وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنۡ أَحَدٍ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَآ إِنَّمَا نَحۡنُ فِتۡنَةٞ فَلَا تَكۡفُرۡ
Quranic context: Al-Baqarah 102
Context: The two angels Harut and Marut were sent down to Babylon as a trial and test. They taught people magic but always preceded it with an explicit warning: "We are only a trial — do not disbelieve." Yet people learned it seeking to cause division between spouses.
Lesson:
- Allah tested through the two angels those who chose falsehood after knowing the truth
- Magic is inherently harmful — the verse states this plainly without justification
- Clarity of warning does not remove responsibility — "they could not harm anyone except by Allah's leave"
- This trial distinguished those who preferred the world over faith: "They knew that whoever bought it would have no share in the Hereafter"
Note: Harut and Marut are angels according to the majority of scholars; detailed narrations about them are Isra'iliyyat — neither accepted nor rejected as fact.
Question: What warning did Harut and Marut give before teaching magic and why?
Answer: They said: "We are only a trial — do not disbelieve" — because learning magic is disbelief, and being tested does not permit committing it.