إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ ٱللَّهِ وَأَيْمَٰنِهِمْ ثَمَنًۭا قَلِيلًا أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَا خَلَٰقَ لَهُمْ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَلَا يَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ
Indeed, those who exchange the covenant of Allah and their [own] oaths for a small price will have no share in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them or look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them; and they will have a painful punishment.
Introduction
This is āyah 77 of Sūrat Aal-i-Imraan (Family of Imran), the 89th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 3. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 89 of 114
- Surah
- Aal-i-Imraan (3)
(Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah�s covenant and their oaths�) [3:77]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Qadi informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu�awiyah> al-A�mash> Shaqiq> �Abd Allah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever makes an oath knowing well that he is lying in order to usurp the property of another Muslim, Allah will be angry with him when he meets Him�. Then al-Ash�ath ibn Qays said: �By Allah, this was revealed about me. There was a land between me and a Jew, but he denied that I was its owner. And so I took him to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, who asked me: �Do you have a proof?� I said: �no!� He then asked the Jew: �Will you swear [that the land is yours]?� I said: O Messenger of Allah! If he swears that the land is his, I will lose my property. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah�s covenant and their oaths�)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from �Abdan from Abu Hamzah from al-A�mash. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Mihrajani informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Zahid> Abu�l-Qasim al-Baghawi> Muhammad ibn Sulayman> Salih ibn �Umar> al-A�mash> Shaqiq> �Abd Allah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever lies in his oath in order to usurp a property, Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him�. �Then Allah, exalted is He, revealed: (Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah�s covenant and their oaths�) up to the end of the verse. Al-Ash�ath ibn Qays came and asked: �What is it that Abu �Abd al-Rahman is relating to you?� We said: �Such-and-such�. He said: �This verse was revealed about me. I reported to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, a dispute that I had with another man and so he asked me: �do you have a proof�. I said: �No!� He said: �Then the man should swear�. I said: �So let him swear�. The Messenger, peace be upon him, said: �Whoever lies in his oath in order to usurp a property, Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
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