Surah Yunus ayat 85 Tafsir Quran 10:85

﴿فَقَالُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا رَبَّنَا لَا تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾
[ يونس: 85]

10:85 So they said, "Upon Allah do we rely. Our Lord, make us not [objects of] trial for the wrongdoing people

So they said ‘In God we have put our trust. Our Lord make us not a cause of temptation for the evildoing folk that is do not make them prevail over us lest they then think that they are upon the right path and so end up succumbing to the temptation of thinking that they are upon the right path because of us;

There, they said: In Allah we trust. and they expressed their thoughts in the invocatory prayer, thus: O Allah our Creator, uphold us and forsake us not, lest we should come to the wrong-headeds lure and be lured into their snare and suffer persecution

Musa encouraged His People to put Their Trust in Allah Allah told us that Musa said to the Children of Israel: يقَوْمِ إِن كُنتُمْ ءامَنْتُمْ بِاللَّهِ فَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلُواْ إِن كُنْتُم مُّسْلِمِينَ ( O my people! If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him if you are Muslims. ) Allah is sufficient for those who put their trust in Him. أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُ ( Is not Allah sufficient for His servant )( 39:36 ) وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ ( And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him. )( 65:3 ) Allah combines worship and reliance in many places.
He said: فَاعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ ( So worship Him and put your trust in Him. )( 11:123 ) قُلْ هُوَ الرَّحْمَـنُ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ وَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا ( Say: "He is the Most Gracious (Allah ), in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust..)( 67:29 ) and رَّبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَاتَّخِذْهُ وَكِيلاً ( (He alone is ) the Lord of the east and the west; none has the right to be worshipped but He.
So take Him ( alone ) as a protector.)( 73:9 ) And Allah commanded the believers to say many times in their Salah: إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ( You (Alone ) we worship, and You ( Alone ) we ask for help ( for each and everything ).)( 1:5 ) The Children of Israel complied with this command and said: عَلَى اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا رَبَّنَا لاَ تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ ( In Allah we put our trust.
Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the folk who are wrongdoers. ) This means don't give them victory over us so that they rule us.
So they might not think that they have authority over us because they were following the truth and we were falsehood.
This might be a deceiving trial for them.
This meaning was reported from Abu Mijliz and Abu Ad-Duha, `Abdur-Razzaq, in a narration from Mujahid, said, رَبَّنَا لاَ تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ ( Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the folk who are wrongdoers ) meaning, "Do not give them authority over us so they might make us fall into Fitnah." Allah's statement: وَنَجِّنَا بِرَحْمَتِكَ ( And save us by Your mercy ) means save us through Your mercy and beneficence مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الْكَـفِرِينَ ( from the disbelieving folk.
) meaning, from those who denied the truth and covered it.
We truly have believed in You and put our trust in You.

(10:85) They replied: *82 'We place our reliance on Allah. Our Lord! Do not make us a trial for the oppressors, *83

So they said, "Upon Allah do we meaning

*82).
This was the reply of the youths who came forward to support Moses ( peace be on him ).
It is evident from the context that the ones who said: 'We place our reliance on Allah' were not the 'wrong-doing folk' [ mentioned in the present verse ] but the 'youths' [ mentioned in verse 83 above ].

*83).
The supplication of these devout youths: 'Our Lord! Do not make us a trial for the oppressors', covers a very wide range of meanings.
Whenever a people rise to establish the truth in the midst of prevalent falsehood, they encounter oppressors of all sorts.
On the one hand, there are protagonists of falsehood who would like to crush the standard-bearers of the truth with all the force at their disposal.
There is also a sizeable group of people who claim to champion the truth but who, despite their claim to be its devotees, are so cowed by the all-round supremacy of falsehood that they look upon the struggle to make the truth prevail as an unnecessary, futile and absurd pursuit.
Such people are inclined, in order to somehow justify their insincerity to the cause of the truth, to prove that those who are engaged in the struggle to make the truth prevail are in fact in error.
By so doing they seek to calm the uneasiness felt by their conscience concerning the desirability of struggling for the cause of the truth.
Over and above all these are the common people who observe, as silent spectators, the encounter between truth and falsehood, and ultimately support the party which appears to be winning regardless of what aspect that party supports.

In this scenario, every reverse that the votaries of the truth suffer, every affliction or hardship that they endure, any mistake that they commit, and any weakness that they show becomes a cause of trial for all these groups.
If the votaries of the truth are crushed or defeated, the protagonists of falsehood jubilantly claim that it was they, rather than those whom they opposed, who were in the right.
The lukewarm supporters of the truth would cry: 'Look! Did we not foretell that the conflict with such mighty forces would merely result in a loss of many precious lives, that it would be an act of sheer self-destruction, an act of wanton suicide, which has not been made incumbent on us by the Law of God.
So far as the fundamental requirements of faith are concerned, they are being fulfilled by the performance of basic religious duties and rituals.
As for the rulers, however oppressive they may be, they did not prevent them from performing those duties.' As for the masses, their attitude is that the truth is known by the fact that it achieves victory.
Hence, if a group comes forth as triumphant, the fact of its triumph proves that it was in the right.
Similarly, if in the course of a struggle, the protagonists of the truth commit any lapse or betray any weakness in the face of heavy odds, or if even a single person succumbs to any act of immorality, this provides a good many opponents with a pretext to cling to falsehood.
If the struggle meets with failure, people are so wont to lose heart that it becomes extremely difficult for any similar movement to rise for a very long time.
Viewed against this background, the prayer of the companions of Moses ( peace be on him ) appears very meaningful: 'Our Lord! Do not make us a trial for the oppressors.' This prayer sought from God His grace that would protect them from their shortcomings and weaknesses, and would render their struggle successful in this world in order that their very existence might become a blessing for fellow human beings rather than a means, in the hands of oppressors, to inflict harm.

 

Musa encouraged His People to put Their Trust in Allah Allah told us that Musa said to the Children of Israel: يقَوْمِ إِن كُنتُمْ ءامَنْتُمْ بِاللَّهِ فَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلُواْ إِن كُنْتُم مُّسْلِمِينَ ( O my people! If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him if you are Muslims. ) Allah is sufficient for those who put their trust in Him. أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُ ( Is not Allah sufficient for His servant )( 39:36 ) وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ ( And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him. )( 65:3 ) Allah combines worship and reliance in many places.
He said: فَاعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ ( So worship Him and put your trust in Him. )( 11:123 ) قُلْ هُوَ الرَّحْمَـنُ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ وَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا ( Say: "He is the Most Gracious (Allah ), in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust..)( 67:29 ) and رَّبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَاتَّخِذْهُ وَكِيلاً ( (He alone is ) the Lord of the east and the west; none has the right to be worshipped but He.
So take Him ( alone ) as a protector.)( 73:9 ) And Allah commanded the believers to say many times in their Salah: إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ( You (Alone ) we worship, and You ( Alone ) we ask for help ( for each and everything ).)( 1:5 ) The Children of Israel complied with this command and said: عَلَى اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا رَبَّنَا لاَ تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ ( In Allah we put our trust.
Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the folk who are wrongdoers. ) This means don't give them victory over us so that they rule us.
So they might not think that they have authority over us because they were following the truth and we were falsehood.
This might be a deceiving trial for them.
This meaning was reported from Abu Mijliz and Abu Ad-Duha, `Abdur-Razzaq, in a narration from Mujahid, said, رَبَّنَا لاَ تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ ( Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the folk who are wrongdoers ) meaning, "Do not give them authority over us so they might make us fall into Fitnah." Allah's statement: وَنَجِّنَا بِرَحْمَتِكَ ( And save us by Your mercy ) means save us through Your mercy and beneficence مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الْكَـفِرِينَ ( from the disbelieving folk.
) meaning, from those who denied the truth and covered it.
We truly have believed in You and put our trust in You.

( They said: In Allah we put trust. Our Lord! Oh, make us not a lure for the wrong-doing folk ) for the idolaters, i.e. do not give them mastery over us lest they think themselves to be followers of the Truth and us followers of falsehood;

They said: "In Allah we put our trust. Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the folk who are Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doing) (i.e. do not make them overpower us).

Page 218 English transliteration