Quranic theme
Tyrant
الجبار
18 verses
John the Baptist and Jesus are both praised in the text for a specific restraint: they were kind to their parents and deliberately not "domineering or rebellious" (19:14) or graceless (19:32). This quiet refusal to act with arrogance at home sets the baseline for understanding tyranny. Rather than just a political title, tyranny is framed as a character flaw that scales from domestic cruelty to the violent domination of entire societies. As al-Tabari notes regarding human behavior (تفسير الطبري جامع البيان - ط دار التربية والتراث, 22/ 384), God despises coercion and strictly forbids it.
How does a tyrant act on earth?
In the Quranic framework, a tyrant is fundamentally someone who breaks things rather than fixing them. When Moses intervenes in a fight, a bystander asks if he intends to kill him, demanding, "You clearly want to be a tyrant in the land; you do not intend to put things right" (28:19). This establishes a direct opposite: a tyrant is one who abandons reconciliation for raw force.
This force is often accompanied by vanity and disproportionate violence. The people of Ad are questioned about their obsession with setting up "monuments on every high place" and their tendency to act like tyrants whenever they launch an attack against someone (26:128, 26:130). Instead of adhering to the divine command of justice, doing good, and generosity toward relatives, they choose what is shameful, blameworthy, and oppressive (16:90). Entire societies can be held hostage by this behavior, much like the Israelites before entering their promised land, who were paralyzed by the mere presence of a "fearsome people" governing a territory by intimidation (5:22).
What happens to a tyrant's heart?
The outward violence of a tyrant is matched by an inward spiritual blindness. The text links tyrannical behavior directly to intellectual arrogance. Those who dispute God’s messages without any granted authority engage in actions that are deeply loathed by God and the believers alike. As a direct consequence of this stubborn opposition, God seals up the heart of every "arrogant tyrant," preventing them from recognizing the truth (40:35).
Once the heart is sealed, societies blindly follow their leaders into ruin. The people of Ad were destroyed not just because they rejected their Lord’s signs and disobeyed His messengers, but because they willingly "followed the command of every obstinate tyrant" (11:59). Rather than uniting upon the truth, these leaders and their followers divided out of rivalry long after knowledge had already reached them, leaving succeeding generations in disquieting doubt about the scripture (42:14).
What is their final end?
Despite their towering monuments and military supremacy, the outcome of oppressive rule is a sudden and complete collapse. When the messengers asked God to decide the outcome between them and their oppressors, the result was absolute: "every obstinate tyrant failed" (14:15). The power they wielded on earth offers no protection when the divine decree finally arrives.
The clearest demonstration of this failure is Pharaoh, who pursued the fleeing Children of Israel across the sea in pure aggression and arrogance. His earthly authority instantly vanished when the waters collapsed upon him, leaving the most powerful man in Egypt to desperately declare his submission to the God of Israel only as he was drowning (10:90).
Verses
All 18 verses, in mushaf order.
قَالُوا۟ يَـٰمُوسَىٰٓ إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِينَ وَإِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا حَتَّىٰ يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنْهَا فَإِن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنْهَا فَإِنَّا دَٰخِلُونَ
They said, ‘Moses, there is a fearsome people in this land. We will not go there until they leave. If they leave, then we will enter.’
۞ وَجَـٰوَزْنَا بِبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱلْبَحْرَ فَأَتْبَعَهُمْ فِرْعَوْنُ وَجُنُودُهُۥ بَغْيًا وَعَدْوًا ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَدْرَكَهُ ٱلْغَرَقُ قَالَ ءَامَنتُ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِىٓ ءَامَنَتْ بِهِۦ بَنُوٓا۟ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ وَأَنَا۠ مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ
We took the Children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh and his troops pursued them in arrogance and aggression. But as he was drowning he cried, ‘I believe there is no God except the one the Children of Israel believe in. I submit to Him.’
وَتِلْكَ عَادٌ ۖ جَحَدُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَعَصَوْا۟ رُسُلَهُۥ وَٱتَّبَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ
These were the Ad: they rejected their Lord’s signs, disobeyed His messengers, and followed the command of every obstinate tyrant.
وَٱسْتَفْتَحُوا۟ وَخَابَ كُلُّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ
They asked God to decide, and every obstinate tyrant failed-
۞ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
God commands justice, doing good, and generosity towards relatives and He forbids what is shameful, blameworthy, and oppressive. He teaches you, so that you may take heed.
وَبَرًّۢا بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ وَلَمْ يَكُن جَبَّارًا عَصِيًّا
kind to his parents, not domineering or rebellious.
وَبَرًّۢا بِوَٰلِدَتِى وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِى جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا
to cherish my mother. He did not make me domineering or graceless.
أَتَبْنُونَ بِكُلِّ رِيعٍ ءَايَةً تَعْبَثُونَ
How can you be so vain that you set up monuments on every high place?
وَإِذَا بَطَشْتُم بَطَشْتُمْ جَبَّارِينَ
Why do you act like tyrants whenever you attack someone?
فَلَمَّآ أَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يَبْطِشَ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ عَدُوٌّ لَّهُمَا قَالَ يَـٰمُوسَىٰٓ أَتُرِيدُ أَن تَقْتُلَنِى كَمَا قَتَلْتَ نَفْسًۢا بِٱلْأَمْسِ ۖ إِن تُرِيدُ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَ جَبَّارًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا تُرِيدُ أَن تَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُصْلِحِينَ
As he was about to attack the man who was an enemy to both of them, the man said, ‘Moses, are you going to kill me as you killed that person yesterday? You clearly want to be a tyrant in the land; you do not intend to put things right.’
ٱلَّذِينَ يُجَـٰدِلُونَ فِىٓ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَـٰنٍ أَتَىٰهُمْ ۖ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَعِندَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ جَبَّارٍ
those who dispute God’s messages, with no authority given to them, are doing something that is loathed by God and by those who believe. In this way God seals up the heart of every arrogant tyrant.
وَمَا تَفَرَّقُوٓا۟ إِلَّا مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْعِلْمُ بَغْيًۢا بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِن رَّبِّكَ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى لَّقُضِىَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أُورِثُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مُرِيبٍ
They divided, out of rivalry, only after knowledge had come to them, and, if it had not been for a decree already passed by your Lord to reprieve them until an appointed time, they would already have been judged. Those after them, who inherited the Scripture, are in disquieting doubt about it.
وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُم بَيِّنَـٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ ۖ فَمَا ٱخْتَلَفُوٓا۟ إِلَّا مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْعِلْمُ بَغْيًۢا بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِى بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا۟ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ
We gave them clear proof in matters [of religion]. They differed among themselves out of mutual rivalry, only after knowledge came to them: on the Day of Resurrection your Lord will judge between them regarding their differences.
نَّحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ ۖ وَمَآ أَنتَ عَلَيْهِم بِجَبَّارٍ ۖ فَذَكِّرْ بِٱلْقُرْءَانِ مَن يَخَافُ وَعِيدِ
We know best what the disbelievers say. You [Prophet] are not there to force them, so remind, with this Quran, those who fear My warning.
هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
He is God: there is no god other than Him, the Controller, the Holy One, Source of Peace, Granter of Security, Guardian over all, the Almighty, the Compeller, the Truly Great; God is far above anything they consider to be His partner.
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ
Have you [Prophet] considered how your Lord dealt with [the people] of 'Ad,
فَأَكْثَرُوا۟ فِيهَا ٱلْفَسَادَ
and spread corruption there:
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَىٰهَآ
In their arrogant cruelty, the people of Thamud called [their messenger] a liar,