Ibrāhīm 14:28

The issue

The verse singles out an unnamed group of people as “those who have changed God’s favours for misbelief.” Islamic scholars offer the following possibilities for this group of people:

Quraysh “Hypocrites”.

Quraysh tribesmen who fought the Muslims at the Battle of Badr.

Quraysh tribal leaders at the Battle of Badr.

Banū ’Umayya and Banū Makhzūm, wealthy and powerful Quraysh clans.

Rejecters of Muhammad’s Da‘wa.

Jabala Ibn al-’Ayham, last ruler of the Ghassanid state in Syria and Jordan (seventh century AD).

Quraysh, Muhammad’s tribesmen.

Note: Some Islamic scholars suggest that one of the “favors” mentioned in the verse refers to Muhammad, who was sent to the Quraysh from Allah but whom the Quraysh rejected and forced out of Mecca. Other opinions maintain that the verse is about those Quraysh who did not convert to Islam but remained misbelievers or polytheists.

Even though the text refers to a specific action (“changed God’s favours for misbelief”), the context is too general and does not include any historical details to clearly identify a specific group of people who committed this action. Furthermore, this verse is not contained within a passage where any clear antecedent is provided to identify this unnamed group. Thus, this ambiguity in this text produced at least seven possibilities by Islamic scholars.