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Though it is a Madni Surah (revealed at Madinah), it follows naturally a Makki Surah (revealed at Makkah) Al-Fatiha, which ended with the prayer :"Guide us to the Right Way." This Surah begins with the answer to that prayer, "This is the guidance that you have asked for." The greater part of Al-Baqarah was revealed during the first two years of the Prophet's life at Al-Madinah.
Guidance is also provided concerning social, cultural, economic, political and legal issues through addressing the Jews who were acquainted with the Unity of Allah, Prophethood, Revelation, the Hereafter and angels. The Jews professed to believe in the law which was revealed by Allah to their Prophet Moses (pbuh), and in principle, their religion was the same (Islam) that was being taught by the Prophet Muhammad ( pbuh). Although they were originally Muslims, they had swerved from the real Islam and made innovations and alterations to their religion. As a result they had fallen victims to hair splitting and sectarianism, so much so that they had even given up their original name "Muslim" and adopted the name "Jew" instead, and made religion the monopoly of the children of Israel. This was their religious condition when the Prophet went to Al-Madinah and invited the Jews to the True Religion. More than one third of this Surah addresses to the Children of Israel. A critical review of their history, moral degeneration and religious perversions has been made, to draw clear lines of demarcation between the essentials and nonessentials of the True Religion. The Jews are warned not to mix up the Truth with Falsehood.
During this period, a new type of Muslim called "Munafiqin" (hypocrite), had emerged. There were some who had entered the fold of Islam merely to harm it from within. There were others who were surrounded by Muslims, and had become "Muslims" to safeguard their worldly interests. They, therefore, continued to have relations with the enemies so that if the latter became successful, their interests would remain secure. Allah has, therefore, briefly pointed out the characteristics of the hypocrites in this Surah. Later on when their mischievous deeds became manifest, detailed instructions were given in Surah Al-Taubah.
This Surah is an invitation towards the Divine Guidance. All of its stories, examples and incidents revolve round this central theme. This Surah particularly addresses the Jews and cites many events from their history to admonish and advise them that accepting the Guidance revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is to their own advantage. They should, therefore, be the first to accept it because this Message is basically the same as that revealed to the Prophet Musa (Moses) pbuh.
Why the name AL-BAQARAH? AL-BAQARAH (the Cow) has been so named from the story of the Cow occurring in this Surah (vv. 67-73). It has not, however, been used as a title to indicate the subject of the Surah. It will, therefore, be as wrong to translate the name Al-Baqarah into "The Cow" or "The Heifer" as to translate any English name, say Baker, Rice, Wolf etc., into their equivalents in other languages or vice versa, because this would imply that the Surah dealt with the subject of "The Cow". Many more Surahs of the Quran have been named in the same way because no comprehensive words exist in Arabic (in spite of its richness) to denote the wide scope of the subject discussed in them. As a matter of fact all human languages suffer from the same limitation.
Though it is a Madani Surah, it follows naturally a Makki Surah Al-Fatihah, which ended with the prayer: "Show us the straight way". It begins with the answer to that prayer, "This is the Book (that) . . . is guidance. The greater part of Al-Baqarah was revealed during the first two years of the Holy Prophet's life at Al-Madinah. The smaller part which was revealed at a later period has been included in this Surah because its contents are closely related to those dealt with in this Surah. For instance, the verses prohibiting interest were revealed during the last period of the Holy prophet's life but have been inserted in this Surah. For the same reason, the last verses (284-286) of this Surah which were revealed at Makkah before the migration of the Holy Prophet to Al-Madinah have also been included in it.
In order to understand the meaning of this Surah, we should know its historical background:
After the migration to Al-Madinah, the struggle between Islam and un-Islam had also entered a new phase. Before this the Believers, who propagated Islam among their own clans and tribes, had to face its opponents at their own risk. But the conditions had changed at Al-Madinah, where Muslims from all parts of Arabia had come and settled as one community, and had established an independent city state. Here it became a struggle for the survival of the Community itself, for the whole of non-Muslim Arabia was bent upon and united in crushing it totally. Hence the following instructions, upon which depended not only its success but its very survival, were revealed in this Surah
At the time of the revelation of Al-Baqarah, all sorts of hypocrites had begun to appear. Allah has, therefore, briefly pointed out their characteristics here. Afterwards when their evil characteristics and mischievous deeds became manifest, Allah sent detailed instructions about them.
This Surah is an invitation to the Divine Guidance and all the stories, incidents etc., revolve round this central theme. As this Surah has particularly been addressed to the Jews, many historical events have been cited from their own traditions to admonish and advise them that their own good lies in accepting the Guidance revealed to the Holy Prophet. They should, therefore, be the first to accept it because it was basically the same that was revealed to Prophet Moses (Allah's peace be upon him).
1 to 5 - Claim of Al-Quran that there it contains no doubtful statement and Al-Quran is a guide for those who are God-conscious
6 to 7 - Warning is of no use for those who reject faith
8 to 16 - Hypocrites and the consequences of hypocrisy
17 to 20 - Examples of hypocrite's deeds
21 to 22 - Allah's demand to worship Him
23 to 24 - Claim of Al-Quran to be the Book of Allah
25 to 25 - Reward for the believers
26 to 27 - Parable of gnat may confound many and enlighten many
28 to 29 - How can you deny Allah?
30 to 30 - The story of Adam's creation
31 to 33 - Victory of knowledge
34 to 35 - Angels show respect to Adam
36 to 36 - Shaitan caused Adam to lose paradise
37 to 37 - Adam's repentance and his forgiveness
38 to 39 - Need of Allah's revelations for guidance
40 to 43 - Allah's covenants with the Children of Israel
44 to 44 - Do you advise others and forget yourselves?
45 to 46 - Allah's help come with patience and Salah
47 to 48 - Criminals will find no way out on the Day of Judgement
49 to 50 - Israelites deliverance from Pharaoh's persecution
51 to 52 - Their sin of worshipping the Calf
53 to 54 - Their repentance through slaying the culprits
55 to 57 - Those who wanted to see Allah face to face were put to death, then Allah gave them life again and provided them with heavenly food
58 to 59 - Their discontent and disbelief
60 to 60 - Miracle of providing water in the desert from a rock
61 to 61 - Israelites rejected the heavenly food and their disobedience and transgression
62 to 62 - Real believers have nothing to fear or to regret
63 to 64 - Israelites covenant with Allah
65 to 66 - Punishment for the violation of Sabbath
67 to 71 - Their attitude in sacrificing a cow on Allah's command
72 to 74 - Miracle of putting the dead body alive and their reaction to the miracle
75 to 77 - Jews are hopeless victims of hypocrisy
78 to 79 - Some of them attributed their own writings to Allah
80 to 82 - Their false claim and its punishment
83 to 83 - Israelites made a covenant with Allah and broke it
84 to 86 - Their behavior with their own people and their punishment for breaking the covenant
87 to 88 - Advent of the Prophet Isa (Jesus)
89 to 90 - Jews rejected the truth knowingly
91 to 92 - Nature of the Jews' belief
93 to 93 - Israelites love for the calf was more than their love for Allah
94 to 96 - Jews' claim of exclusive right to inherit paradise is put to test
97 to 98 - Their animosity for Gabriel and other angels
99 to 100 - Their faithlessness
101 to 103 - Their accusation against Prophet Solomon (Sulaiman) and their learning of witchcraft
104 to 105 - Etiquettes to address the Prophet of Allah
106 to 107 - Abrogation and / or substitution of the verses of Al-Quran
108 to 108 - Questioning the Prophet
109 to 109 - Envy of Jews and Christian
110 to 110 - Open-end credit account for the Hereafter
111 to 112 - Jews' and Christians' false claim to inherit paradise
113 to 113 - Religious prejudice of the Jews and the Christians
114 to 114 - Order not to prevent people from coming to the Masajid
115 to 115 - All directions belong to Allah
116 to 117 - Accusation against Allah of having a son
118 to 119 - Al-Quran is the knowledge of truth
120 to 121 - Jews and Christians will never be pleased with you (Muslims)
122 to 123 - Accountability on the Day of Judgement
124 to 124 - Ibrahim was made the Leader of mankind by Allah
125 to 126 - Importance of the Ka'bah and Prayer of Ibrahim for the city of Makkah
127 to 129 - Ibrahim and Isma`il pray for the appointment of a Prophet from the City of Makkah
130 to 132 - Islam, the religion of Ibrahim and Ibrahim's advice to his sons
133 to 133 - Ya'qoob's advice to his sons
135 to 135 - Jews and Christians Vs Faith of Ibrahim
136 to 137 - Order of Allah to believe in all Prophets without discrimination
138 to 138 - Baptism is from Allah
139 to 141 - Ibrahim and his sons were neither Jews nor Christians but were Muslims
142 to 142 - Qiblah (direction in prayers)
143 to 143 - Order of Allah to change Qiblah
144 to 147 - Ka'bah in Makkah was made the new Qiblah
148 to 152 - Order to face towards Ka'bah as Qiblah durin Salah (prayers)
153 to 153 - Prescription to seek Allah's help
154 to 154 - Martyrs are not dead
155 to 157 - Allah will test the Believer's belief
158 to 158 - Safa and Marwah are the symbols of Allah
159 to 163 - Curse of Allah, the angels and all mankind is on those who conceal the truth
164 to 164 - Signs from nature to recognize Allah
165 to 167 - Mushrikin will have sever punishment and Followers of misguided leaders will regret on the Day of Judgement
168 to 169 - Do not follow the footsteps of Shaitan
170 to 171 - Do not profess the faith blindly
172 to 173 - Prohibited (Haram) food
174 to 176 - Those who hide the truth for worldly gain swallow nothing but fire
177 to 177 - Definition of righteousness?
178 to 179 - The Islamic laws of retribution
180 to 182 - Commandment of Allah to make a 'Will'
183 to 184 - Obligation of fasting
185 to 185 - Revelation of the Quran and fasting in the month of Ramadhan
186 to 186 - Allah is very close to His devotees
187 to 187 - Nights of the Fasting month and Timings of fasting
188 to 188 - Bribe is a sin
189 to 189 - The moon is to determine Time periods
190 to 193 - Order to fight for a just cause
194 to 194 - Retaliation in the sacred months
195 to 195 - Order to give charity
196 to 196 - Hajj and Umrah (pilgrimage to Makkah)
197 to 203 - Restrictions during Hajj and Performance of Hajj (pilgrimage)
204 to 207 - Hypocrisy vs True belief
208 to 210 - O believers enter into Islam completely
211 to 212 - Believers will rank over the unbelievers
213 to 213 - Mankind was one nation having one religion
214 to 214 - Way to Paradise passes through trials
215 to 216 - Charity and Fighting (for just cause) is made obligatory
217 to 218 - Fighting in the Sacred Month and Punishment for "murtad"- who turn back from Islam
219 to 220 - Drinking and gambling are sinful and Dealings with orphans
221 to 221 - It is unlawful to marry a mushrik
222 to 223 - Question about menstruation
224 to 225 - Do not misuse oaths taken in the name of Allah
226 to 227 - Limitation for renouncing conjugal rights
228 to 228 - Waiting period after divorce
229 to 230 - Laws relating to divorce
231 to 231 - Treatment to the divorced women
232 to 232 - There is no restriction on divorcees to remarry
233 to 234 - Requirement of breast feeding babies and Waiting period for widows
235 to 235 - There is no restriction on the remarriage of widows
236 to 237 - Dowry and divorce
238 to 239 - Guarding the Salah (Prayers)
240 to 242 - Obligation of executing the "Last Will and Testament"
243 to 244 - There is no escape from death
245 to 246 - Spending in the Way of Allah and Israelites demand for a king
247 to 248 - Allah appointed Talut to be their king
249 to 249 - Test of Israelites' belief and obedience
250 to 251 - Victory is not by numbers and Prayer of the believers for victory
252 to 252 - Reaffirming the Prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh)
253 to 253 - Ranks of Rasools
254 to 254 - Spending in charity
255 to 255 - Allah's attributes and "Ayat-al-Kursi"
256 to 257 - There is no compulsion in religion and Wali of Allah vs Wali of Shaitan
258 to 258 - Confrontation of Ibrahim and Namrud
259 to 259 - Example of bringing dead to life
260 to 260 - Ibrahim's question of life after death
261 to 263 - Parable of spending in Charity
264 to 264 - What makes charity worthless
265 to 266 - Charity vs Showing off
267 to 269 - Spend the best portion of your wealth and Allah's promise vs Shaitan's promise
270 to 273 - Giving charity in public and private and Who is eligible for charity
274 to 274 - Reward for charity
275 to 276 - Prohibition of usury
277 to 281 - Taking usury is like declaring war against Allah and His Rasool
282 to 282 - All business dealings must be reduced to writing and Witnesses are required in all major business transactions
283 to 283 - If writing is not possible, take a security deposit
284 to 284 - Allah will call to account
285 to 286 - True belief of Prophets and Muslims and Believer's supplication