evil or wrongs himself, then seeks Allah’s forgiveness, will find Allah All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” And His words:

“Whoever commits an offence or a sin, then accuses an innocent person of it, has burdened himself with slander and manifest sin.”

And His words:

“But if anyone fears bias or sin on the part of a testator.”

Bias means deviation from what is right, even when deliberate. Most Quran commentators explain “bias” as inadvertent error and “sin” as deliberate wrongdoing. Abū Sulaymān al-Dimashqī said: “Bias is departure from what is right. The term may apply both to someone who errs inadvertently and to someone who acts deliberately. However, the commentators associate ‘bias’ with the former and ‘sin’ with the latter.”

A similar example is His statement:

“And do not obey any sinner or disbeliever among them.”

A disbeliever is also a sinner, but this coordinates a specific case with a general category. It has also been said that these are two descriptions of the same person, which is more emphatic. Coordinating two descriptions of the same subject occurs in His words:

“Who created and fashioned, and who determined and guided.”

And His words:

“He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant and the Intimate.”

And His words:

“Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers, who turn away from idle talk, who pay zakah, and who guard their chastity.”

There are many similar examples.

Ibn Zayd said: “The sinner, the guilty, the unjust, and the disbeliever—all these refer to the same person.”

Ibn ‘Atiyyah said: “He may choose either of these two descriptions to identify the person whom he must not obey, since each of them is both a sinner and a disbeliever