Surah Al-Baqarah 2:11
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 11 of 286
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ
Translation
When it is said to them, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only putting things right,’
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And when it is said to them: Do not spread corruption in the land, they say: We are only reformers.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the self-justification that seals the disease, they do not merely corrupt; they rebrand their corruption as reform, sincerely believing their own spin. Ask yourself: this is the most dangerous stage, when I no longer even recognise my wrong as wrong, but have re-labelled it as good. The harm I do gets dressed up in righteous language: my selfishness is 'self-care', my gossip is 'just being honest', my compromise is 'being realistic'. The hypocrite's ruin is completed by this ability to call the corruption 'reform'. Where have I given a flattering name to something that, honestly examined, is actually harm, and does the confidence with which I defend it ('I'm only helping') sound uncomfortably like 'we are only reformers'?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:11 is discussed in 9 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Baqarah 2:11 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.