Home Quran Quran roots ن ك ر
37 times in the Quran · 10 word forms · rank 254
The Quran root ن ك ر n-k-r
Words built from the root ن ك ر ([n-k-r]) appear 37 times in the Quran. The most common is مُنكَر, “wrong”, which comes 18 times. Learn the root once and you can recognise every word made from it.
Words from this root
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| مُنكَر | munkar | wrong · evil | 18 | |
| نَكِير | nakiir | rejection · punishment | 5 | |
| مُنكِر | munkir | knew him not · rejecters | 3 | |
| يُنكِرُ | yunkiru | deny · they deny it | 3 | |
| نُكْر | nukr | terrible · evil | 3 | |
| نَكِرَ | nakira | he felt unfamiliar of them | 1 | |
| مُنكِرَة | munkira | refuse | 1 | |
| نَكِّرُ | nakkiru | Disguise | 1 | |
| أَنكَر | ankar | harshest | 1 | |
| نُكُر | nukur | terrible | 1 |
Examples from the Quran
وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ١٠٤
الْمُنكَرِ l-munkari · the wrong
And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:104)
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَوْ آمَنَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُم مِّنْهُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ ١١٠
الْمُنكَرِ l-munkari · the wrong
You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allāh. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient. (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:110)
وَأَصْحَابُ مَدْيَنَ وَكُذِّبَ مُوسَىٰ فَأَمْلَيْتُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ ٤٤
نَكِيرِ nakīri · My punishment
And the inhabitants of Madyan. And Moses was denied, so I prolonged enjoyment for the disbelievers; then I seized them, and how [terrible] was My reproach. (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:44)
وَجَاءَ إِخْوَةُ يُوسُفَ فَدَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ فَعَرَفَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُ مُنكِرُونَ ٥٨
مُنكِرُونَ munkirūna · knew him not
And the brothers of Joseph came [seeking food], and they entered upon him; and he recognized them, but he was to them unknown. (Surah Yusuf, 12:58)
وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنَ الْأَحْزَابِ مَن يُنكِرُ بَعْضَهُ قُلْ إِنَّمَا أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ وَلَا أُشْرِكَ بِهِ إِلَيْهِ أَدْعُو وَإِلَيْهِ مَآبِ ٣٦
يُنكِرُ yunkiru · deny
And [the believers among] those to whom We have given the [previous] Scripture rejoice at what has been revealed to you, [O Muḥammad], but among the [opposing] factions are those who deny part of it [i.e., the Qur’ān]. Say, "I have only been commanded to worship Allāh and not associate [anything] with Him. To Him I invite, and to Him is my return." (Surah Ar-Ra'd, 13:36)
فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلَامًا فَقَتَلَهُ قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ لَّقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُّكْرًا ٧٤
نُّكْرًا nuk'ran · evil
So they set out, until when they met a boy, he [i.e., al-Khiḍr] killed him. [Moses] said, "Have you killed a pure soul for other than [having killed] a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing." (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:74)
Surahs where it comes most
- Surah Ali 'Imran · 3×
- Surah At-Tawbah · 3×
- Surah An-Nahl · 3×
- Surah Al-Hajj · 3×
- Surah Al-'Ankabut · 2×
- Surah Luqman · 2×
Each meaning is taken from the word-by-word translation of the verses, so a word can show two meanings from different contexts. Root and base-word data come from the Quranic Arabic Corpus.