*Surāh Al-Baqara, Verse 1:*
الم
Alif-Lam-Mim. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur-ān and none but Allāh (Alone) knows their meanings].
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 2:*
ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
This is the Book (the Qur-ān), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allāh much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allāh much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].
*COMMENTARY*
Taqwā (fear of Allāh), and the verbs and nouns connected with the root, signify:
1. The fear of Allāh, which, according to the writer of proverbs in the Old Testament, is the beginning of wisdom.
2. Restraint, or guarding one's tongue, hand and heart from evil.
3. Hence righteousness, piety, good conduct. All these ideas are implied: in the translation, only one or other of these ideas can be indicated, according to the context.
*INTRODUCTION TO SŪRAT AL-BAQARAH, 2*
As the Opening Sūra sums up in seven beautiful verses the essence of the Qur'an, so this Sūra sums up in 286 Verses the whole teaching of the Qur-ān. It is a closely reasoned argument.
*SUMMARY*: It begins (Verses 1-29) by classifying men into three broad categories, depending on how they receive Allāh's message.
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).
Israel's 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.
In particular, reference is made to Moses and Jesus and their struggle with an unruly people: how the people of the Book played false with their own lights and in their pride rejected Muhammad, who came in the true line of prophets (Verses 87-121).
They falsely laid claim to the virtues of Father Abraham: he was indeed a righteous Imām, but he was the progenitor of Ismā'īl's line (Arabs) as well as of Israel's line, and he with Ismā'īl built the Kā'ba (the house of Allāh in Makkah) and purified it, thus establishing a common religion, of which Islam is the universal exponent (Verses 122-141).
The Kā'ba was now to be the centre of universal worship and the symbol of Islamic unity (Verses 142-167).
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 (Verse 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, jihād, wine and gambling, treatment of orphans and women, etc. (Verses 168-242).
Lest the subject of jihād should be misunderstood, it is taken up again in the story of Saul, Goliath and David, in contrast to the story of Jesus (Verses 243-253).
And so the lesson is enforced that true virtue lies in practical deeds of manliness, kindness, good faith (Verses 254-283), and Allāh's nature (Allāh's attributes) is called to mind in the sublime Ayat-ul-Kursī, the Verse of the Throne (Verse 255).
The Sūra ends with an exhortation to Faith, Obedience, a sense of Personal Responsibility, and Prayer (Verses 284-286).
This is the longest Sūra of the Glorious Qur-ān, and in it occurs the longest verse (Verse 282). The name of the Sūra is from the Parable of the Heifer (in Verses 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 that they get fossilised, 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 Sūra.
This is in the main an early Madinah Sūra.
*May Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) keep guiding us to the right path.*
الم
Alif-Lam-Mim. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur-ān and none but Allāh (Alone) knows their meanings].
*Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 2:*
ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
This is the Book (the Qur-ān), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allāh much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allāh much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].
*COMMENTARY*
Taqwā (fear of Allāh), and the verbs and nouns connected with the root, signify:
1. The fear of Allāh, which, according to the writer of proverbs in the Old Testament, is the beginning of wisdom.
2. Restraint, or guarding one's tongue, hand and heart from evil.
3. Hence righteousness, piety, good conduct. All these ideas are implied: in the translation, only one or other of these ideas can be indicated, according to the context.
*INTRODUCTION TO SŪRAT AL-BAQARAH, 2*
As the Opening Sūra sums up in seven beautiful verses the essence of the Qur'an, so this Sūra sums up in 286 Verses the whole teaching of the Qur-ān. It is a closely reasoned argument.
*SUMMARY*: It begins (Verses 1-29) by classifying men into three broad categories, depending on how they receive Allāh's message.
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).
Israel's 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.
In particular, reference is made to Moses and Jesus and their struggle with an unruly people: how the people of the Book played false with their own lights and in their pride rejected Muhammad, who came in the true line of prophets (Verses 87-121).
They falsely laid claim to the virtues of Father Abraham: he was indeed a righteous Imām, but he was the progenitor of Ismā'īl's line (Arabs) as well as of Israel's line, and he with Ismā'īl built the Kā'ba (the house of Allāh in Makkah) and purified it, thus establishing a common religion, of which Islam is the universal exponent (Verses 122-141).
The Kā'ba was now to be the centre of universal worship and the symbol of Islamic unity (Verses 142-167).
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 (Verse 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, jihād, wine and gambling, treatment of orphans and women, etc. (Verses 168-242).
Lest the subject of jihād should be misunderstood, it is taken up again in the story of Saul, Goliath and David, in contrast to the story of Jesus (Verses 243-253).
And so the lesson is enforced that true virtue lies in practical deeds of manliness, kindness, good faith (Verses 254-283), and Allāh's nature (Allāh's attributes) is called to mind in the sublime Ayat-ul-Kursī, the Verse of the Throne (Verse 255).
The Sūra ends with an exhortation to Faith, Obedience, a sense of Personal Responsibility, and Prayer (Verses 284-286).
This is the longest Sūra of the Glorious Qur-ān, and in it occurs the longest verse (Verse 282). The name of the Sūra is from the Parable of the Heifer (in Verses 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 that they get fossilised, 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 Sūra.
This is in the main an early Madinah Sūra.
*May Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) keep guiding us to the right path.*
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