FRIDAY NOTES (11 SEPT 2026) FROM THE QURAN: GREAT CRIMINALS IN EVERY CITY

 

Non-Muslims can read this. Less than one minute. Plus a Tony Christie hit song after this.

Qur’an Sūrah al-Anʿām  6:123 —  :   وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا فِي كُلِّ قَرْيَةٍ أَكَابِرَ مُجْرِمِيهَا لِيَمْكُرُوا فِيهَا ۖ وَمَا يَمْكُرُونَ إِلَّا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ

1. Sahih International:   “And thus We have placed within every city the greatest of its criminals to conspire therein. But they conspire not except against themselves, and they perceive [it] not.”

2. Marmaduke Pickthall:   “And thus have We made in every city great ones of its wicked ones, that they should plot therein. They do but plot against themselves, though they perceive not.”

3. Yusuf Ali:  “Thus have We placed leaders in every town, its wicked men, to plot therein: but they only plot against their own souls, and they perceive it not.”

The Arabic phrase أَكَابِرَ مُجْرِمِيهَا (akābira mujrimīhā) literally carries the sense of “the greatest/prominent ones of its criminals.”

Here is the song "Avenues and Alleyways", a 1972 single recorded by Tony Christie. Here are some of the lyrics:

In the avenues and alleyways
Where a man's gotta work out which side he's on 
Anyway he chooses
Chances are he loses
No one gets to live too long

The avenues and alleyways
Where the soul of a man is easy to buy
Everybody's wheelin
Everybody's dealin
All the low are living high
Every city's got them
Can we ever stop them?
Some of us 
Have got to try

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.