Note: If you are seeing English words in the Transliteration, please turn off auto translate on your device.
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Verse by Verse
Side by Side View
Stacked View
Print
Make PDF
Email This Surah
Translators: Ahmed Ali ● Amatul Rahman Omar ● Daryabadi ● Faridul Haque ● Hamid S. Aziz ● Maulana Mohammad Ali ● Pickthall ● Sarwar ● Shakir ● Yusuf Ali
Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
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 Mr. Baker, Mr. Rice, Mr. 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.
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." 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 AI-Madinah have also been included
in it.
Historical Background
In order to understand the meaning of
this Surah, we should know its historical background:
At Makkah the Quran
generally addressed the mushrik Quraish who were ignorant of Islam, but at Al-Madinah
it was also concerned with the Jews who were acquainted with the creed of the
Unity of Allah, Prophethood, Revelation, the Hereafter and angels. They also
professed to believe in the law which was revealed by Allah to their Prophet
Moses (Allah's peace be upon him), and in principle, their way was the same
(Islam) that was being taught by Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him).
But they had strayed away from it during the centuries of degeneration and had
adopted many un-Islamic creeds, rites and customs of which there was no mention
and for which there was no sanction in the Torah. Not only this : they had
tampered with the Torah by inserting their own explanations and interpretations
into its text. They had distorted even that part of the Word of God which had
remained intact in their Scriptures and taken out of it the real spirit of true
religion and were now clinging to a lifeless frame of rituals. Consequently
their beliefs, their morals and their conduct had gone to the lowest depths of
degeneration. The pity is that they were not only satisfied with their condition
but loved to cling to it. Besides this, they had no intention or inclination to
accept any kind of reform. So they became bitter enemies of those who came to
teach them the Right Way and did their worst to defeat every such effort. Though
they were originally Muslims, they had swerved from the real Islam and made
innovations and alterations in it and had fallen victims to hair splitting and
sectarianism. They had forgotten and forsaken Allah and begun to serve mammon.
So much so that they had even given up their original name "Muslim" and adopted
the name "Jew" instead, and made religion the sole monopoly of the children of
Israel.
This was their religious condition when the Holy Prophet went to
Al-Madinah and invited the Jews to the true religion. That is why more than one
third of this Surah has been addressed to the children of Israel. A critical
review of their history, their moral degeneration and their religious
perversions has been made; side by side with this the high standard of morality
and the fundamental principles of the pure religion have been put forward in
order to bring out clearly the nature of the degeneration of the community of a
prophet when it goes astray and to draw clear lines of demarcation between real
piety and formalism, and the essentials and non-essentials of the true religion.
At Makkah Islam was mainly concerned with the propagation of its fundamental
principles and the moral training of its followers. But after the migration of
the Holy Prophet to Al-Madinah, where Muslims had come to settle from all over
Arabia and where a tiny Islamic State had been set up with the help of the Ansar
(local supporters), naturally the Quran had to turn its attention to the social,
cultural, economic, political and legal problems as well. This accounts for the
difference between the themes of the surahs revealed at Makkah and those at Al-Madinah.
Accordingly about half of this Surah deals with those principles and regulations
which are essential for the integration and solidarity of a community and for
the solution of its problems.
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 :-
The Community should work with the utmost zeal to propagate
its ideology and win over to its side the greatest possible number of people.
It should so expose its opponents as to leave no room for doubt in the mind
of any sensible person that they were adhering to an absolutely wrong position.
It should infuse in it's members (the majority of whom were homeless and
indigent and surrounded on all sides by enemies) that courage and fortitude
which is so indispensable to their very existence in the adverse circumstances
in which they were struggling and to prepare them to face these boldly.
It should also keep them ready and prepared to meet any armed menace, which
might come from any side to suppress and crush their ideology, and to oppose it
tooth and nail without minding the overwhelming numerical strength and the
material resources of its enemies
It should also create in them that
courage which is needed for the eradication of evil ways and for the
establishment of the Islamic Way instead.
That is why Allah has revealed
in this Surah such instructions as may help achieve all the above mentioned
objects.
During this period, a new type of "Muslims," munafiqin
(hypocrites), had begun to appear. Though signs of duplicity had been noticed
during the last days at Makkah, they took a different shape at Al-Madinah. At
Makkah there were some people who professed Islam to be true but were not
prepared to abide by the consequences of this profession and to sacrifice their
worldly interests and relations and bear the afflictions which inevitably follow
the acceptance of this creed. But at Al-Madinah different kinds of munafiqin
(hypocrites) began to appear. There were some who had entered the Islamic fold
merely to harm it from 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 that if the latter
became successful, their interests should remain secure. There were still others
who had no strong conviction of the truth of Islam but had embraced it along
with their clans. Lastly, there were those who were intellectually convinced of
the truth of Islam but did not have enough moral courage to give up their former
traditions, superstitions and personal ambitions and live up to the Islamic
moral standards and make sacrifice in its way.
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.
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 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]y the same that was revealed to Prophet Moses (Allah's
peace 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 criticized 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 organization, 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 emphasized 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