Name
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.
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 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
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