Recognized versus disapproved (ʿarafa × nakara)
بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ
bi-l-maʿrūf wa-yanhawna ʿan al-munkar — what is recognized / what is disapproved
In the verses given, the roots ʿ-r-f and n-k-r recur as a fixed pair: what is recognized (al-maʿrūf) is set against what is disapproved (al-munkar), and the verbs of knowing and disowning are likewise paired within single verses.
The pair appears in two constructions. In nine of the thirteen verses the pair occurs as two passive participles joined by 'command' and 'restrain'; in eight of these the order is fixed — al-maʿrūf with 'command', al-munkar with 'restrain' — for a community (3:104), the best community (3:110), others who trust in God and the Last Day (3:114), the messenger whom they find written in the Torah and the Gospel (7:157), the believing men and women (9:71), those who turn back and serve (9:112), those established in the land (22:41), and a father addressing his son (31:17), while the ninth, 9:67, inverts both pairings: the hypocrite men and women command al-munkar and restrain from al-maʿrūf, so the inversion marks the group as breaking away. The second construction pairs the verb of recognizing with a form of disowning — the active participle munkirūn in 12:58 and 23:69, and a finite verb in 16:83: he recognized them while they were disacknowledging him (12:58); they recognize God's blessing, then repudiate it (16:83); did they not know their messenger, so they are toward him disowning? (23:69). Here recognition and repudiation hold between the same parties within one verse: in 16:83 and 23:69 the same subjects recognize and then repudiate the same object, while in 12:58 the acts are reciprocal — he recognized them while they disacknowledged him. A mixed case is 22:72, where the verb 'you recognize' (taʿrifu) takes al-munkar as its object: the disapproved is itself something recognizable in the faces of those who covered the truth. In the verses given, then, the two roots function as complementary poles: acknowledgment versus refusal, with the participles naming what is commanded and what is restrained.
Where it occurs
- 3:104 A community commands al-maʿrūf and restrains from al-munkar; the pair defines its activity.
- 3:110 The best community is described by enjoining al-maʿrūf and forbidding al-munkar.
- 3:114 Those who trust in God and the Last Day instruct to al-maʿrūf and restrain from al-munkar.
- 7:157 The messenger instructs them to al-maʿrūf and restrains them from al-munkar.
- 9:67 The hypocrite men and women invert the pair: they command al-munkar and restrain from al-maʿrūf.
- 9:71 The believing men and women instruct with al-maʿrūf and restrain from al-munkar.
- 9:112 Those who command with al-maʿrūf and restrain from al-munkar are listed among those who guard God's limits.
- 12:58 He recognized them while they were disacknowledging him: recognition and disacknowledgment hold between the same parties.
- 16:83 They recognize God's blessing, then repudiate it: recognition followed by refusal in one clause pair.
- 22:41 Those established in the land command al-maʿrūf and forbid al-munkar.
- 22:72 The verb 'you recognize' takes al-munkar as object: the disapproved is recognized in the faces of those who covered the truth.
- 23:69 They did not know their messenger, so they are toward him disowning: knowing and disowning paired.
- 31:17 A father instructs his son to command al-maʿrūf and restrain from al-munkar.
All Qur'anic expressions