Surah 2, Al Baqarah. Medina 87

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Translation:

كَانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً فَبَعَثَ اللّهُ النَّبِيِّينَ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ...

2: 213. Mankind was one single nation, and God sent Messengers with glad tidings and warnings;

... وَأَنزَلَ مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ فِيمَا اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ...

and with them He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed;

... وَمَا اخْتَلَفَ فِيهِ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ ...

but the People of the Book, after the clear Signs came to them, did not differ among themselves, except through selfish contumacy.

... فَهَدَى اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لِمَا اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ مِنَ الْحَقِّ بِإِذْنِهِ...

God by His Grace guided the believers to the truth, concerning that wherein they differed.

... وَاللّهُ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ ﴿٢١٣﴾

For God guides whom He will to a path that is straight.

Ka_nan na_su ummataw wa_hidah(tan), fa ba'asalla_

hun nabiyyina mubasysyirina wa munzirin(a), wa

anzala ma'ahumul kita_ba bil haqqi liyahkuma bainan

na_si fi makhtalafu_ fih(i), wa makhtalafa fihi illal

lazina u_tu_hu mim ba'di ma_ ja_'athumul bayyina_tu

bagyam bainahum, fa hadalla_hul lazina a_

manu_ limakhtalafu_ fihi minal haqqi bi iznih(i),

walla_hu yahdi may yasya_'u ila_ sira_tim mustaqim(in).

Other translations:

2: 213

Asad

All mankind were once one single community; whereupon

God raised up the prophets as heralds of glad tidings and as warners, and through them bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth, so that it might decide between people with regard to all on which they had come to hold divergent views [note 197]. Yet none other than the self-same people who had been granted this [revelation] began, out of mutual jealousy, to disagree about its meaning after all evidence of the truth had come unto them. But God guided the believers unto the truth about which, by His leave, they had disagreed: for God guides onto a straight way him that will [to be guided] [note 198].

Pickthall

Mankind were one community, and Allah sent

(unto them) Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as

warners, and revealed therewith the Scripture with the truth

that it might judge between mankind concerning that

wherein they differed. And only those unto whom

(the Scripture) was given differed concerning it, after

clear proofs had come unto them, through hatred one

of another. And Allah by His will guided those who believe

unto the truth of that concerning which they differed.

Allah guideth whom He will unto a Straight path.

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[ bagyam – jealousy or hatred or contumacy all these are self created dissention among themselves. Bainahum [among themselves] – what it means is that they changed the revelations not because of any reason or logical problem or inconsistency of the revelation, but simply they dissention towards each other and their selfish reason and their own personal problem.]

Asad’s comments:

197 – By using the expression ‘ummah wahidah (“one single community”) to describe the original state of mankind, the Quran does not profound, as might appear at first glance , the idea of a mythical “golden age” obtaining at the dawn of man’s history. What is alluded to in this verse is no more than the relative homogeneity of instinctive perceptions and inclinations ………………it was bound to disintegrate in the measure of man’s subsequent development. As his thought-life became more and more complex……..]

198 Or: "God guides whomever He wills onto a straight way." As is made clear in the second part of verse 253 of this surah, maris proneness to intellectual dissension is not an accident of history but an integral, God- willed aspect of human nature as such: and it is this natural circumstance to which the words "by His leave" allude. For an explanation of the phrase "out of mutual jealousy", see 23:53 and the corresponding note 30. [see below]

Amatulla’s comments

With this verse the Quran is indicating that humankind evolved from one community. God gave a common origin for humanity and one ever true essence of religion propagated by innumerable prophets down through the time. Even though the Messages sent through different prophets were always the same, peoples’ own frailties and faults such as jealousy, contumacy, hatred or self-centeredness distorted the original Message. These are the character faults that human beings should remain conscious about to be vigilant against.

There is also an ever present human propensity to differ and diversify. This is written in human design and this is not necessarily bad because through this diversity the truth about reality is being manifested itself. No one has exclusive hold on the truth, but each is bringing its own understanding and angle to look at the truth. Different concept or mindsets is bringing or illuminating a specific side of truth, each having its narrow shed of light, but collectively, it is bringing a much fuller and complete dimension of truth. And since then this one community, as time passes and population expands, with the different needs and events, human beings started to spread in different directions with different ideas and different aspirations.

There is also a flip side [wrong side] of this diversity and differences that emerge out of self-centeredness, jealousy, contumacy and dissension. This side is of diversity is wrong and evil. It, instead of shedding light on the truth distorts it from whatever angle it is approaching. One should remain aware and vigilant about this human problem and work diligently to avoid or at least restraint this wrong inclinations.

This is to indicate that as human beings become more and more sophisticated and complex in their ability and thinking, they would differ and diversity, but still would retain the same substance and essence. This ‘fitra’ indicated in 30:30 would not change with time and cultures, but differences in terms of different lifestyles and modes operandi would change.

This verse is also indicating a trend in humankind to diversify as it expands and progresses same as the Big Bang theory expresses that the universe is expanding, originally it started from a point. However in this process of spreading, expansion and complexities of progress, there a cyclical events also: crisis or war and normal peaceful condition, conservatism and liberalism, etc., pendulum of diversity and complexity of humanity swing back and forth but never can stay in one place very long. That is the nature of humanity and nature of a human being.

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Following Asad’s note 198 to see 23:53

23:53 But they [who claim to follow you] have torn their unity wide asunder, 29 piece by piece, each group delighting in [but] what they themselves possess [by way of tenets]. 30

30 Lit.; "in what they have [themselves]". In the first instance, this verse refers to the various religious groups as such: that is to say, to the followers of one or another of the earlier revelations who, in the course of time, consolidated themselves within different "denominations", each of them jealously guarding its own set of tenets, dogmas and rituals and intensely intolerant of all other ways of worship (manasik, see 22:67). In the second instance, however, the above condemnation applies to the breach of unity within each of the established religious groups; and since it applies to the followers of all the prophets, it includes the latter-day followers of Muhammad as well, and thus constitutes a prediction and condemnation of the doctrinal disunity prevailing in the world of Islam in our times - cf. the well- authenticated saying of the Prophet quoted by Ibn Hanbal, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi and Darimi: "The Jews have been split up into seventy-one sects, the Christians into seventy-two sects, whereas my community will be split up into seventy-three sects. " (It should be remembered that in classical Arabic usage the number seventy" often stands for "many" -just as "seven" stands for "several" or "various" - and does not necessarily denote an actual figure; hence, what the Prophet meant to say was that the sects and divisions among the Muslims of later days would become many, and even more numerous than those among the Jews and the Christians.)