Singular You

In the Arabic Quran, the term “you” can be singular or plural. Some argue that if the singular form is used in the context of a commandment, then this only applies to Muhammad and not the believers. This viewpoint is inaccurate because it would imply that much of the Quran would be exclusive to the prophet and not be incumbent upon the believers.

The reason this is inaccurate is that much of the Quran is dialogues between parties e.g. Moses talking to God, Moses addressing Pharoah, Moses dealing with the Children of Israel, Luquman providing advice to his son…, and it is from much of these exchanges that we extract the commandments and lessons from the Quran. A good example of this can be seen in the following verse regarding people’s response to Qaroon.

28:77 “Use the provisions bestowed upon you by GOD to seek the abode of the Hereafter, without neglecting your share in this world. Be charitable, as GOD has been charitable towards you. Do not keep on corrupting the earth. GOD does not love the corruptors.”

وَٱبْتَغِ فِيمَآ ءَاتَىٰكَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَأَحْسِن كَمَآ أَحْسَنَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ وَلَا تَبْغِ ٱلْفَسَادَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ

Extracting commandments from these other dialogues that God placed in the Quran is not different from extracting commandments to when God addresses the prophet using the singular you. Even though these verses were originally addressing the prophet specifically the mere fact they are encompassed in the Quran implies that they are for us to reflect upon and apply. Below is a simple example of this, where the singular you is used, but the commandment is applicable to all believers.