'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah

This surah is Medinan. It was revealed in various periods. In it is the last verse that was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: ﴿And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah, then every soul will be fully compensated for what it earned, and they will not be wronged﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 281]. It is said that Surah Al-Baqarah is the 'tent of the Qur'an' due to its greatness and beauty, and what it contains of rulings and admonitions. Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, learned it with its jurisprudence and all the sciences it contains in eight years. In it are five hundred rulings and fifteen examples. Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Which of the Qur'an is best?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Surah Al-Baqarah.' Then he said: 'And which is best?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Ayat Al-Kursi.' It is said that the verses of mercy, hope, and punishment in it contain three hundred and sixty meanings. It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'I was given Surah Al-Baqarah from the first remembrance, and I was given Taha and the Ta-Wa-Sin from the tablets of Musa, and I was given the Opening of the Book and the concluding verses of Surah Al-Baqarah from beneath the Throne.'

In the authentic hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, he said: 'Surah Al-Baqarah and Al-Imran will come on the Day of Resurrection as if they were two clouds between which there is light, or two dark clouds, or as if they were a shade of birds flying, arguing on behalf of their companion.' In Al-Bukhari, he, peace be upon him, said: 'Whoever recites the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah in a night, they will suffice him.'

Abu Huraira narrated from him, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'The house in which Surah Al-Baqarah is recited, the devil does not enter it.' It was narrated from him, peace be upon him, that he said: 'Everything has a peak, and the peak of the Qur'an is Surah Al-Baqarah. In it is a verse that is the master of the verses of the Qur'an; it is Ayat Al-Kursi.'

The number of verses in Surah Al-Baqarah is two hundred and eighty-five verses. It is said that it is six and eighty verses, and it is said that it is seven and eighty.

The saying of Allah, the Exalted:

﴿Alif Lam Meem﴾

There is a difference regarding the letters at the beginning of the surahs, with two opinions. Al-Sha'bi, Amir ibn Sharahil, Sufyan Al-Thawri, and a group of the narrators said: 'They are the secret of Allah in the Qur'an, and they are among the ambiguous that only Allah knows. It is not obligatory to speak about them, but one should believe in them and let them pass as they came.'

The majority of scholars said: 'Rather, it is obligatory to speak about them, and the benefits that lie beneath them should be sought, and the meanings that can be derived from them.' They differed in this matter into twelve opinions.

Ali ibn Abi Talib and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: 'The disjointed letters in the Qur'an are the greatest names of Allah, but we do not know their composition from them.'

Ibn Abbas also said: 'They are the names of Allah by which He swore.'

Zayd ibn Aslam said: 'They are names for the surahs.'

Qatadah said: 'They are names for the Qur'an, like Al-Furqan and Al-Dhikr.'

Mujahid said: 'They are the openings of the surahs.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

As they say in the beginning of the recitation of famous poems: "Rather, nor rather," Abu Ubaidah and Al-Akhfash inclined towards this direction.

And a group said: It is the account of "Abu Jad," to indicate the duration of the religion of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, as mentioned in the hadith of Huyayy ibn Akhtab. This is the saying of Abu Al-Aliyah Rafi' and others.

And Qutrub and others said: It is a reference to the letters of the alphabet, as if he is saying to the Arabs: I have challenged you with a composition from these letters that you know. Thus, his saying: "Alif Lam Mim" is like saying: (A-B-T-Th) to indicate the twenty-nine letters.

And a group said: It is a sign that Allah had made for the people of the Book that He would send down to Muhammad a book in which the first surahs contain disjointed letters.

And Ibn Abbas said: They are letters that indicate "I am Allah, I know," "I am Allah, I see," "I am Allah, I explain."

And Ibn Jubair said, from Ibn Abbas: They are letters, each one of them: either it is from a name of Allah, or from a blessing of His blessings, or from the name of an angel from His angels, or a prophet from His prophets.

And a group said: It is a reminder like "Ya" in the call.

And a group said: It has been narrated that when the polytheists turned away from hearing the Qur'an in Mecca, it was revealed to astonish them so that they would open their ears to hear the Qur'an afterward, and thus the proof would be upon them.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the correct view is what the majority said - that these letters should be interpreted, and their meaning should be sought, for we find that the Arabs spoke with disjointed letters as a composition and a structure, instead of the words from which the letters are made, like the saying of the poet:

We said to her: "Stop," and she said: "Qaf..."

He meant she said: "And she stopped." And like the saying of the speaker:

"With goodness are good things, and if evil, then I do not want evil except that..."

He meant: "And if evil, then evil," and he meant: "Except that you will."

And the evidence for this is abundant, so the presence of these letters in the Qur'an is not something that the Arabs deny in their language. Therefore, if it is from the established speech of the Arabs, it should be sought for its interpretation and its meaning should be pursued.

And the stopping on these letters should be with silence due to their deficiency, except if you inform about them, or you connect them, then you would express them. And the position of "Alif Lam Mim" in grammar: it is in the nominative as it is the news of an implied subject, or it is a subject, or accusative by implying a verb, or genitive by an oath. And this grammar tends towards the nominative in some of the previous statements regarding the letters, and accusative in some, and genitive in the saying of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father: that they are names of Allah by which He swore.