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قQuranicpediaEncyclopedia of the Glorious Qur’an

The Righteous (al-Muttaqin) الْمُتَّقِين

In review — pending scholar verification

The God-conscious — those who possess Taqwa, a vigilant awareness of Allah that places a barrier between the servant and disobedience; one of the Quran's preferred names for the spiritually mature believer.

Overview

Al-Muttaqīn (Arabic: الْمُتَّقِين; singular muttaqī) — from the root w-q-y, "to guard, shield" — denotes those who possess Taqwā: a vigilant, ongoing awareness of Allah that places a barrier between the servant and disobedience. The Quran consistently identifies the muttaqīn as the primary recipients of divine guidance: "This is the Book about which there is no doubt — a guidance for those conscious of Allah (al-muttaqīn)" (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:2).

The Quranic portrait

"[The muttaqīn are] those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them — and who believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you — and of the Hereafter they are certain. Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful." — Surah Al-Baqarah 2:3–5
"[They are] those who give in times of ease and hardship, who restrain anger, and who pardon people — and Allah loves the doers of good. And those who, when they commit immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins — and who can forgive sins except Allah? — and they do not persist in what they have done while they know." — Surah Aal Imran 3:134–135

Quranic references

  • Surah Al-Baqarah 2:2–5, 2:177 — the foundational portrait.
  • Surah Aal Imran 3:133–135 — gardens prepared for the muttaqīn; their qualities.
  • Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13 — "Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you."
  • Surah An-Naba 78:31 — "Indeed, for the muttaqīn there is attainment."
  • Surah Al-Maidah 5:8 — "Be just; that is nearer to taqwā."
  • Surah Az-Zumar 39:33 — "And the one who has brought the truth and confirmed it — those are the muttaqīn."
  • Surah Maryam 19:63 — "That is Paradise, which We give as inheritance to those of Our servants who are muttaqīn."

Hadith

Abu Hurayra reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Taqwā is here." — and he pointed to his chest three times. — Sahih Muslim 2564
Ibn ʿAbbās reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out." — Cited from Surah Aṭ-Ṭalāq 65:2; al-Bukhari and Muslim narrate the verse's practical exemplification through the case of ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim al-Awsi

Significance

Taqwā is described by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, when asked: "It is to walk on a path of thorns: you gather your garments to the side and step carefully so that you are not wounded." The muttaqī is the spiritually mature believer; the Quran promises them in this life — "a way out" from difficulty (Surah Aṭ-Ṭalāq 65:2), provision from where they do not expect (65:3), and ease in their affairs (65:4) — and in the Hereafter, Paradise.

See also

References

  1. The Quran (Sahih International translation): Surahs Al-Baqarah 2:2–5, 2:177; Aal Imran 3:133–135; Al-Mā'idah 5:8; Maryam 19:63; Az-Zumar 39:33; Al-Hujurat 49:13; Aṭ-Ṭalāq 65:2–4; An-Naba 78:31.
  2. Sahih Muslim 2564.
  3. Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr, on Al-Baqarah 2:2–5.
  4. Ibn al-Qayyim, Madārij as-Sālikīn, sections on Taqwā.