Surah Al-Baqara

Name

Why the name AL-BAQARAH?

AL-BAQARAH (the Cow) has been so named fromthe 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. Itwill, 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 viceversa, because this would imply that the Surah dealt with the subjectof "The Cow". Many more Surahs of the Quran have been named in the sameway because no comprehensive words exist in Arabic (in spite of itsrichness) to denote the wide scope of the subject discussed in them.As a matter of fact all human languages suffer from the samelimitation.

Sequence

Though it is a Madani Surah, it follows naturally a Makki Surah Al-Fatihah, which ended with the prayer :"Show us the straight way". Itbegins with the answer to that prayer, "This is the Book (that) . . .is guidance. . ."

The greater part of Al-Baqarah was revealed during thefirst two years of the Holy Prophet's life at Al-Madinah. The smallerpart which was revealed at a later period has been included in thisSurah because its contents are closely related to those dealt with inthis Surah. For instance, the verses prohibiting interest were revealedduring the last period of the Holy prophet's life but have beeninserted in this Surah. For the same reason, the last verses (284-286)of this Surah which were revealed at Makkah before the migration of theHoly Prophet to AI-Madinah have also been included in it.

Historical Background

In order to understand the meaning of this Surah, we should know itshistorical background:

1. At Makkah the Quran generally addressed themushrik Quraish who were ignorant of Islam, but at Al- Madinah it wasalso concerned with the Jews who were acquainted with the creed of theUnity of Allah, Prophethood, Revelation, the Hereafter and angels.They also professed to believe in the law which was revealed by Allahto their Prophet Moses (Allah's peace be upon him), and in principle,their way was the same (Islam) that was being taught by ProphetMuhammad (Allah's peace be upon him). But they had strayed away fromit during the centuries of degeneration and had adopted many un-Islamic creeds, rites and customs of which there was no mention andfor which there was no sanction in the Torah. Not only this : they hadtampered with the Torah by inserting their own explanations andinterpretations into its text. They had distorted even that part ofthe Word of God which had remained intact in their Scriptures andtaken out of it the real spirit of true religion and were now clingingto a lifeless frame of rituals. Consequently their beliefs, theirmorals and their conduct had gone to the lowest depths of degeneration.The pity is that they were not only satisfied with their condition butloved to cling to it. Besides this, they had no intention orinclination to accept any kind of reform. So they became bitterenemies of those who came to teach them the Right Way and did theirworst to defeat every such effort. Though they were originally Muslims,they had swerved from the real Islam and made innovations andalterations in it and had fallen victims to hair splitting andsectarianism. They had forgotten and forsaken Allah and begun to servemammon. So much so that they had even given up their original name"Muslim" and adopted the name "Jew" instead, and made religion thesole monopoly of the children of Israel.

   This was their religiouscondition when the Holy Prophet went to Al-Madinah and invited theJews to the true religion. That is why more than one third of thisSurah has been addressed to the children of Israel. A critical reviewof their history, their moral degeneration and their religiousperversions has been made; side by side with this the high standard ofmorality and the fundamental principles of the pure religion have beenput forward in order to bring out clearly the nature of thedegeneration of the community of a prophet when it goes astray and todraw clear lines of demarcation between real piety and formalism, andthe essentials and non-essentials of the true religion.

2. At MakkahIslam was mainly concerned with the propagation of its fundamentalprinciples and the moral training of its followers. But after themigration of the Holy Prophet to Al-Madinah, where Muslims had come tosettle from all over Arabia and where a tiny Islamic State had beenset up with the help of the Ansar (local supporters), naturally theQuran had to turn its attention to the social, cultural, economic,political and legal problems as well. This accounts for the differencebetween the themes of the surahs revealed at Makkah and those at Al-Madinah. Accordingly about half of this Surah deals with thoseprinciples and regulations which are essential for the integration andsolidarity of a community and for the solution of its problems.

3. Afterthe migration to Al-Madinah, the struggle between Islam and un-Islamhad also entered a new phase. Before this the Believers, whopropagated Islam among their own clans and tribes, had to face itsopponents at their own risk. But the conditions had changed at Al-Madinah, where Muslims from all parts of Arabia had come and settledas one community, and had established an independent city state. Hereit became a struggle for the' survival of the Community itself, forthe whole of non- Muslim Arabia was bent upon and united in crushingit totally. Hence the following instructions, upon which depended notonly its success but its very survival, were revealed in this Surah :-
   1. The Community should work with the utmost zeal to propagate itsideology and win over to its side the greatest possible number ofpeople.
   2. It should so expose its opponents as to leave no room for doubtin the mind of any sensible person that they were adhering to anabsolutely wrong position.
   3. It should infuse in it's members (the majority of whom werehomeless and indigent and surrounded on all sides by enemies) thatcourage and fortitude which is so indispensable to their veryexistence in the adverse circumstances in which they were strugglingand to prepare them to face these boldly.
   4. It should also keep them ready and prepared to meet any armedmenace, which might come from any side to suppress and crush theirideology, and to oppose it tooth and nail without minding theoverwhelming numerical strength and the material resources of itsenemies
   5. It should also create in them that courage which is needed forthe eradication of evil ways and for the establishment of the IslamicWay instead.

   That is why Allah has revealed in this Surah suchinstructions as may help achieve all the above mentioned objects.

4. During this period, a new type of "Muslims," munafiqin (hypocrites),had begun to appear. Though signs of duplicity had been noticed duringthe last days at Makkah, they took a different shape at Al-Madinah. AtMakkah there were some people who professed Islam to be true but werenot prepared to abide by the consequences of this profession and tosacrifice their worldly interests and relations and bear theafflictions which inevitably follow the acceptance of this creed. Butat Al-Madinah different kinds of munafiqin (hypocrites) began to appear.There were some who had entered the Islamic fold merely to harm itfrom within. There were others who were surrounded by Muslims and,therefore, had become "Muslims" to safeguard their worldly interests.They, therefore, continued to have relations with the enemies so thatif the latter became successful, their interests should remain secure.There were still others who had no strong conviction of the truth ofIslam but had embraced it along with their clans. Lastly, there werethose who were intellectually convinced of the truth of Islam but didnot have enough moral courage to give up their former traditions,superstitions and personal ambitions and live up to the Islamic moralstandards and make sacrifice in its way.

   At the time of the revelationof Al-Baqarah, all sorts of hypocrites had begun to appear. Allah has,therefore, briefly pointed out their characteristics here. Afterwardswhen their evil characteristics and mischievous deeds became manifest,Allah sent detailed instructions about them.

Theme: Guidance

This Surah is an invitation to the Divine Guidance and all the stories,incidents etc., revolve round this central theme. As this Surah hasparticularly been addressed to the Jews, many historical events havebeen cited from their own traditions to admonish and advise them thattheir own good lies in accepting the Guidance revealed to the HolyProphet. They should, therefore, be the first to accept it because itwas basically]y the same that was revealed to Prophet Moses (Allah'speace be upon him).

Topics and their Interconnection

These introductory verses declare the Quran to be the Book of Guidance : enunciate the articles of the Faith -- belief in Allah, Prophethood and Life-after-death; divide mankind into three main groups with regard to its acceptance or rejection -- Believers, disbelievers and hypocrites. 1 - 20

Allah invites mankind to accept the Guidance voluntarily and to submit to Him, the Lord and the Creator of the Universe and to believe in the Quran, His Guidance, and in the Life-after-death. 21 - 29

The story of the appointment of Adam as Allah's Vicegerent on Earth, of his life in the Garden, of his falling a prey to the temptations of Satan, of his repentance and its acceptance, has been related to show to mankind (Adam's offspring), that the only right thing for them is to accept and follow the Guidance. This story also shows that the Guidance of Islam is the same that was given to Adam and that it is the original religion of mankind. 30 - 39

In this portion invitation to the Guidance has particularly been extended to the children of Israel and their past and present attitude has been criticised to show that the cause of their degradation was their deviation from the Guidance. 40 - 120

The Jews have been exhorted to follow Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) who had come with the same Guidance and who was a descendant and follower of Prophet Abraham whom they highly honoured as their ancestor, and professed to follow as a prophet. The story of the building of the Ka`abah by him has been mentioned because it was going to be made the qiblah of the Muslim Community. 121 - 141

In this portion, the declaration of the change of qiblah from the Temple (Jerusalem) to the Ka`abah (Makkah) has been made as a symbol of the change of leadership from the children of Israel to the Muslim Community, which has also been fore-warned to guard against those transgressions against the Guidance that had led to the deposition of the Jews. 142 - 152

In this portion practical measures have been prescribed to enable the Muslims to discharge the heavy responsibilities of the leadership that had been entrusted to them for the promulgation of Guidance. Salat, Fast, Zakat, Haj and Jihad have been prescribed for the moral training of the Ummat. The Believers have been exhorted to obey authority, to be just, to fulfill pledges, to observe treaties, to spend wealth etc., in the way of Allah. Laws, rules and regulations have been laid down for their organisation, cohesion and conduct of day-to-day life and for the solution of social, economic, political and international problems; on the other hand, drinking, gambling, lending money on interest etc., have been prohibited to keep the Ummat safe from disintegration. In between these, the basic articles of the Faith have been reiterated at suitable places, for these alone can enable and support one to stick to the Guidance. 153 - 251

These verses serve as an introduction to the prohibition of lending money on interest. The true conception of Allah, Revelation and Life-after-death has been emphasised to keep alive the sense of accountability. The stories of Prophet Abraham (Allah's peace be upon him) and of the one who woke up after a sleep of hundred years have been related to show that Allah is All-Powerful and is able to raise the dead and call them to account. The Believers, therefore, should keep this fact in view and refrain from taking interest on money. 252 - 260

The theme of 153 - 251 has been resumed and the Believers have been exhorted to spend in the way of Allah in order to please Him alone. In contrast to this, they have been warned against the evils of lending money on interest. Instructions have also been given for the honest conduct of day-to-day business transactions. 261 - 283

The basic articles of the Faith have been recapitulated here at the end of the Surah, just as they were enunciated at its beginning. Then the Surah ends with a prayer which the Muslim Community needed very much at that time when they were encountering untold hardships in the propagation of the Guidance. 284 - 286