Introduction:
As the Opening Sura sums up in seven beautiful verses the essence of the Quran, so this Sura sums up in 286 verses the whole teaching of the Quran. It is a closely reasoned argument.
Main idea - The name of Surah is from the Parable of the Heifer in ii. 67-71, which illustrates the insufficiency of carping obedience. When faith is lost, people put off obedience with various excuses: even when at last they obey in the letter, they fail in the spirit, which means they get fossilized, and their self-sufficiency prevents them from seeing that spiritually they are not alive but dead. For life is movement, activity, striving, fighting, against baser things. And this is the burden of the Surah.
1. Classification of men:
It begins by classifying men into three broad categories, depending on how they receive Allah's message. (verses 1-29)
2. Creation of Man:
This leads to the story of the creation of man, the high destiny intended for him, his fall, and the hope held out to him. (Verses 30-39)
3. The People of Israel:
Israel story is then told according to their own records and traditions - what privileges they received and how they abused them. (verses 40-86), thus illustrating again as by a parable the general story of man.
4. Rejection to follow Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:
In particular, reference is made to Moses and Jesus and their struggles with an unruly people: how the people of the Book played false with their own lights and in their pride rejected Muhammad ﷺ , who came in the true line of Prophets. (verses 87-121)
5. Prophet Abraham and his lineage:
They falsely laid claim to the virtues of Father Abraham: he was indeed a righteous Imam, but he was the progenitor of Ismail's line (Arabs) as well as of Israel's line, and he with Ismail built the Ka'aba , the house of Allah in Makkah, and purified it, thus establishing a common religion, of which Islam is the universal exponent. (verses 122-141)
6. Ka'aba - the symbol of Islamic Unity:
The Ka'aba was now to be the centre of unviersal worship and the symbol of Islamic unity. (ii. 142-167)
7. What defines Righteousness?
The Islamic Ummat (brotherhood) having thus been established with its definite centre and symbol, ordinances are laid down for the social life of the community, with the proviso (ii. 177) that righteousness does not consist in formalities, but in faith, kindness, prayer, charity, probity, and patience under suffering. The ordinances relate to food and drink, bequests, fasts, Jihad, wine and gambling, treatment of orphans and women, etc. (ii. 168-242)
8. Jihad in the stories of David and Jesus:
Lest the subject of Jihad should be misunderstood, it is taken up again in the story of Saul, Goliath, and David, (طالوت، جالوت، داود) in contrast to the story of Jesus. (ii. 243 - 253)
9. Virtue Lies in Practicality:
And so the lesson is enforced that true virtue lies in practical deeds of manliness, kindness, and good faith (ii. 254-283), and Allah's nature (His attributes) is called to mind in the sublime Ayat-ul-Kursi, the Verse of the Throne (ii. 255)
10. Encouragement:
The Surah ends with an exhortation to Faith, Obedience, a sense of Personal Responsibility, and Prayer. (ii. 284-286)
Significance:
This is the longest Sura of the Quran.
In it occurs the longest verse of the Quran (ii. 282)
This is in the main an early Madinah Surah . Some of its verses were revealed during "Hajjatul Wida" the last Pilgrimage of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ۔
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, "Do not turn your houses into graveyards. Shyataan runs away from the house in which Surah Al- Baqarah is recited."
The last two verses of Surah Al- Baqarah are prescribed in the sunnah for reciting before falling sleep.
A tip for readers:
While we recite the whole Quran in our routine, we must make it our routine to keep reading Surah Al- Baqarah separately. Please note that one must not leave reciting the Quran and hold onto only few Surahs.
Read part of Surah Baqarah everday , and when you finish it, start again, try not to pass a day without reciting it.
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