An-Nisā’ 4:78
The verses
Wheresoever ye may be, death will overtake you, even though ye were in lofty towers. Yet if a happy thing befalleth them they say: This is from Allah; and if an evil thing befalleth them they say: This is of thy doing (O Muhammad). Say (unto them): All is from Allah. What is amiss with these people that they come not nigh to understand a happening? — Marmaduke Pickthall
Whatever of good befalleth thee (O man) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself. We have sent thee (Muhammad) as a messenger unto mankind and Allah is sufficient as Witness. — Marmaduke Pickthall
The issue
Contradictions in the Qur’ān usually occur in verses that are apart from each
other in the same sūra or in verses from different sūras. However, in this passage, the
contradiction occurs in two consecutive verses. Q 4.78 teaches that the source of both
good and evil is Allah, while the following verse, Q 4.79, declares that good is from
Allah and evil is from man.
• Q 4.78: “And if a good thing befall them, they say, ‘This is from God,’ but if a bad
thing, they say, ‘This is from thee.’ Say, ‘It is all from God....’ ”
• Q 4.79: “What befalls thee of good it is from God; and what befalls thee of bad it is
from thyself....”
Question: Is “what befalls...of bad” from God or from oneself?
Arabic text of this item
إن التناقض الذي يظهر أحياناً بين آيات القرآن عادة ما يكون بين الآيات المتباعدة في نفس السورة، أو بين آيات من سور مختلفة. ولكن التناقض في هذا المقطع قد جاء متعاقباً؛ إذْ تقول الآية (78) إن الخير والشر مصدرهما الله، بينما تعلن الآية التالية لها أنّ الخير من الله والشر من الإنسان (79):
<78 وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌ يَقُولُواْ: «هَذِهِ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ»، وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُواْ: «هَذِهِ مِنْ عِندِكَ». قُلْ: «كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ اللّهِ»... 79 مَّا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللّهِ، وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَ...>.
Sources cited
Sources added in review (the original item cited none)
- al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, on Q 4:79 · link checked 2026-10-12
This item merges 2 entries of the original site that carried the same text across the passage (old ids 71, 72; the old ids redirect here).