أَفَمَن كَانَ مُؤْمِنًا كَمَن كَانَ فَاسِقًا ۚ لَّا يَسْتَوُۥنَ 18
Translations
Then is one who was a believer like one who was defiantly disobedient? They are not equal.
Transliteration
Afaman kana mu'minan kaman kana fasiqan; la yastawun
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah poses a rhetorical question asserting that a believer (mu'min) and a transgressor/disobedient person (fasiq) are absolutely not equal. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this verse emphasizes the fundamental distinction between those who obey Allah and those who rebel against His commandments. The ayah serves as a powerful rebuttal to the notion that faith and disbelief, obedience and disobedience, carry the same value or consequence.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah As-Sajdah, which addresses the signs of Allah's creation and the Day of Judgment. The verse comes after descriptions of the believers who remember Allah and prostrate before Him, contrasting their state with those who turn away from His guidance. It emphasizes the moral and spiritual inequality between the righteous and the wicked.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'The example of the believer who recites the Quran is like the citron, its smell is good and its taste is good. And the believer who does not recite the Quran is like the date, it has no smell but its taste is sweet.' (Sahih Bukhari 5427). This demonstrates the distinction between believers of different degrees and non-believers.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that our choices and beliefs have real, meaningful consequences—the faithful and the disobedient are not equivalent in the sight of Allah. For modern believers, this serves as a reminder that sincere faith and righteous conduct matter profoundly and that striving to be among the believers is a worthwhile pursuit with eternal significance.
Related Ayahs
وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هَـٰذَا ٱلْفَتْحُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ
And they say, "When will be this conquest, if you should be truthful?"
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ ٱفْتَرَىٰهُ ۚ بَلْ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًا مَّآ أَتَىٰهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ
Or do they say, "He invented it"? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Muḥammad], that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided.
وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا۟ فَمَأْوَىٰهُمُ ٱلنَّارُ ۖ كُلَّمَآ أَرَادُوٓا۟ أَن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنْهَآ أُعِيدُوا۟ فِيهَا وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ ذُوقُوا۟ عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ ٱلَّذِى كُنتُم بِهِۦ تُكَذِّبُونَ
But as for those who defiantly disobeyed, their refuge is the Fire. Every time they wish to emerge from it, they will be returned to it while it is said to them, "Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to deny."
فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّآ أُخْفِىَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَآءًۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes [i.e., satisfaction] as reward for what they used to do.