وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا فِى كُلِّ قَرْيَةٍ أَكَـٰبِرَ مُجْرِمِيهَا لِيَمْكُرُوا۟ فِيهَا ۖ وَمَا يَمْكُرُونَ إِلَّا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ 123
Translations
And thus We have placed within every city the greatest of its criminals to conspire therein. But they conspire not except against themselves, and they perceive [it] not.
Transliteration
Wa-kadhalika ja'alna fee kulli qaryatin akabira mujrimihā liyamkurū fīhā wa-mā yamkurūn illā bi-anfusihim wa-mā yash'urūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah explains that Allah permits the chiefs and leaders of criminals in each town to scheme and plot, but their machinations ultimately harm only themselves without them realizing it. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this reflects Allah's universal pattern of testing communities through their own corrupt leaders, allowing them to devise plots that serve as a means of their punishment and a trial for the righteous. The scholars emphasize that while such criminals believe they are succeeding, they are in reality hastening their own destruction and divine reckoning.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the Meccan surah Al-An'am, which was revealed during the early period when the Quraysh leaders actively opposed Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The verse addresses the broader theological principle that God establishes corrupt leadership among peoples as a trial and consequence of their prior rejection of truth, rather than being specific to a single historical incident.
Related Hadiths
The theme relates to the hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'When the people of a town do evil, Allah sends punishment upon all of them, both the righteous and the wicked.' This illustrates how communities suffer consequences when their leaders engage in schemes and corruption.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that corrupt schemes ultimately boomerang on those who devise them, and that blindness to consequences is itself part of the punishment; believers should trust that injustice never goes unaddressed by Allah and avoid being deceived by the temporary success of wrongdoers.