And the Exalted One says, “Let there arise from among you a community that calls to goodness” (Āl ʿImrān 3:104).
[Commentary]
In the chapter entitled “Guiding to Good,” the author—may Allah have mercy on him—quotes the Almighty’s words: “Let there arise from among you a community calling to goodness, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong; it is they who will prosper” (Āl ʿImrān 3:104). This is a divine command that such a community exist within the Muslim nation.
Here the word ummah means “group” or “faction.” In the Quran the term ummah occurs with four distinct meanings:
-
A group or faction. This is the sense in the present verse: “Let there arise from among you an ummah,” that is, a faction, “calling to goodness, enjoining what is right …” (Āl ʿImrān 3:104).
-
A religion or creed, as in: “Indeed, this ummah of yours is one ummah” (al-Muʾminūn 23:52), meaning: “Your religion is one religion.”
-
A span of years, as in: “The one who was saved of the two said, after an ummah” (Yūsuf 12:45), meaning: after a period of time.
-
A model or exemplar, as in: “Indeed, Abraham was an ummah, devoutly obedient” (al-Naḥl 16:120).
Thus, in the present verse—“Let there arise from among you an ummah calling to goodness”—the lām in “Let there be” (wal-takun) is the lām of command. Concerning the preposition min (“from among you”), scholars hold two views: some say it is partitive, while others say it is explanatory, indicating the entire class. On the first view, the command is communal (farḍ kifāyah): if a sufficient number undertake it, the obligation is lifted from the rest, for He said “from among you,” meaning that some of you should call to goodness.