Surah Ali 'Imran, Ayah 111

Virtues of the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ , the Best Nation Ever

Allah states that the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ is the best nation ever,

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ

(You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind) 3:110.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah commented on this Ayah, "(You, Muslims, are) the best nation of people for the people, you bring them tied in chains on their necks (capture them in war) and they later embrace Islam." Similar was said by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Atiyah Al-`Awfi, `Ikrimah, `Ata' and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas that,

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ

(You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind;) means, the best of peoples for the people.

Commentary

In previous verses (98-101), it was shown how hostile to Muslims the people of the Book were and how they planned to bring religious harm to them. Mentioned in the present verse are their plans to harm Muslims materially. The last sentence carries the prophecy that they shall not succeed.

This prophecy of the Holy Qur'an was proved true when, during the entire period of prophethood, the people of the Book were unable to overcome the noble Companions ؓ who are the primary addressees here. This applies particularly to the Jewish tribes who had tried to sow seeds of discord among the Companions ؓ . The outcome was that these people were disgraced; some paid jizya, some were killed while others were exiled.

The next verse (112) makes the description complete.

The benefit the intellectuals have of being imbued with this spirit is that all their attention remains focussed on goodness, that is, on the basics of religion. They have thus no time for hair-splitting arguments about secondary aspects of religion. Those who become the heralds of God’s greatness and arise both as warners and as harbingers of glad tidings have not the time to waste their expertise on matters of no significance. In this way, the task of exhorting people to lead a life of righteousness and forbidding evil engages them in finding solutions to real problems. Verbal jousting over supposed problems seems to them meaningless and futile, just as a farmer finds the game of chess a futile exercise, a waste of time. In showing willingness to be obedient to well-intentioned religious elders, the people are saved from schism and strife. Submitting to an authority unites all of them. Unity becomes a common attribute of believers, and unity, without doubt is the greatest of all powers in this world.