden from Me.
