مكر
Makr
Topic
“God is the best of schemers” (3:54): makr means a plan or counter-plan, and the verse is about God defeating the plots of those who plotted against Jesus.
What it means
In the Quran makara and makr are used of plotting by people, and of God’s response (3:54, 8:30). In 3:54 the context is the plot against Jesus: “they plotted, and God plotted, and God is the best of plotters.” The word in Arabic can mean “plan” in a neutral sense, and in this context means a counter-plan.
Often misunderstood as
That the Quran describes God as a deceiver.
What the sources say
Commentators such as al-Tabari and al-Razi explain it as a rhetorical echo: God’s defeat of the plot is called by the same word as the plot itself, as with the Arabic idiom of answering in kind. The Quran describes God as truthful (4:122) and lists the qualities of truthfulness among His names. A thing done by God is never deceit.