Transliteration:( Wa'tasimoo bi Hablil laahi jamee'anw wa laa tafarraqoo; wazkuroo ni'matal laahi alaikum iz kuntum a'daaa'an fa allafa baina quloobikum fa asbah tum bini'matiheee ikhwaananw wa kuntum 'alaa shafaa hufratim minan Naari fa anqazakum minhaa; kazaalika yubaiyinul laahu lakum aayaatihee la'allakum tahtadoon )
"And hold fast [228] to the rope of Allah all together and do not be divided among yourselves [229]. Remember the favors of Allah upon you [230], when you were enemies, and He brought your hearts together in love, making you brothers by His grace [231]. You were on the edge of the Fire, and He rescued you from it [232]. Thus, Allah makes His verses clear to you so that you may be guided."
Some commentators of the Qur'an are of the opinion that the Rope of Allah refers to the progeny of the Holy Prophet ﷺ. Hence, obedience and love for this blessed family is a source of guidance and salvation. According to others, it refers to the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself—just as a rope pulls someone from a well, the Prophet ﷺ uplifts the spiritually lost. Thus, holding onto him means holding fast to divine guidance.
This teaches that true unity must be built upon obedience to Allah and His Beloved Prophet ﷺ. Any unity formed outside these bounds is not a blessing, but a source of deviation. The verse also reminds us that the battles among the Companions were not driven by sectarianism, but by differences in sincere religious judgment.
From this, we learn the virtue of gratefully remembering Allah’s bounties and reminding each other of them. This act is an excellent form of worship that fosters gratitude, humility, and unity among believers.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ established deep brotherhood among the believers. While a father may create unity among his children, he does not become their brother. Similarly, the wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ are mothers to the believers, not sisters-in-law, reinforcing the unique spiritual bonds created through divine law and prophetic status.
Allah rescued mankind by sending His Beloved Prophet ﷺ and guiding them to obey him. This teaches that the Prophet ﷺ is the greatest means of safety from Hellfire and the most exalted bounty from Allah. Through him, we were pulled away from the edge of destruction toward salvation.
The tafsir of Surah Imran verse 103 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Imran ayat 102 which provides the complete commentary from verse 102 through 104.
(3:103) Hold fast together to the cable of Allah[83] and be not divided. Remember the blessing that Allah bestowed upon you: you were once enemies then He brought your hearts together, so that through His blessing you became brothers. You stood on the brink of a pit of fire and He delivered you from it.[84] Thus Allah makes His signs clear to you that you may be guided to the right way.[85]
83. The expression ‘cable of Allah’, in this verse, refers to the ‘religion of God’. The reason for use of the word ‘cable’ (habl) is that it both establishes a bond between man and God and joins all believers together. To take a firm hold on this cable means that the believers should attach profound importance to their religion: this should always be the centre of their concerns; they should continually strive to establish it; and the common desire to serve it should make them co-operate with each other.
As soon as Muslims turn their attentions away from the fundamental teachings of their religion and lose sight of establishing its hegemony in life they begin to concern themselves with matters of secondary importance. And, just as they rent the communities of the former Prophets, enticing people away from their true objective in life, so schisms and dissensions are bound to plague their lives. If Muslims do this they are bound to suffer indignity and disgrace both in this world and the Next as happened with the followers of the previous Prophets.
84. This refers to the state of the Arabs on the eve of the advent of Islam. There were animosities among the tribes which regularly broke out into fighting; every now and then there was much bloodshed. Things had reached a point that the entire Arabian nation seemed to be on the verge of destroying itself. It was due to the blessings of Islam alone that it was saved from being consumed by the fire to which this verse alludes. The people of Madina had embraced Islam some three or four years before these verses were revealed. They had witnessed the blessing of Islam as it unified into one brotherhood the Aws and Khazraj, two tribes which had long been sworn enemies. Moreover, both tribes treated the migrants from Makka in a spirit of sacrifice and love seldom seen even among members of the same family.
85. If they had eyes to see they could conclude for themselves whether their salvation lay in adhering firmly to this religion or in abandoning it and reverting to their former state; i.e. decide whether their true well-wishers were God and His Messenger or those Jews, polytheists and hypocrites who strove to plunge them back into their former state.
[142]- Referring either to His covenant or the Qur’ān.
For a faster and smoother experience,
install our mobile app now.
Related Ayat(Verses)/Topics