April Fools

“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”  Shakespeare

Definition of “fool” (dictionary.com): Noun: a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person.
Verb: trick or deceive someone, dupe
Adjective: foolish, silly

By definition, all humans are fools. We acted unwisely, or we wouldn’t be here (33:72, 38:67-69). The Quran gives us many verses related to the term “fool”. Let us examine the verses to see what we can learn from them.

Verses mentioning “fool”:

[2:13] When they are told, “Believe like the people who believed,” they say, “Shall we believe like the fools who believed?” In fact, it is they who are fools, but they do not know.

[2:130] Who would forsake the religion of Abraham, except one who fools his own soul? We have chosen him in this world, and in the Hereafter he will be with the righteous.

[2:142] The fools among the people would say,

“Why did they change the direction of their Qiblah?” Say, “To GOD belongs the east and the west; He guides whoever wills in a straight path.”

[6:140] Losers indeed are those who killed their children foolishly, due to their lack of knowledge, and prohibited what GOD has provided for them, and followed innovations attributed to GOD. They have gone astray; they are not guided.

[17:29] You shall not keep your hand stingily tied to your neck, nor shall you foolishly open it up, lest you end up blamed and sorry.

Hûd [7:66] The leaders who disbelieved among his people said, “We see that you are behaving foolishly, and we think that you are a liar.” [7:67] He said, “O my people, there is no foolishness in me; I am a messenger from the Lord of the universe.

Pharaoh [43:54] He thus fooled his people, and they obeyed him; they were wicked people.

Jinns [72:4] “‘It is the foolish among us who used to utter such nonsense about GOD.

We can never fool God. [29:4] Do those who commit sins think that they can ever fool us?

Wrong indeed is their judgment.

Verses mentioning “deceive”:

[2:9] In trying to deceive GOD and those who believe, they only deceive themselves without perceiving.

[3:24] This is because they said, “The hellfire will not touch us, except for a few days.” They were thus deceived in their religion by their own fabrications.

Satan is always working to deceive us. [6:112] We have permitted the enemies of every prophet—human and jinn devils—to inspire in each other fancy words, in order to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. You shall disregard them and their fabrications.

[15:15] they will say, “Our eyes have been deceived. We have been bewitched.”

[67:20] Where are those soldiers who can help you against the Most Gracious? Indeed, the disbelievers are deceived.

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