Does the Qur’an Call Allah the Best of Deceivers?

Qur’an 3:54Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalAnd they [i.e., the disbelievers] planned, but Allāh planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source and Qur’an 8:30Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [remember, O Muḥammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allāh plans. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source use one Arabic verb for a human plot and for God’s answer, and they call God the best of those who do it. Saheeh International translates the phrase “the best of planners.” Abdel Haleem says “the Best of Schemers.” Pickthall says “the best of schemers” in 3:54 and “the best of plotters” in 8:30. None of those editions says “the best of deceivers.” A fair reading is that God outplans a plot against Jesus in one verse and against Muhammad in the other. The Christian confession is that God does not lie. Titus 1:2Titus 1:2 · King James VersionIn hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;Titus 1:2 · King James VersionOpen source says God, who cannot lie, promised eternal life. Who Is Allah? is the wider comparison of the name.

Key Points

• Qur’an 3:54Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalAnd they [i.e., the disbelievers] planned, but Allāh planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source (1) in Saheeh International says, “And they planned, but Allāh planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.”
• Abdel Haleem: “God is the Best of Schemers.” Pickthall: “Allah is the best of schemers.” Yusuf Ali: “the best of planners is Allah.”
• Qur’an 8:30Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [remember, O Muḥammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allāh plans. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source (2) is the plot in Mecca to restrain Muhammad, kill him, or drive him out. Saheeh International again says “the best of planners.” Pickthall says “the best of plotters.”
• Qur’an 10:21Qur’an 10:21 · Saheeh InternationalAnd when We give the people a taste of mercy after adversity has touched them, at once they conspire against Our verses. Say, "Allāh is swifter in strategy." Indeed, Our messengers [i.e., angels] record that which you conspire.Qur’an 10:21 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source (3) says, in Saheeh International, “Allāh is swifter in strategy.” Haleem says God “schemes even faster.” Pickthall says Allah is “more swift in plotting.”
• The Quranic Arabic Corpus (4) glosses wamakarū as “And they schemed,” wamakara as “and planned,” and khayru al-mākirīn as “the best of the planners.” The verb is the same root for both sides.
• Titus 1:2Titus 1:2 · King James VersionIn hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;Titus 1:2 · King James VersionOpen source (5), Hebrews 6:18Hebrews 6:18 · King James VersionThat by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:Hebrews 6:18 · King James VersionOpen source (6), and Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen source (7) say God does not lie.

What the Translations Actually Say

The English “deceiver” is a critic’s choice for the root makara. It is not the wording of Saheeh International, Abdel Haleem, Pickthall, or Yusuf Ali at 3:54 or 8:30. Putting “best of deceivers” in quotation marks, as if those editions printed it, misquotes them. What they print is planners, schemers, or plotters.

Saheeh International at 3:54 is short enough to stand as their sentence:

And they [i.e., the disbelievers] planned, but Allāh planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.

Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh International

The context is the plot against Jesus. The surrounding verses in Qur’an 3Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalAnd they [i.e., the disbelievers] planned, but Allāh planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source are the passage Muslims read as God frustrating those who wanted Jesus killed. Did Jesus Die on the Cross? quotes Qur’an 4:157Qur’an 4:157 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allāh." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.Qur’an 4:157 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source on that claim. This page does not rehearse the crucifixion. It stays with the verb makara. On a Muslim reading, God’s “plan” here is the rescue, not a trick that makes God a liar. That reading should be granted before any Christian reply. The verse still uses, for God, the verb it has just used for the plotters.

Qur’an 8:30Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [remember, O Muḥammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allāh plans. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source is a different scene. Saheeh International addresses Muhammad: those who disbelieved plotted “to restrain you or kill you or evict you,” and “they plan, and Allāh plans. And Allāh is the best of planners.” Haleem says they schemed and so did God, “the best of schemers.” Pickthall says they plot and Allah plotteth, “and Allah is the best of plotters.” The plot is restraint, killing, or exile. God’s makr is his counter-plot. Who Was Muhammad? is the life those verses sit in.

Qur’an 10:21Qur’an 10:21 · Saheeh InternationalAnd when We give the people a taste of mercy after adversity has touched them, at once they conspire against Our verses. Say, "Allāh is swifter in strategy." Indeed, Our messengers [i.e., angels] record that which you conspire.Qur’an 10:21 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source uses the root again when people plot against God’s signs after a mercy. Saheeh International: “Allāh is swifter in strategy.” The range across these three verses is planners, schemers, plotters, and strategy. A single English insult is not what the translators agreed on.

One Root for Both Sides

The corpus entry for 3:54 splits the sentence into wamakarū, “And they schemed,” then wamakara, “and planned,” with Allah as the subject, then khayru al-mākirīn, “the best of the planners.” The active participle at the end is from the same root as the two verbs. Arabic can use makr for a cunning plan whether the planner is praised or blamed. The verse’s point, on the face of the Arabic, is that God does the thing they did, and does it better.

That is why “best of planners” and “best of schemers” are both honest tries. “Planner” stresses the success of the counter-move. “Schemer” keeps the edge that the same verb had when the plotters were the subject. A Muslim scholar who says the word, when God is the subject, means a just reversal and not a lie, is reading the context: the plot against Jesus fails, and the plot against Muhammad in Mecca fails. This page does not treat that as a dodge. It is the best of their reading. It leaves the shared verb in place. God, in the sentence, is the best of the mākirīn, the same class of actor the plotters belong to, not a different verb meaning “the most truthful.”

God Who Does Not Lie

Titus 1:2Titus 1:2 · King James VersionIn hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;Titus 1:2 · King James VersionOpen source says the hope of eternal life was promised by “God, that cannot lie.” Hebrews 6:18Hebrews 6:18 · King James VersionThat by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:Hebrews 6:18 · King James VersionOpen source says it is impossible for God to lie, so that the readers who have fled for refuge might hold the hope set before them. Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen source: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it?” The contrast is not that the Bible never narrates a stratagem. The contrast is that lying is something God does not do, and the Qur’an’s word at 3:54 puts God inside the planners’ own verb as the best of them.

Christians confess that Jesus is God, and that the one who cannot lie is the one who was crucified and raised. If 3:54 is read as God outwitting the cross, that reading collides with Titus 1:2Titus 1:2 · King James VersionIn hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;Titus 1:2 · King James VersionOpen source and with the Gospel accounts. Did Jesus Die on the Cross? is that collision. The title people ask, “best of deceivers,” should be answered with the translations that were actually printed: planners, schemers, plotters. The shared root is the fact under those English words. The God of Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen source is not a man that he should lie.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Translation Says “Best of Deceivers”?

Saheeh International, Abdel Haleem, Pickthall, and Yusuf Ali do not. At 3:54 they say planners or schemers. At 8:30 Pickthall says “the best of plotters,” and Saheeh International again says “the best of planners.” “Deceiver” is an English gloss a critic may argue for. It is not the line in these editions.

What Does Makr Mean Here?

The corpus uses “schemed” for the plotters and “planned” for God in the same verse, then “the best of the planners.” One root covers both. Muslim readers take God’s act as the defeat of a plot. The vocabulary does not switch to a word that means “tell the truth.”

Is 3:54 About Jesus or About Muhammad?

Qur’an 3:54Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalAnd they [i.e., the disbelievers] planned, but Allāh planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 3:54 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source sits in the passage about Jesus and those who plotted against him. Qur’an 8:30Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [remember, O Muḥammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allāh plans. And Allāh is the best of planners.Qur’an 8:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source is the plot to seize, kill, or expel Muhammad. Qur’an 10:21Qur’an 10:21 · Saheeh InternationalAnd when We give the people a taste of mercy after adversity has touched them, at once they conspire against Our verses. Say, "Allāh is swifter in strategy." Indeed, Our messengers [i.e., angels] record that which you conspire.Qur’an 10:21 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source is people plotting against God’s signs. The root appears in all three.

Where Does the Bible Say God Cannot Lie?

Titus 1:2Titus 1:2 · King James VersionIn hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;Titus 1:2 · King James VersionOpen source, Hebrews 6:18Hebrews 6:18 · King James VersionThat by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:Hebrews 6:18 · King James VersionOpen source, and Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen source. Jesus is God, and the promise of life in Titus is made by the God who cannot lie.

Keep Reading

• Who Is Allah? Is He the God of the Bible?
• Did Jesus Die on the Cross?
• Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels
• Tawhid and Christian Monotheism
• Titus 1