“Let there be an ummah among you who calls to good”: Is the ‘مِن’ partitive or explanatory?
In Surah Ali ‘Imran verse 104 Allah (ta’ala) says, وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌۭ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى ٱلْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ ۚ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ “Let there be a group (ummah) among you who call ˹others˺ to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful.”[1] In this translation by Dr. Mustafa Khattab, أُمَّةٌ (ummah) is translated as group, so the command is to establish a group or groups[2] who perform the three duties of calling to good (al-khair), enjoining good (al-ma’ruf) and forbidding evil (al-munkar).