In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Evil

(Qur’anic Perspective)

1. Those Surrounded by Their Sins

Arabic:
بَلَىٰ مَن كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً وَأَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطِيئَتُهُ فَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ

Transliteration:
Balā man kasaba sayyiʾatan wa-aḥāṭat bihi khaṭīʾatuhu fa-ulāʾika aṣḥābu al-nār, hum fīhā khālidūn

Translation:
"Yes, whoever earns evil and his sin encompasses him — those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein forever." (Al-Baqarah 81)

2. Avoiding Major Sins

Arabic:
إِن تَجْتَنِبُوا كَبَائِرَ مَا تُنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ نُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَنُدْخِلْكُم مُّدْخَلًا كَرِيمًا

Transliteration:
In tajtanibū kabāʾira mā tunhawna ʿanhu nukaffir ʿankum sayyiʾātikum wa-nudkhilkum mudkhalan karīmā

Translation:
"If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your minor sins and admit you to a noble entrance." (Al-Nisāʾ 31)

3. Tenfold Reward for Good Deeds

Arabic:
مَن جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا ۖ وَمَن جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَلَا يُجْزَىٰ إِلَّا مِثْلَهَا وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ

Transliteration:
Man jāʾa bi-al-ḥasanati fa-lahu ʿashru amthālihā, wa-man jāʾa bi-al-sayyiʾati fa-lā yujzā illā mithlahā wa-hum lā yuẓlamūn

Translation:
"Whoever brings a good deed will have ten times the like of it, and whoever brings an evil deed will not be recompensed except with the like of it, and they will not be wronged." (Al-Anʿām 160)

4. The Consequence of Evil Deeds

Arabic:
وَالَّذِينَ كَسَبُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ جَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ بِمِثْلِهَا وَتَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۖ مَّا لَهُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ عَاصِمٍ ۖ كَأَنَّمَا أُغْشِيَتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ قِطَعًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مُظْلِمًا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ

Transliteration:
Wa-alladhīna kasabū al-sayyiʾāti jazāʾu sayyiʾatin bi-mithlihā wa-tarhaquhum dhillah, mā lahum mina Allāhi min ʿāṣim, ka-annamā ughshiyat wujūhuhum qiṭaʿan mina al-layli muẓlimā, ulāʾika aṣḥābu al-nār hum fīhā khālidūn

Translation:
"And those who earn evil deeds — the recompense of an evil deed is the like thereof, and humiliation will cover them. They will have no protector from Allah. Their faces will be as though covered with pieces of the dark night. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein forever." (Yūnus 27)

5. Good Deeds Remove Sins

Arabic:
وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ طَرَفَيِ النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ ۚ إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّاكِرِينَ

Transliteration:
Wa-aqimi al-ṣalāta ṭarafayi al-nahāri wa-zulafan mina al-layl, inna al-ḥasanāti yudhhibna al-sayyiʾāt, dhālika dhikrā li-al-dhākirīn

Translation:
"And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove evil deeds. That is a reminder for those who remember." (Hūd 114)

6. Repel Evil with What Is Best

Arabic:
ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ السَّيِّئَةَ ۚ نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَصِفُونَ

Transliteration:
Idfaʿ bi-allatī hiya aḥsanu al-sayyiʾah, naḥnu aʿlamu bimā yaṣifūn

Translation:
"Repel evil with that which is best. We know best what they describe." (Al-Muʾminūn 96)

7. Recompense According to Deeds

Arabic:
مَن جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهَا ۖ وَمَن جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَلَا يُجْزَى الَّذِينَ عَمِلُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ إِلَّا مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

Transliteration:
Man jāʾa bi-al-ḥasanati fa-lahu khayrun minhā, wa-man jāʾa bi-al-sayyiʾati fa-lā yujzā alladhīna ʿamilū al-sayyiʾāti illā mā kānū yaʿmalūn

Translation:
"Whoever brings a good deed will have better than it, and whoever brings an evil deed — those who did evil will only be recompensed for what they used to do." (Al-Qaṣaṣ 84)

8. Good and Evil Are Not Equal

Arabic:
وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ۚ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ

Transliteration:
Wa-lā tastawī al-ḥasanatu wa-lā al-sayyiʾah, idfaʿ bi-allatī hiya aḥsan fa-idhā alladhī baynaka wa-baynahu ʿadāwah ka-annahu waliyyun ḥamīm

Translation:
"And not equal are the good deed and the evil deed. Repel evil with that which is best, and then the one between whom and you was enmity will become as though he were a devoted friend." (Ḥā Mīm al-Sajdah 34)

9. Evil-Doers Are Not Like the Righteous

Arabic:
أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ اجْتَرَحُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ أَن نَّجْعَلَهُمْ كَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَوَاءً مَّحْيَاهُمْ وَمَمَاتُهُمْ ۚ سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ

Transliteration:
Am ḥasiba alladhīna ij'taraḥū al-sayyiʾāti an najʿalahum ka-alladhīna āmanū wa-ʿamilū al-ṣāliḥāti sawāʾan maḥyāhum wa-mamātuhum, sāʾa mā yaḥkumūn

Translation:
"Or do those who commit evil deeds think that We will make them like those who believe and perform righteous deeds — equal in their life and their death? Evil is what they judge." (Al-Jāthiyah 21)