Sens
What is "people" (al-nas) referring to in this āyah?
Réponse
Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) summarized the scholars' opinions in his book "Zād al-Masīr" as follows:
- It refers to all of the descendants of Adam. [Majority]
- It refers to Adam alone [Mujāhid]. Ibn al-Anbārī explains that this is permissible because the Arabs sometimes use a plural form to refer to a single individual. The meaning of the verse would then be: "Adam was of one religion, but his children differed after him."
- It refers to Adam and his children, who were initially on the truth, but they differed after Cain killed Abel. [Ibn al-Anbārī]

