Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 26–29: The Mosquito Parable and the Characteristics of the Fasiqun

Seventh session in the Al-Baqarah tafsir series

Introduction: The True Purpose of Seeking Knowledge

Arriving at verse 26 of Surah al-Baqarah, an important reminder is offered about the underlying purpose of this tafsir journey. Poring over the meaning of each verse, its lessons, grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, and the rich insights of classical and contemporary tafsir is not meant simply as information-gathering — the goal is to internalize and apply what Allah is communicating through the Qur’an: what He commands, what He asks us to believe. Another key goal is that during prayer or while listening to recitation, one is genuinely moved by understanding the Qur’an’s meaning — since prayer is, at its core, a personal conversation with Allah, and without grasping what Allah is saying in that moment, prayer loses much of its real significance.

An important observation was made here: despite countless reliable sources of knowledge being freely available online today, only a limited number of people actually benefit from this sound knowledge — because success isn’t granted to everyone, and people often gravitate toward less trustworthy or less beneficial sources, much as people often reach for unhealthy food even when nutritious options are readily available. This is precisely why this effort continues — building, in the Bangla language, a preserved source of sound Qur’anic tafsir grounded in the understanding of the Salaf, so future generations can benefit from it.

The Connection Between Verses: A Tafsir Principle

Before turning to today’s verse (26), an important methodological observation was offered: each verse of the Qur’an typically carries a relationship to the verse preceding it. While no absolute, definitive proof establishes this principle, many scholars hold to it, and an entire celebrated tafsir work — Nazm ad-Durar (by al-Biqa’i) — was written specifically to explain these connections, both verse-to-verse and surah-to-surah. This subject is recognized as its own branch of tafsir scholarship (munasabat al-ayat, the study of textual coherence).

Looking back at Surah al-Baqarah’s opening: first the identity of “the Book,” then the description of the muttaqin (who benefit from its guidance), then the disbelievers and the special subset of hypocrites — meaning the first twenty verses lay out a complete classification of humanity (believers, open disbelievers, and concealed disbelievers/hypocrites). Following this classification, Allah addresses everyone with the command of tawheed, displays the signs of creation, and presents the Qur’an’s unmatchable challenge — produce a comparable surah if in doubt. Today’s verse (the mosquito parable) connects directly to the context of this very challenge.

Verse 26: The Mosquito Parable

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَّا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا ۚ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا مَثَلًا ۘ يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا ۚ وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلَّا الْفَاسِقِينَ “Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to present an example — that of a mosquito or what is smaller/greater than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But those who disbelieve say, ‘What did Allah intend by this as an example?’ He misleads many by it and guides many by it, and He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient (fasiqun).”

Context: Why This Verse?

Understanding this verse’s context requires tracing its connection to the preceding verses. The prior discussion established that the Qur’an is Allah’s speech — an unlettered, illiterate person could not have produced such profound, scientifically consistent statements, and no one has ever successfully met the challenge to match the Qur’an’s literary beauty. Against this backdrop, some disbelievers raised an objection: if the Qur’an is truly Allah’s speech, why does it mention something as trivial and insignificant as a mosquito? What importance could a mosquito possibly hold that Allah would speak of it? Today’s verse is a direct response to this objection — Allah makes clear that He does not hesitate to use any created thing as an example, however small, because His purpose is to teach, and whatever comparison serves that purpose is appropriate to use.

“A Mosquito or What Is Greater/Smaller” — Two Interpretations

Commentators offer two readings of the phrase “ba’udatan fama fawqaha”:

1. “Or something greater” — comparing to a mosquito or something larger in size.
2. “Or something smaller/lesser” — comparing to a mosquito or something even tinier, more insignificant.

Both readings are linguistically valid and convey the same core message: Allah does not hesitate to use any created thing, from the smallest to the largest, as an example when it serves the purpose of teaching.

Two Reactions: Believers vs. Disbelievers

The verse uses a conditional structure (“amma… fa…”) to present the opposite reactions of two groups:

• Believers know that this example is truth from their Lord — they grasp its deeper significance and harbor no doubt about it.
• Disbelievers say, “What did Allah intend by this example?” — through this question, they are actually implying that the Qur’an isn’t Allah’s speech but a human composition, since in their view such a trivial matter has no place in Allah’s grand revelation.

The Deeper Significance of the Mosquito Example

A parallel idea appears in Surah al-Hajj, where Allah states that those whom people have taken as objects of worship besides Allah could never, even collectively, create a single fly — and if a fly were to snatch something from them, they could not even recover it. The creation of this tiny creature — its intricate bodily structure, its functional capability — is so astonishing that even the greatest scientific minds cannot replicate it. This itself is clear proof of Allah’s power and oneness. Those genuinely seeking truth will find, even in this tiny creature, evidence of Allah’s greatness.

Who Is Misled — and Why

The verse’s final portion states that through this example, Allah misleads many and guides many — but He misleads by it only the fasiqun (those defiantly, persistently disobedient). A natural question arises: does Allah then misguide people unjustly? The answer, as established in prior discussion, is no — Allah does not misguide anyone from the outset; rather, when a person has already become fasiq — persistently violating Allah’s commands and prohibitions — this resulting misguidance comes as a just consequence of that prior defiance. Someone whose heart already harbors a tendency toward disobedience carries that same disobedience even while reading the Qur’an, and so becomes misguided through the Qur’an itself. The very next verse describes the specific characteristics of these fasiqun.

Verse 27: The Characteristics of the Fasiqun

الَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ “Those who break the covenant of Allah after contracting it, and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined, and cause corruption on earth — it is those who are the losers.”

This verse describes three characteristics of the fasiqun. Understanding the first requires a deep dive into the meaning of the word “ahd” (covenant/promise), since this word recurs frequently throughout the Qur’an, and failing to understand it properly leaves many Qur’anic verses inaccessible.

A Linguistic Analysis of “Ahd”

The Arabic word “ahd” carries multiple senses:

1. Command: all of Allah’s commands, prohibitions, and restrictions fall under this category of “ahd.”
2. Wasiyyah (an emphatically urged directive): this too is a type of command, but with a specific quality — it is a command urged with particular intensity and sincerity. This is why advice given by someone at the end of their life is called a “wasiyyah,” since it carries an especially heartfelt call for firm adherence. This is precisely why the Qur’an describes the command to treat parents well as “wa wassaynal-insana biwalidayhi” (We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents) — because the underlying command already existed, but Allah here reinforces it with added emphasis.
3. Oath: swearing upon something.
4. Promise: as commonly translated.
5. Something well-known and memorable: something thoroughly understood between two parties, deserving of repeated remembrance and vigilance.

The common thread across these meanings: something that creates mutual understanding between two parties, well-known, worth remembering repeatedly, and demanding firm adherence.

Six Scholarly Interpretations of “Ahdullah” (Allah’s Covenant)

Imam al-Qurtubi lists five interpretations in his tafsir, and Abu Hayyan lists nine in al-Bahr al-Muhit — here six major, well-supported interpretations are summarized:

Interpretation 1 — The primordial covenant (ahd al-azal): before coming into this world, humanity was bound to Allah in a covenant, as described in Surah al-A’raf (7:172): “And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam — from their loins — their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we have testified.'” — the purpose of this verse being that no one could claim on the Day of Judgment, “We were unaware of this.” A hadith narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports that the Prophet ﷺ said Allah drew out all of Adam’s (peace be upon him) descendants from his loins, arranged like rows of ants, and directly asked them, “Am I not your Lord?” — and they all testified, “Yes.” Though this event doesn’t survive as a direct memory for humanity, it constitutes the first covenant of worship and obedience to Allah, which many scholars also explain as the seed of tawheed innately embedded within human nature (fitrah).

Interpretation 2 — The covenant taken from the prophets: described in Surah Aal-Imran (3:81): Allah took a covenant from the prophets, saying, “I will give you the Book and wisdom; then there will come to you a Messenger confirming what is with you. You must believe in him and support him.” Allah then asked, “Do you affirm and undertake this obligation on My terms?” They said, “We affirm it.” Allah said, “Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.” In this sense, every prophet was bound to a covenant that, should they live to see the era of the final prophet Muhammad ﷺ, they would believe in and support him — and each prophet, in turn, extracted this same covenant from their own followers (e.g., Musa from the Jews, Isa from the Christians). This is precisely why Jewish and Christian scholars were unmistakably aware of the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ identity and truthfulness, though many nonetheless rejected him.

Interpretation 3 — The specific oath of belief in and support of the final prophet: essentially a subset or specific form of the second interpretation — this specifically highlights the particular covenant taken regarding the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Interpretation 4 — All commands and prohibitions revealed through revelation: under this view, “ahdullah” refers to all commands and prohibitions sent down by Allah through the prophets and messengers, calling humanity to obey them. Imam al-Qurtubi notes this interpretation is the broadest and effectively encompasses all the others — since both the primordial covenant and the covenant taken from the prophets are, at their core, part of a directive originating from Allah.

Interpretation 5 — The Qur’an’s specific prohibitions: some scholars hold this refers specifically to the particular halal-haram rulings detailed in the Qur’an. This interpretation is essentially a specific subtype of the fourth.

Interpretation 6 — Human intellect/reason and the signs of creation: though comparatively less strongly supported, this interpretation remains explicable — some scholars hold that humanity’s innate intellect and the signs of creation scattered around them also constitute a kind of “covenant,” since Allah gave people reason and displayed countless signs so they could rationally grasp Allah’s oneness and the truthfulness of the prophets. Those who turn away from these signs and refrain from knowing and remembering the truth also deviate from this “well-known and memorable” covenant.

Uniting the Six Interpretations: A Four-Layer Covenant

These six interpretations are not mutually exclusive — they can be applied together, jointly forming a four-layer structure of humanity’s relationship with Allah:

1. First layer: the primordial covenant taken when descendants were drawn out from Adam’s (peace be upon him) loins — the first moment of affirming tawheed.
2. Second layer: the innate embedding of the concept of tawheed within human nature (fitrah) at the time of one’s creation in this world.
3. Third layer: granting humanity intellect and the signs of creation, so they could rationally grasp Allah’s oneness.
4. Fourth layer: the repeated reminders delivered through the sending of prophets and messengers and the revelation of scriptures across time.

Rejecting any of these four layers — denying a prophet, denying a scripture, or accepting one prophet while rejecting another (such as accepting all prophets but rejecting Muhammad ﷺ, or accepting up through Musa but rejecting Isa and Muhammad ﷺ) — constitutes breaking this “ahdullah.”

The Second Characteristic: “Severing What Has Been Ordered to Be Joined”

Two main interpretations exist for this phrase, which are not contradictory but rather apply together:

Interpretation 1 — Severing family ties (qat’ ar-rahim): this is identified as a serious offense, one of the defining characteristics of the fasiqun. An important practical lesson is highlighted here: we often assume Qur’anic verses apply to disbelievers, hypocrites, or past nations — not to us. But this verse makes clear that severing family ties is directly a characteristic of the wrongdoers/misguided — which should prompt each of us to be genuinely vigilant about this in our own lives. A broken relationship with a relative can become a real cause of one’s own misguidance — this is a genuine matter of concern.

Interpretation 2 — Severing the continuity of belief in the prophets: a core Qur’anic principle holds that when a verse carries multiple meanings that don’t contradict one another, all of them may be accepted together. Under this interpretation, “severing what has been ordered to be joined” also means: despite the instruction to believe equally (not in rank, but in the requirement of faith) in all prophets and messengers, accepting some while rejecting others — this too represents a form of severing this bond.

The Third Characteristic: Spreading Corruption on Earth

As explained in detail in an earlier session, the word “fasad” in its broad sense encompasses kufr, disobedience to Allah, hypocrisy, wrongdoing, bloodshed, conspiracy against Muslims, and obstructing people from the path of religion.

“It Is They Who Are the Losers”

The verse closes with “ula’ika humul-khasirun” (it is they who are the true losers). The word “khasir” derives from the concept of business loss — someone who loses their capital in trade, not merely failing to profit but losing the principal itself, is called “khasir.” Here, because of these three characteristics, the fasiqun lose the true “capital” of their entire lives — faith and success in the Hereafter — entirely.

Verse 28: The Argument from Creation for Tawheed

كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ “How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned?”

The connection to the preceding verse is clear: having identified kufr as one of the gravest offenses in the prior verse, Allah here poses a direct question — how can one possibly disbelieve in Him, when He alone is the absolute controller of this universe and the sole source of one’s very existence?

“You Were Dead” — An Existential Reflection

Here “dead” refers to the state before creation, when no existence at all was present — a state of complete non-existence. This verse invites a profound, personal existential reflection: consider that there was a day when I had no existence whatsoever. Fifty years ago, perhaps I did not exist. Yet today I walk, speak, think, perceive this vast world, hear countless sounds, taste countless foods, sense countless fragrances. What explanation could there be for this astonishing existence apart from Allah’s act of creation? We know with certainty that death will come one day — this truth is made plain to us by witnessing death all around us. This entire cycle — from birth through childhood, youth, and old age, and finally death and resurrection — is directly under Allah’s control, even though we have never seen Him directly.

The Four-Stage Cycle

The verse enumerates four sequential stages: (1) being dead (non-existence), (2) He gave life, (3) He will give death, (4) He will give life again, and finally, return to Him. This entire cycle is irrefutable proof of Allah’s sovereign power — birth, death, and resurrection all subject to His will alone.

Verse 29: The Breadth of Creation — From Earth to the Seven Heavens

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ “It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.”

This verse further extends the argument from creation found in the preceding verses — everything on earth was created for humanity’s benefit, and Allah then organized the sky in a systematic, orderly manner into seven heavens, itself proof of His limitless knowledge and power.

A Grammar-Grounded Walkthrough of Verses 26–29

Verse 26

Innallaha la yastahi — “Indeed Allah is not ashamed” (istahya [past: to feel shame] → yastahi [present: he feels shame]; the alif drops here due to the standard abbreviated writing convention. La attaches to create a negative sense — Allah never hesitates to give any comparison). An yadriba mathalam — “to strike an example” (mathalan here is indefinite; “ma” attaching to form mathalam-ma adds further indefiniteness — “any example whatsoever”). Ba’udatan fama fawqaha — “a mosquito or what is above/beyond it” (fa here functions as a connector; ma + fawqaha [above/beyond it], “ha” referring back to the mosquito — both readings are possible: larger in size or smaller in size).

Fa’ammal-ladhina amanu fa ya’lamuna annahul-haqqu mir Rabbihim — “as for those who have believed, they know it is the truth from their Lord” (amma introduces a conditional/distinguishing construction — the “amma…fa…” structure here is used to present the differing reactions of two groups, linking a condition to its consequence, a hallmark of the “jumlah shartiyyah” conditional construction in Arabic grammar; “fa” here marks the consequence/jawab of the condition. Ya’lamuna = they know, from ‘alima [he knew]).

Wa ammal-ladhina kafaru fa yaquluna madha aradallahu bihadha mathala — “but as for those who disbelieved, they say, ‘what did Allah intend by this as an example'” (arada = to intend/want; bihadha = by this, “bi” here functioning as a preposition attached to the intention; mathalan here functions as “tamyiz” — a clarifying noun that resolves the ambiguity in the preceding phrase, specifying what “this” (hadha) refers to — “by this example”).

Yudillu bihi kathirau wa yahdi bihi kathira — “He misleads many by it and guides many by it” (yudillu = He misleads, from adalla; bihi = by/through it, “hi” referring to the mosquito example; yahdi = He guides).

Wa ma yudillu bihi illal-fasiqin — “and He misleads by it none but the fasiqun” (ma…illa = a negation-exception construction, “only/none but”).

Verse 27

Alladhina yanquduna ahdallahi mim ba’di mithaqihi — “those who break Allah’s covenant after contracting it” (yanquduna = they break; mithaq = a firmly established covenant/contract, paired with ahd to add emphasis — indicating that what is being broken is a covenant that was once firmly confirmed, not a mere casual statement).

Wa yaqta’una ma amarallahu bihi ai yusala — “and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined” (yaqta’una = they sever, from qata’a; ai yusala — “an” grammatically renders the verb “mansub” [in the subjunctive], transforming yusala [to be joined] into a specific grammatical form; yusala is passive, “to be joined”).

Wa yufsiduna fil-ard — “and spread corruption on earth” (yufsiduna = they cause corruption, from afsada).

Ula’ika humul-khasirun — “it is they who are the losers” (khasirun = plural of those who are lost/in loss, from khasira [he suffered loss]).

Verse 28

Kayfa takfuruna billahi — “how can you disbelieve in Allah” (kayfa = how; takfuruna = you disbelieve, from kafara. Here “bi” attaching to Allah doesn’t separate “disbelieving” from “committing kufr” — both express the same core notion, the act of disbelieving in Allah).

Wa kuntum amwatan fa ahyakum — “when you were dead, then He gave you life” (kuntum = you were, from kana; amwat = plural of the dead; ahya = He gave life, kum = you [pl.]).

Summa yumitukum summa yuhyikum summa ilayhi turja’un — “then He will cause you to die, then bring you to life, then to Him you will be returned” (summa = then, a sequential connective; yumitu = He causes death, from amata; yuhyi = He gives life; turja’un = you will be returned, raja’a [he returned] → passive turja’u [you are returned] + plural nun = turja’un).

Verse 29

Huwal-ladhi khalaqa lakum ma fil-ardi jami’a — “He is the One who created for you all that is on the earth” (jami’an = entirely/altogether, an emphatic modifier). Summastawa ilas-sama’ — “then He directed Himself to the sky” (istawa = he rose/directed himself, carrying the base sense of “rising above,” but here through the grammatical device of “tadmin” — where an unexpected preposition substitutes for the expected one, adding the sense of an implied second verb — attaching to the preposition ila here adds the meaning “proceeded with a purpose,” i.e., directing Himself toward the sky for the purpose of organizing it).

Fasawwahunna sab’a samawat — “and made them into seven heavens” (sawwa = He arranged harmoniously/made equal; hunna = them, a feminine plural pronoun, referring to the seven heavens; sab’a samawatin = seven heavens, sama pluralized as samawat).

Wa huwa bikulli shay’in ‘alim — “and He is Knowing of all things” (‘alim = all-knowing, possessing comprehensive knowledge — one of Allah’s names/attributive descriptions).

Closing Reflection

The core thread running through these verses is singular: every level of Allah’s creation, from the tiniest mosquito to the vast seven heavens, bears witness to His limitless knowledge and power. For believers, this testimony strengthens faith; for the fasiqun, this same testimony — because of their own prior defiance — becomes an occasion for further misguidance. From the mosquito parable through to the description of creation’s vastness, this entire passage rests on one simple yet profound question: how can one possibly disbelieve in the One who brought us from non-existence into existence, who has left the testimony of His power at every level of creation?

Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.