Quranic root
ريب
r · y · b
The root centers on doubt, uncertainty, and the fear or disquiet that accompanies an unsettled judgment.
From this core develop suspicion, things that arouse doubt, skepticism, and the vicissitudes of time; a classical extension connects need with the uncertainty and fear of failing to obtain what is sought.
- Maqāyīs · row 2192
- 5
- Quran-attested forms
- 6
- Quran senses
- 36
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
اِرْتَابَ
āirtāba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- Quran occurrences
- 9 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To doubt, be uncertain, or waver in conviction.
The Quranic Form VIII use can concern a person, matter, proposition, revelation, or religious truth; it may occur with an expressed object or with فِي/بِـ constructions. Religious skepticism is a frequent contextual specialization.
- Lane · entry 25074
- Mufradāt · row 602
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:282word 95
“you (have) doubt”
Quran 49:15word 9
“doubt”
مُرِيبٌ
murībun
- Part of speech
- Active participle · Form IV
- Quran occurrences
- 7 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Causing doubt, suspicion, or mental disquiet; suspicious or disquieting.
As an active participle, it can describe a person associated with something suspicious or a thing, event, or circumstance that arouses doubt or disquiet.
- Lane · entry 25081
- Mufradāt · row 602
Selected Quran examples
مُرْتَابٌ
murtābun
- Part of speech
- Adjective · Form VIII
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Doubting or suspecting; a person whose conviction is unsettled.
This adjectival active-participle form describes the experiencer of doubt or suspicion, and may be used with فِيهِ or بِهِ for what is doubted or suspected. In Quranic usage the context is religious doubt.
- Lane · entry 25082
- Lane · entry 25074
- Mufradāt · row 602
Selected Quran examples
Quran 40:34word 30
“a doubter”
رَيْبٌ
raybun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 18 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Doubt or uncertainty about a matter; an unsettled supposition or expectation.
Used for an epistemic state of uncertainty, including constructions such as لَا رَيْبَ and فِي رَيْبٍ. The sense can involve an unsettled opinion about what a matter means or will prove to be.
- Lane · entry 25077
- Mufradāt · row 602
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:37word 18
“doubt”
Uncertainty about when an anticipated event will occur, especially the time of death or fate.
In رَيْبُ الْمَنُونِ, the uncertainty concerns the timing of the event, not whether death or the event itself will occur.
- Mufradāt · row 602
Selected Quran examples
Quran 52:30word 6
“a misfortune of time”
رِيبَةٌ
rībahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
A state or cause of doubt, suspicion, or inward lack of certainty.
In the Quranic construction بَنَوْا رِيبَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ, it denotes an inward reservation or disquiet, with an implication of hidden duplicity or weak conviction rather than a merely passing question.
- Lane · entry 25077
- Lane · entry 25078
- Mufradāt · row 602
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:110word 6
“a (cause of) doubt”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 36 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 13 Classical meanings
رَابَ / رَابَنِي
To disquiet, disturb, or agitate the mind.
The object may be a person, thing, affair, or event; the construction describes the disturbance produced in the affected person.
- Lane · entry 25071
رَابَ / رَابَنِي
To cause someone to doubt or suspect, or to do something that occasions doubt or suspicion.
The verb may be used transitively for causing doubt to reach another person, and intransitively for doing an act that gives rise to suspicion. A reported lexical distinction says رَابَنِي can make the suspicious feature evident or certain, while أَرَابَنِي can make it seem present without certainty.
- Lane · entry 25071
أَرَابَ / أَرَابَنِي
To make someone think that a person or matter contains something suspicious, or to put doubt or suspicion into the mind.
This is the causative construction contrasted in some lexical accounts with رَابَنِي, which can indicate recognition of the suspicious feature with greater certainty.
- Lane · entry 25071
رَابَنِي أَمْرُهُ
Of an affair or event, to befall or happen to someone in a way that brings fear or doubt.
The usage is especially associated with an adverse or troubling event.
- Lane · entry 25071
أَرَابَ
To become characterized by something that occasions doubt or suspicion; of a thing or affair, to become dubious.
This is the intransitive Form IV use, applied both to a person and to a matter or circumstance.
- Lane · entry 25072
اِرْتَابَ
To suspect someone or think evil of them; to perceive in them what causes suspicion.
This broader Form VIII use focuses on suspicion directed toward a person or matter, distinct from merely experiencing uncertainty.
- Lane · entry 25074
اِسْتَرَابَ
To fall into doubt or suspicion, fearing that safety or security may not be assured.
The form describes becoming affected by doubt, apprehension, or an evil suspicion.
- Lane · entry 25075
رَابٌ
Want, need, or a requisite matter.
This is a distinct nominal lexical branch, also used of the reason for wanting or seeking something.
- Lane · entry 25076
رَيْبٌ
A thing, event, or circumstance that occasions doubt, suspicion, or an evil opinion.
The noun may designate the troubling matter itself rather than the doubt produced in the mind.
- Lane · entry 25077
رَيْبُ الدَّهْرِ / رَيْبُ الزَّمَانِ
The vicissitudes or adverse accidents of time that disturb the mind.
This conventional construction refers to the changes, reversals, and calamities brought by time.
- Lane · entry 25077
رَيْبٌ
A want, need, or requisite thing.
This is an attested extension of رَيْبٌ distinct from its doubt-related senses; it is used in contexts of seeking or accomplishing a need.
- Lane · entry 25077
أَمْرٌ رَيَّابٌ
A thing, event, or case that frightens or terrifies.
The adjective characterizes an occurrence by the fear it produces.
- Lane · entry 25079
رَائِبٌ
Causing or occasioning doubt, suspicion, or confused uncertainty.
This is an active-participial adjective for a matter that is not clear or free from dubiousness.
- Lane · entry 25080
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The lexical sources distinguish the experiencer of doubt, مُرْتَابٌ, from the person or thing that causes doubt, مُرِيبٌ; their English renderings can overlap in context.
Reported distinctions between رَابَ and أَرَابَ vary in the degree of certainty attributed to the resulting suspicion; those distinctions are retained as Classical usage conditions rather than separate Quranic senses.