وَلَا تَسُبُّوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَدْوًۢا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍۢ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do.
Introduction
This is āyah 108 of Sūrat Al-An'aam (The Cattle), the 55th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 7. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 55 of 114
- Surah
- Al-An'aam (6)
(Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance�) [5:108]. Said ibn �Abbas, according to the report of al-Walibi: �They [the idolaters] said: �O Muhammad, either you stop reviling our idols or we will revile your Lord�. And so Allah, exalted is He, warned against reviling their idols lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance�. Qatadah said: �The Muslims used to revile the idols of the unbelievers and the latter used to react against them. Allah, exalted is He, therefore, warned the Muslims against being the cause which drives ignorant unbelievers, who have no knowledge of Allah, to revile Allah as a result of reviling their idols�. Said al-Suddi: �When Abu Talib was dying, [some chiefs of] the Quraysh said: �let us go to this man and ask him to forbid his nephew from reviling our idols, for we feel shame to kill him after he passes away and drive the Arabs to say: �He used to defend him but once he passed away, they killed him�. And so Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayyah and Ubayy the sons of Khalaf, �Uqbah ibn Abi Mu�ayt, �Amr ibn al-�As, al-Aswad ibn al-Bukhturi went to see Abu Talib. They said to him: �You are our master and chief, but Muhammad has harmed us and harmed our idols. We would like you to call him and warn him against speaking ill of our idols. And from our part, we will leave him alone to his Allah�. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went when he was summoned. Abu Talib said to him: �These are your people and cousins!� The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked them: �What do you want?� They said: �We want you to leave us alone with our idols and we will leave you alone with your Allah�. Abu Talib said: �Your people are being fair with you, so give your consent�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �If I agree to this would you agree to give me one sentence, if you were to utter it, you would rule over the Arabs and non-Arabs alike?� Abu Jahl said: �Yes, by your father, we will give it to you and also give you ten other things like it; but what is it? He said: �Say: there is no god but Allah!� They refused and expressed their aversion at this proposal, upon which Abu Talib said; �Son of my brother, ask for something else, for your people are wary of this�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
No community resources for this verse yet.