Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:181
And among those We created is a community which guides by truth and thereby establishes justice.
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 explanation of His saying: وَمِمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ بِالْحَقِّ وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ (181)
(And among those whom We have created is a community that guides by the truth and judges justly thereby. (181))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And among the creatures whom We have created is an "umma," that is, a group (23), — "who guide," He says: who let themselves be guided by the truth (24) — "and judge justly thereby," He says: and who pronounce judgment with the truth and deal justly with the people (25), as Ibn Jurayj has said:
15458 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His saying: أمة يهدون بالحق وبه يعدلون (a community that guides by the truth and judges justly thereby). Ibn Jurayj said: It has been transmitted to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "This is my community (umma)!" He said: By the truth they take and they give and they judge.
15459 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وممن خلقنا أمة يهدون بالحق وبه يعدلون (And among those whom We have created is a community that guides by the truth and judges justly thereby)... (26)
15460 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: وممن خلقنا أمة يهدون بالحق وبه يعدلون (And among those whom We have created is a community that guides by the truth and judges justly thereby). It has been transmitted to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, when he recited this, used to say: "This is for you, and to the people who were before you the like of it was granted: وَمِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَى أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ بِالْحَقِّ وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ (And among the people of Mūsā is a community that guides by the truth and judges justly thereby) [Sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 159]."
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The footnotes:
(23) See the explanation of "umma" earlier, p. 208, note 2, and the references there.
(24) See the explanation of "hadā" earlier in the linguistic registers (hadā).
(25) See the explanation of "ʿadl" earlier, p. 172, note 3, and the references there.
(26) These dots have been placed because the report is not complete; either it was dropped by the copyist, or it concerns another isnād of the report that follows it.
