Translation:
O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.6
O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.6
Translation:
O mankind! We created 4933 you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).
O mankind! We created 4933 you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).
Commentary:
4933 This is addressed to all mankind and not only to the Muslim brotherhood, though it is understood that in a perfected world the two would be synonymous. As it is, mankind is descended from one pair of parents. Their tribes, races, and nations are convenient labels by which we may know certain differing characteristics. Before Allah they are all one, and he gets most honour who is most righteous.
Translation:
O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, 15 and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. 16 Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.
O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, 15 and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. 16 Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.
Commentary:
15 I.e., "We have created every one of you out of a father and a mother" (Zamakhshari , Razi, Baydawi) - implying that this equality of biological origin is reflected in the equality of the human dignity common to all.
16 I.e., know that all belong to one human family, without any inherent superiority of one over another (Zamakhshari ). This connects with the exhortation, in the preceding two verses, to respect and safeguard each other’s dignity. In other words, men’s evolution into "nations and tribes" is meant to foster rather than to diminish their mutual desire to understand and appreciate the essential human oneness underlying their outward differentiations; and, correspondingly, all racial, national or tribal prejudice (asabiyyah) is condemned - implicitly in the Qur’an, and most explicitly by the Prophet (see second half of note 15 on 28:15). In addition, speaking of people’s boasting of their national or tribal past, the Prophet said: "Behold, God has removed from you the arrogance of pagan ignorance (jahiliyyah) with its boast of ancestral glories. Man is but a God-conscious believer or an unfortunate sinner. All people are children of Adam, and Adam was created out of dust." (Fragment of a hadith quoted by Tirmidhi and Abu Da'ud, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah.)
15 I.e., "We have created every one of you out of a father and a mother" (Zamakhshari , Razi, Baydawi) - implying that this equality of biological origin is reflected in the equality of the human dignity common to all.
16 I.e., know that all belong to one human family, without any inherent superiority of one over another (Zamakhshari ). This connects with the exhortation, in the preceding two verses, to respect and safeguard each other’s dignity. In other words, men’s evolution into "nations and tribes" is meant to foster rather than to diminish their mutual desire to understand and appreciate the essential human oneness underlying their outward differentiations; and, correspondingly, all racial, national or tribal prejudice (asabiyyah) is condemned - implicitly in the Qur’an, and most explicitly by the Prophet (see second half of note 15 on 28:15). In addition, speaking of people’s boasting of their national or tribal past, the Prophet said: "Behold, God has removed from you the arrogance of pagan ignorance (jahiliyyah) with its boast of ancestral glories. Man is but a God-conscious believer or an unfortunate sinner. All people are children of Adam, and Adam was created out of dust." (Fragment of a hadith quoted by Tirmidhi and Abu Da'ud, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah.)
6 The Prophet (ﷺ) is reported in a ḥadîth collected by Imâm Aḥmed to have said, "O humanity! Your Lord is one, and your ancestry is one. No Arab is superior to a non-Arab, nor is any non-Arab superior to any Arab. No white is superior to any black, nor is any black superior to any white except on account of their righteousness."