Back to search

Did Allah Almighty describe the Jews, Christians, and pagans as the worst of creatures in the verse: "Indeed, those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures," because of their disbelief in Islam and their worship of others?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah Almighty described the disbelievers as the worst of creatures (shar al-bariyyah) due to their obstinacy towards the truth and their turning away from it after knowing it. This makes the threat against evil scholars greater than that against others. Describing them thus means they are the most evil of people, because they went astray after the means of guidance were established for them, like the People of the Book who possess scriptures containing guidance and light, and the polytheists who were upon the pristine monotheism (al-hanifiyyah) but then introduced polytheism into it. They persisted in disbelief after the signs of Prophet Muhammad's truth (peace be upon him) and the miraculousness of the Quran became manifest, which made them more deserving of punishment than others. Disbelievers from among the Jews, Christians, and polytheists are the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah, as stated in His saying: "Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are those who have disbelieved, and they will not believe" (Quran 8:55). Scholars have differed on whether the verse encompasses all humanity. Some said it includes all disbelievers of humanity, while others restricted it to the disbelievers of the Prophet's era (peace be upon him).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy