Surah 25

Surah 25:31

"In this way We have assigned to every prophet an enemy from the sinners. Yet your Lord is sufficient as a guide and helper."
The Messenger will complain against His Opponents Verses 25:30-31
Show Full Scripture Context (25:30-31) — 2 Verses
Verse 30

وَقَالَ ٱلرَّسُولُ يَٰرَبِّ إِنَّ قَوۡمِي ٱتَّخَذُواْ هَٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ مَهۡجُورٗا

The messenger said, ‘My Lord! Surely my people have taken this Qur’ān (as a thing to be) shunned.’

Verse 31

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلۡنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوّٗا مِّنَ ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِرَبِّكَ هَادِيٗا وَنَصِيرٗا

In this way We have assigned to every prophet an enemy from the sinners. Yet your Lord is sufficient as a guide and helper.

Allah tells how His Messenger and Prophet Muhammad will say: “O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur’an.” The idolaters would not listen to the Qur’an, as Allah says:

{And those who disbelieve say: " Listen not to this Qur'an, and make noise in the midst of it."} (41:26).

When he would recite Qur’an to them, they would talk nonsense or speak about something else, so that they would not hear it. This is a form of forsaking it and rejecting it, and not believing in it is the same as forsaking it, and not pondering its meanings and trying to understand it is the same as forsaking it, and not acting upon it and following its commandments and heeding its prohibitions is the same as forsaking it, and turning away from it in favor of poetry or other words or songs or idle talk or some other way is the same as forsaking it. We ask Allah, the Most Generous, the Bestower of bounty, the One Who is able to do what He wills, to keep us safe from doing that which earns His wrath and to use us to do that which will earn His pleasure of preserving and understanding His Book, following its commandments night and day in the manner which He loves and which pleases Him, for He is Generous and Kind.

Quoted Scripture
"Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals."

means, ‘just as there is for you, O Muhammad, those people who scorned the Qur’an, so in all the previous nations did Allah make for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals, who called people to their misguidance and disbelief,’ as Allah says:

{And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies - Shaydtin among mankind and Jinn } (6:112) as stated in these two Ayat.

Allah says here:

Quoted Scripture
"But sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper."

meaning, for the one who follows His Messenger and believes in His Book, Allah will be his Guide and Helper in this world and the Hereafter. Allah says

{a Guide and Helper.} because the idolators used to try to prevent people from following the Qur’an lest anyone be guided by it. They wanted their way to prevail over the way of the Qur’an. Allah says:

Quoted Scripture
"Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals."
About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.