Do not be like those who…
وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ
wa-lā takūnū ka-alladhīna — And do not be like those who…
A recurring prohibition frame in which the addressees are warned against resembling a group or figure defined by a following relative clause; the frame holds the fillers together as a set of negative models, each defined by its own relative clause.
This frame appears in the verses given as a negative command addressed to a plural 'you', followed by a comparison particle and a relative pronoun whose clause supplies the content. In six of the eight verses the frame is وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ, an imperfect 2nd-person masculine plural verb in the jussive (3:105, 59:19, 8:21, 8:47, and, without the initial و, 33:69 and 3:156). Two verses vary the pattern. In 16:92 the relative pronoun is feminine singular, كَٱلَّتِى, and the filler is 'the one who unravels her spun thread after [its] strength into loose strands' — a single figure rather than a group. In 57:16 the verb is 3rd-person masculine plural subjunctive, وَلَا يَكُونُوا۟, embedded in a wish that hearts should soften and 'that they should not be like those who were given the Book before'. The fillers differ: causing harm to Moses (33:69), splitting apart and disagreeing after clear evidences (3:105), covering the truth and speaking about their dead brothers (3:156), being given the Book and having hearts harden (57:16), forgetting Allah (59:19), saying 'We have heard' without hearing (8:21), and going out in arrogance and for show while barring from Allah's path (8:47). In each case the frame sets up a described group or figure as a negative model, and the following clause specifies what resemblance would mean. Several verses add a consequence for the named group — punishment (3:105); hardened hearts and, for many, breaking away (57:16); being made to forget themselves and breaking away (59:19); Allah's encompassing of their deeds (8:47) — which sharpens the warning.
Where it occurs
- 3:105 Prohibits being like those who split apart and disagreed after clear evidences came to them; states their punishment.
- 3:156 Prohibits being like those who covered the truth and said of their dead brothers that they would not have died with them.
- 8:21 Prohibits being like those who said 'We have heard' while they do not hear.
- 8:47 Prohibits being like those who went out from their dwellings in arrogance and for show, barring from Allah's path.
- 16:92 Prohibits being like the one (feminine singular) who unravels her spun thread after its strength, applied to taking oaths as intrusion.
- 33:69 Prohibits being like those who caused harm to Moses, whom Allah cleared of what they said.
- 57:16 Expresses the wish that the believers' hearts soften and that they not be like those given the Book before whose hearts hardened.
- 59:19 Prohibits being like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget their own selves.
All Qur'anic expressions