Surah Al-Baqraa (Madina)
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
Al-Madinah have also been included in it.
Historical Background
In order to understand the meaning of this Surah, we should know its historical
background:
1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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 the
same that was revealed to Prophet Moses (Allah's peace be upon him).