Ma'rūf and Munkar in the Qur'an

In Brief

The Qur'an most often names good and evil not through abstract adjectives but through two verbs of recognition: ma'rūf — from the root a-r-f, "what is recognized, known" — and munkar — from n-k-r, "what is found strange, disowned". According to the word-by-word data in our database, the root a-r-f occurs in 71 words of the Qur'an, 39 of them in the ma'rūf pattern; the root n-k-r occurs in 37 words, 22 of them in the munkar pattern. Of the 36 verses containing ma'rūf, 21 are in al-Baqarah, al-Nisā' and al-Ṭalāq — that is, where divorce, inheritance, orphans' property and maintenance are discussed. Ma'rūf and munkar meet in the same verse only 9 times. This article reads those nine verses and the wider usage, then presents two contested questions by name: who sets the measure, and to whom the duty falls.

Verses Discussed

• 3:104 — Let there be from among you a community calling to good, enjoining ma'rūf, forbidding munkar.
• 3:110 — The "best community" is defined by ma'rūf, munkar and faith.
• 3:114 — The same quality is ascribed to a group among the People of the Scripture.
• 9:71 — Believing men and believing women are allies; they enjoin ma'rūf.
• 9:67 — The formula inverted: enjoining munkar, forbidding ma'rūf.
• 9:112 — Among the qualities of the believers given good tidings.
• 7:157 — The messenger's job description: he enjoins ma'rūf, forbids munkar, lifts burdens.
• 22:41 — The mark of those given authority in the land.
• 31:17 — A father's counsel to his son: prayer, ma'rūf-munkar, patience.
• 16:90 — What God commands and forbids; here munkar stands in a different pairing.
• 4:19, 65:2, 31:15 — Ma'rūf in family and maintenance law.
• 2:256, 10:99, 88:21, 88:22 — The limit on compulsion.

Two Roots: The Recognized and the Disowned

The core of both words lies in verbs. A-r-f means "to recognize"; n-k-r is its opposite, "to find strange, to fail to recognize". The Qur'an places the two in direct contrast:

يَعْرِفُونَ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنكِرُونَهَا

"They recognize the favor of Allāh; then they deny it. And most of them are disbelievers." (16:83)

The same contrast appears in a narrative scene with no moral weight at all — plain recognizing and not recognizing:

فَدَخَلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِ فَعَرَفَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُۥ مُنكِرُونَ

"And the brothers of Joseph came [seeking food], and they entered upon him; and he recognized them, but he was to them unknown." (12:58)

(interpretation) Read together, the logic of the pair becomes visible. Ma'rūf is an indirect way of saying "good": the conduct people recognize when they see it, do not find strange, and about which they say "yes, this is how it should be". Munkar is what one recoils from. The Qur'an names the good here not by a list but by an act of recognition.

The Formula: Enjoin Ma'rūf, Forbid Munkar

The pair converges in the well-known formula:

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى ٱلْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ

"And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful." (3:104)

A few verses later the same formula becomes a definition of a community:

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ

"You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allāh." (3:110)

And shortly after, the very same quality is granted to a group among the People of the Scripture:

يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُسَـٰرِعُونَ فِى ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ

"They believe in Allāh and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds." (3:114)

In Sūrat al-Tawbah the formula describes how believing men and women stand toward one another:

وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ يَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ

"The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakāh." (9:71)

The same sura lists it among the traits of those given good tidings:

ٱلْـَٔامِرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱلنَّاهُونَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْحَـٰفِظُونَ لِحُدُودِ ٱللَّهِ

"...those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and those who observe the limits [set by] Allāh." (9:112)

In Sūrat al-Ḥajj the formula becomes the test of power:

ٱلَّذِينَ إِن مَّكَّنَّـٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَأَمَرُوا۟ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهَوْا۟ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ

"[And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give zakāh and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong." (22:41)

In Sūrat Luqmān the same words are spoken at the smallest scale — a father to his son — with patience attached:

يَـٰبُنَىَّ أَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱنْهَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَآ أَصَابَكَ

"O my son, establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you." (31:17)

(interpretation) Eight of the nine verses are positive; one inverts the formula. The hypocrites are described as its mirror image:

ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقُونَ وَٱلْمُنَـٰفِقَـٰتُ بَعْضُهُم مِّنۢ بَعْضٍ ۚ يَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمَعْرُوفِ

"The hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another. They enjoin what is wrong and forbid what is right and close their hands." (9:67)

(interpretation) 9:71 and 9:67 sit in the same sura, in the same syntactic shape, as exact opposites. The symmetry shows that the formula is not a badge of belonging but a measure of direction: every community enjoins something and forbids something; the question is what.

Where Ma'rūf Actually Occurs: Family and Maintenance Law

Famous as the formula is, the word's real density lies elsewhere. Of the 36 verses containing ma'rūf, 21 are in al-Baqarah, al-Nisā' and al-Ṭalāq, where it is not a slogan but a standard of treatment:

وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ

"And do not make difficulties for them in order to take [back] part of what you gave them unless they commit a clear immorality. And live with them in kindness." (4:19)

فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ فَارِقُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ

"And when they have [nearly] fulfilled their term, either retain them according to acceptable terms or part with them according to acceptable terms." (65:2)

Ma'rūf remains the standard even where a disagreement over belief persists between parent and child:

وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًا

"But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness." (31:15)

(interpretation) These usages make the word concrete. Ma'rūf here is not a checklist of devotions but conduct that respects the other party's rights, avoids injury, and is held reasonable by the community. 31:15 is especially sharp: even where obedience is refused, the manner is required to remain ma'rūf. The word binds one's conduct even where one is in the right.

Who Sets the Measure: Custom or Revelation?

Because the root points to "what is recognized", a natural question follows: recognized by whom — society, or revelation? The Qur'an answers in both directions. On one side ma'rūf leans on shared reasonableness (the family-law verses above). On the other, the Qur'an does not leave the content empty:

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ

"Indeed, Allāh orders justice and good conduct and giving [help] to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression." (16:90)

(interpretation) 16:90 is notable: here munkar stands beside fahshā' and baghy rather than opposite ma'rūf, and on the other side we find justice, iḥsān and giving to kin instead of ma'rūf. When the Qur'an fills the term with content, justice and the absence of oppression are at the center.

The messenger's job description carries both layers at once:

يَأْمُرُهُم بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَىٰهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْخَبَـٰٓئِثَ

"...who enjoins upon them what is right and prohibits them from what is wrong and makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them." (7:157)

(interpretation) In 7:157, enjoining ma'rūf stands immediately next to "relieving them of their burden and the shackles". The text pairs the task with lifting weight, not adding it — a limit that comes from inside the text itself.

"From Among You" — Whose Duty Is It?

3:104 opens with وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ — "let there be from among you a community". In the word-by-word data the second word is minkum, "from among you".

(interpretation) The particle min admits two readings, both linguistically defensible:

1. Partitive reading: "a group from among you". The duty falls on a qualified section rather than on everyone; the community is obliged to produce that section. On this reading 3:104 is a command to institutionalize.
2. Explicative reading: "you, as a community". The duty falls on all; "from among you" identifies the addressee rather than a subset. Support comes from the verses right after: 3:110 and 9:71 attach the verb directly to the plural addressee — "you enjoin", "they enjoin".

(interpretation) The text gives no sentence that decisively arbitrates. But the scope of 9:71 is striking: the addressee is not an expert class but all believing men and women, and the action is mutual. In 31:17 the same command is given to a child. Both places show that at least part of the duty belongs to everyone.

Its Relation to Compulsion

"To enjoin" carries an aura of force. The Qur'an sets several limits to that aura:

لَآ إِكْرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِ ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشْدُ مِنَ ٱلْغَىِّ

"There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become distinct from the wrong." (2:256)

أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ ٱلنَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَكُونُوا۟ مُؤْمِنِينَ

"Then, [O Muḥammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?" (10:99)

فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌ لَّسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِمُصَيْطِرٍ

"So remind, [O Muḥammad]; you are only a reminder." (88:21) "You are not over them a controller." (88:22)

The method is described as well:

ٱدْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِٱلْحِكْمَةِ وَٱلْمَوْعِظَةِ ٱلْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَـٰدِلْهُم بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ

"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best." (16:125)

And in a gentler idiom, using 'urf, another derivative of the same root a-r-f:

خُذِ ٱلْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ

"Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant." (7:199)

(interpretation) 7:199 is unusual: the imperative "enjoin" sits between "take what is given freely" and "turn away". The counterpart of enjoining is not coercing the addressee but withdrawing when met with resistance.

The limit of responsibility is drawn too:

عَلَيْكُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۖ لَا يَضُرُّكُم مَّن ضَلَّ إِذَا ٱهْتَدَيْتُمْ

"O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided." (5:105)

Yet that limit does not license silence; its opposite is censured as well:

كَانُوا۟ لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَن مُّنكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ

"They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did." (5:79)

(interpretation) 5:105 and 5:79 sit in one sura, balancing each other. One says another's straying is not your account; the other says failing to warn one another in the face of wrongdoing was blameworthy. Held together, they separate the formula both from indifference and from coercion.

Root and Word Note

The nine verses where both occur: 3:104, 3:110, 3:114, 7:157, 9:67, 9:71, 9:112, 22:41, 31:17.

(interpretation) Counts alone settle nothing, but they show a balance. Most occurrences of ma'rūf are not in the slogan of "enjoining good" but in concrete domains of right — marriage, divorce, maintenance, orphans' property. The center of gravity within the Qur'an is an ethic of treatment, not an abstract authority to supervise.

Different Readings

(interpretation) The main points of dispute and their defensible readings:

On the source of ma'rūf.

• A custom-based reading: the root means "recognized", so ma'rūf is what a society holds reasonable. The family-law verses support this: the amount of maintenance and the manner of living together are left unquantified.
• A revelation-based reading: the Qur'an does not leave the content empty. 16:90 commands justice and iḥsān and forbids fahshā' and baghy. Not everything a society recognizes can be ma'rūf, since a society can normalize oppression.
• An integrating reading: ma'rūf is the space that custom fills inside a frame revelation draws. Revelation marks the boundary — oppression, indecency and transgression fall outside — while the custom of a time and place determines what counts as reasonable within it.

On who is addressed.

• Partitive reading: minkum in 3:104 marks a subset; the task requires competence and knowledge.
• Inclusive reading: 3:110 and 9:71 attach the verb to the whole community; "from among you" identifies rather than narrows.
• Graded reading: the two verses describe two levels — 9:71 mutual personal counsel, 3:104 an organized and continuous function.

On method.

• Admonition-weighted reading: the verbs of the text belong to invitation, reminder and counsel (16:125, 88:21, 7:199); force is absent, and 2:256 and 10:99 exclude it explicitly.
• Order-weighted reading: 22:41 speaks of those given authority, from which one may derive that a legitimate public order restrains munkar. Such a reading must take its own limit from 7:157: lifting burdens, not imposing them.

Honest Limits

What the text settles: the roots, occurrences and counts of ma'rūf and munkar are measurable, and every number in this article was counted from the Qur'anic word data. That the formula occurs in nine verses, is inverted in one, and that ma'rūf is used mostly in family and maintenance law, is visible in the text itself. That 2:256, 10:99 and 88:22 exclude compulsion is likewise explicit.

What remains interpretation: the sense of the particle in minkum; the share of custom in fixing the content of ma'rūf; whether a public mandate can be derived from 22:41; and where the line falls between personal counsel and institutional supervision. None of these is closed by a single verse.

What this article is not: it is not a ruling or an operational manual. Who may address whom, in what situation and in what tone, cannot be read straight off the text; that domain is argued separately in the layers of law and ethics.

Conclusion: ma'rūf and munkar are the Qur'an's way of naming good and evil through recognition and estrangement. The formula appears in nine verses and is inverted once to define hypocrisy; but the word's density lies not in slogans but in concrete rights — divorce, maintenance, orphans' property. The text confines the method of enjoining to invitation, counsel and patience, and excludes compulsion outright. What remains open — whose duty it is, and how far custom reaches — is honestly left open.

Related Articles

Source: Qur'anic verses (Saheeh International rendering for English; M. Okuyan for Turkish) + kuranokuyan.com. Qur'an-centred, non-sectarian, cited.