سُوْرَةُ البَقَرَةِ
Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 285
ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِۦ ۚ وَقَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ ﴿285﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
The Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allâh, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say), "We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers" - and they say, "We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your Forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all)."
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
ءَامَنَ
āmana
Believed
ٱلرَّسُولُ
l-rasūlu
the Messenger
بِمَآ
bimā
in what
أُنزِلَ
unzila
was revealed
إِلَيْهِ
ilayhi
to him
مِن
min
from
رَّبِّهِۦ
rabbihi
his Lord
وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ
wal-mu'minūna
and the believers
كُلٌّ
kullun
All
ءَامَنَ
āmana
believed
بِٱللَّهِ
bil-lahi
in Allah
وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ
wamalāikatihi
and His Angels
وَكُتُبِهِۦ
wakutubihi
and His Books
وَرُسُلِهِۦ
warusulihi
and His Messengers
لَا
lā
Not
نُفَرِّقُ
nufarriqu
we make distinction
بَيْنَ
bayna
between
أَحَدٍۢ
aḥadin
any
مِّن
min
of
رُّسُلِهِۦ ۚ
rusulihi
His messengers
وَقَالُوا۟
waqālū
And they said
سَمِعْنَا
samiʿ'nā
We heard
وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ
wa-aṭaʿnā
and we obeyed
غُفْرَانَكَ
ghuf'rānaka
(Grant) us Your forgiveness
رَبَّنَا
rabbanā
our Lord
وَإِلَيْكَ
wa-ilayka
and to You
ٱلْمَصِيرُ
l-maṣīru
(is) the return
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
285. The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and so have the believers. All of them have believed in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers [414], (saying), “We make no distinction between any of His messengers [415].” And they say, “We hear and we obey. Our Lord, grant us Your forgiveness, and to You is the final return.”
[414]
The Six Components of Faith in the Unseen:
All these are components of faith in the unseen, which are necessary to believe in. At the beginning of this Surah, they were mentioned in summary, and here they are explained in some detail. There are a total of six components of faith in the unseen, of which four are mentioned here: belief in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. The ones not mentioned here, but mentioned in other places, are belief in the Day of Judgment and belief that all good and evil comes from Allah alone. All these things are such that they cannot be perceived by the five senses and remain hidden from human sight. Among them, books and messengers are visible to people, but humans have no means to be certain that a particular book is actually revealed from Allah or that a particular messenger is truly Allah’s messenger. This certainty can only be attained when one first believes in Allah and His angels. When an angel brings Allah’s message to the messenger, the messenger is the first to believe in his own prophethood and in the commands received from Allah, and he submits to these commands and acts upon them. This reality is expressed in other places with the words ﴿وَاَنَا اَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ﴾ and ﴿وَاَنَا اَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ﴾. After this, the messenger invites others to believe in his prophethood and to act upon the divinely revealed commands. Then, whoever believes in the messenger must also believe in the previous messengers and the earlier revealed books. And this belief is general, not detailed, because a new messenger only comes when the book of the previous messenger has been distorted and altered, its appearance changed, and its teachings corrupted or transformed. Thus, now it is necessary to have detailed faith in Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And detailed faith in him means to consider every part of the divinely revealed Shariah as obligatory to follow, to act accordingly, and to mold one’s life in that framework. And general faith in the previous books means that whatever in those books is in accordance with Islamic Shariah should be considered as divinely revealed, and whatever is contrary should be considered as people’s additions or distortions, and whatever is neither in accordance nor in opposition, neither affirm nor deny it.
[415]
The Meaning of Making Distinctions Among Messengers:
There are two ways of making distinctions among messengers. One is to accept some as Allah’s messengers and not accept others, as the Jews did not accept Jesus ؑ as a messenger, nor the Noble Prophet ﷺ, and the Christians do not consider Muhammad ﷺ as Allah’s prophet. Whereas Muslims accept all of them as Allah’s prophets and messengers, making no distinction in their being prophets or messengers. The second aspect is that, in terms of prophethood, all prophets are on the same level and are superior to all other creatures. To eliminate such distinctions, the Prophet ﷺ said that it is not correct for anyone to say that I am better than Yunus ibn Matta. And in another narration, it is stated: “Whoever says that I am better than Yunus ibn Matta has lied.” [ بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير، تفسير آيت]
﴿اِنَّآ اَوْحَيْنَآ اِلَيْكَ كَمَآ .....﴾
In what sense is one prophet superior to another? Just as all humans, in terms of being human, are on the same level, but among them are good and bad, just, unjust, polytheist, monotheist, and thus countless categories are formed. Similarly, all Muslims, in terms of being Muslim or, in other words, in legal terms, are on the same level, but based on their righteous or unrighteous deeds, they are divided into many categories. In exactly the same way, all prophets, though on the same level in terms of prophethood and with no distinction among them, yet in terms of virtues, there are differences among them. And this difference is proven by this verse of the Noble Quran:
﴿تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَليٰ بَعْضٍ﴾
and from numerous authentic hadiths it is proven that Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, is superior to all the prophets.
[414]
The Six Components of Faith in the Unseen:
All these are components of faith in the unseen, which are necessary to believe in. At the beginning of this Surah, they were mentioned in summary, and here they are explained in some detail. There are a total of six components of faith in the unseen, of which four are mentioned here: belief in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. The ones not mentioned here, but mentioned in other places, are belief in the Day of Judgment and belief that all good and evil comes from Allah alone. All these things are such that they cannot be perceived by the five senses and remain hidden from human sight. Among them, books and messengers are visible to people, but humans have no means to be certain that a particular book is actually revealed from Allah or that a particular messenger is truly Allah’s messenger. This certainty can only be attained when one first believes in Allah and His angels. When an angel brings Allah’s message to the messenger, the messenger is the first to believe in his own prophethood and in the commands received from Allah, and he submits to these commands and acts upon them. This reality is expressed in other places with the words ﴿وَاَنَا اَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ﴾ and ﴿وَاَنَا اَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ﴾. After this, the messenger invites others to believe in his prophethood and to act upon the divinely revealed commands. Then, whoever believes in the messenger must also believe in the previous messengers and the earlier revealed books. And this belief is general, not detailed, because a new messenger only comes when the book of the previous messenger has been distorted and altered, its appearance changed, and its teachings corrupted or transformed. Thus, now it is necessary to have detailed faith in Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And detailed faith in him means to consider every part of the divinely revealed Shariah as obligatory to follow, to act accordingly, and to mold one’s life in that framework. And general faith in the previous books means that whatever in those books is in accordance with Islamic Shariah should be considered as divinely revealed, and whatever is contrary should be considered as people’s additions or distortions, and whatever is neither in accordance nor in opposition, neither affirm nor deny it.
[415]
The Meaning of Making Distinctions Among Messengers:
There are two ways of making distinctions among messengers. One is to accept some as Allah’s messengers and not accept others, as the Jews did not accept Jesus ؑ as a messenger, nor the Noble Prophet ﷺ, and the Christians do not consider Muhammad ﷺ as Allah’s prophet. Whereas Muslims accept all of them as Allah’s prophets and messengers, making no distinction in their being prophets or messengers. The second aspect is that, in terms of prophethood, all prophets are on the same level and are superior to all other creatures. To eliminate such distinctions, the Prophet ﷺ said that it is not correct for anyone to say that I am better than Yunus ibn Matta. And in another narration, it is stated: “Whoever says that I am better than Yunus ibn Matta has lied.” [ بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير، تفسير آيت]
﴿اِنَّآ اَوْحَيْنَآ اِلَيْكَ كَمَآ .....﴾
In what sense is one prophet superior to another? Just as all humans, in terms of being human, are on the same level, but among them are good and bad, just, unjust, polytheist, monotheist, and thus countless categories are formed. Similarly, all Muslims, in terms of being Muslim or, in other words, in legal terms, are on the same level, but based on their righteous or unrighteous deeds, they are divided into many categories. In exactly the same way, all prophets, though on the same level in terms of prophethood and with no distinction among them, yet in terms of virtues, there are differences among them. And this difference is proven by this verse of the Noble Quran:
﴿تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَليٰ بَعْضٍ﴾
and from numerous authentic hadiths it is proven that Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, is superior to all the prophets.
