Change that begins within

Original source · Historical tradition

Qur'an: Surah 13 (Ar-Ra'd), verse 11

“Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts;”Translation: Marmaduke Pickthall (1930)

The verse says each person is guarded by angels by God's command, and that God does not change a people's condition until they change what is within themselves. It goes on to say that when God wills harm for a people, nothing can turn it back.

Read the full passage at the source.

Edition: Translation by Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930). Any English rendering is a translation of meaning; many Muslims hold that only the Arabic is the Qur’an itself.

Historical context

Historical context

Surah Ar-Ra'd ('The Thunder') is usually described as Meccan, though some classical authorities considered it Medinan, so classification varies. Muslims receive the Qur'an as revelation to the Prophet Muhammad in early 7th-century Arabia.

Interpretations differ

Within the tradition

Many Muslims read this as a principle of moral responsibility: communal circumstances are tied to inner and collective reform, always within divine will and decree. Exegetes differ on emphasis (for example, whether the 'change' refers mainly to a fall from blessing through sin, or to reform in general), and the verse is widely quoted in modern Muslim reformist and self-improvement discourse.