The Cow: سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
1-0 In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Commentary
- What follows next is the rendering (into the English language) by Dr. Hamid Rahman of the Commentary and Footnotes by Maulana Muhammad Ali which appear (in the Urdu language) and correspondingly accompany the Holy Quran.
- Note, too, that this is a DRAFT version.
Name: The name of this sura البَقَرَة (The Cow) is from narration in the 18th Section in which a command is given to the Children of Israel (بنی اسرئیل) to slaughter a cow. A significant portion of this Chapter is devoted to the history of the Jews. During their stay in Egypt, they were introduced to the evil practice of cow worship. Allah wanted them to be a monotheistic nation and hence the narration of slaughtering the cow is one of the significant topics of this Chapter.
Summary of the Chapter: This chapter instructs the Muslims on becoming a successful and vibrant nation. Accordingly, section 1lays down the foundational principlesof Islam and states that those who abide by them will be successful and those who do not will suffer. Section 2 mentions a group – the hypocrites – who pay lip service to the principles but reject them in their hearts. Section 3 mentions the omnipotence of Allah and from it draws proof of His Oneness and the necessity of His worship. Section 4 mentions the perfection of humankind and provides a roadmap to reach perfection, which is not possible without prophethood. Section 5 warns of the danger of falling from this perfection and gives the example of the Jewish nation to whom much favors were shown, but because of their persistent disobedience they were rejected. They are advised that even now if they accept this Prophet who had come in accordance with the prophecies in their own scriptures, Allah will grant them dignity and greatness. Sections 6 to 9 delve further into the favors that were bestowed on the Israelites and their insubordinations and by implication warns the Muslims. Section 10 references the covenant with the Children of Israel and their transgressions against it and advises the Muslims not to make the same mistake. Section 11 answers the Israelite objections against Islam and explains why the Prophet was not from among them. Section 11 records their increase in enmity and their Freemason style plans against the Holy Prophet. Section 13 states that if the previous shariah (law) was abrogated, then one better than it was given in its stead. Salvation takes place only by complete obedience to Allah and service to His creatures, not by espousing a particular religion or following it in name only. Section 14 asserts that partial truths exist in all religions, but that Islam is the complete collection of truths. Section 15 asserts that even prior to Moses, the promise given to Abraham was that his progeny would be blessed, and Abraham left part of his offspring in Makkah after besieging Allah. As a result of these prayers, Divine favor will gush forth from this spring (Makkah) and irrigate the whole world. The Sacred Mosque (کعبه ) was declared as the قبله (the direction for prayers). Section 16 reiterates that this Prophet’s teachings avoids the excesses of the Christians and the deficiencies of the Jews. Sections 17 and 18 then express that as a result of the acceptance of the prayers of Abraham it was necessary that the کعبه be declared as the قبله because it was the قبله of this Prophet, on him be peace and blessings. It was also made clear to the Muslims that this قبله is the center of their unity. Section 19 states that the Muslims would be required to make sacrifices of wealth and their lives for success. After settling these basic principles and reiterating the topic of the Unity of God in Section 20, Sections 21 to 31 get into the details of the shariah to show that this shariah teaches similar or better things than what were given in the Jewish laws. Accordingly, the topics that come under discussion include dietary restrictions, laws of retaliation, wills, fasting, wars, pilgrimage, drinking, gambling, adulterous relations, divorce, and widows. In sections 32 and 33, there is a reversion to the main topic that the Muslims must strive and exert themselves, in the same way as the Israelites who were a dead nation but through striving and effort God gave them a new life. Section 34 mentions the حیّ (the Living) and قیوم (the Self-Subsisting) attributes of Allah to signal that He will now grant life to His devotees and will make them a great nation, but forced conversions are strictly prohibited because there is no اکراہ فی الدین (compulsion in religion). Because Allah grants life to dead nations, Section 35 refers to two instances from the history of Abraham and Bani Israel. Section 36 and 37 explain clearly that a foundational requirement for success is spending in the way of Allah. If one grain is planted at this time, it will produce manifold grains in the future. Section 38 states that when the Muslim nation becomes wealthy as a result of the sacrifices they make, they must abstain from usurious dealings, because a nation that is addicted to usury is ultimately doomed for destruction and remains bereft of good morals. Care should be exercised in protecting one’s rights and Section 39, after mentioning this, advises that contracts should be documented in writing. In the end, Section 40 stresses belief in all prophets and states that success cannot be achieved without complete obedience and prayers to God. Allah’s assistance and success against the unbelievers will follow if the Muslims beseech Allah and strive hard.
The relation of surah Bakarah with surah Fatihah: The relation of surah Bakarah with surah Fatihah is firstly one of sequence, because the surah Fatihah taught the prayer ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ (Guide us on the right path) and surah Bakarah starts with the answer to that prayer: ذَٲلِكَ ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَۛ فِيهِۛ هُدً۬ى لِّلۡمُتَّقِينَ (This Book there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who keep their duty). This underscores that the Quran shows the right path that is sought in the Fatiha. The surah further shows that the group mentioned in the first Chapter as أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِم (on whom favors were bestowed) is the one that followed the rules in this Book and it exemplifies مَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِم (on whom wrath is brought down) by giving the history of the Jewish nation in detail and ضَّآلِّينَ (those who go astray) by a brief mention of Christians.
The rationale for keeping the surah Bakrah at the very beginning: Because the surah Fatihah is a summary of the Quran, it can rightly be maintained that the Quran begins with surah Bakarah. Accordingly, the surah states the objectives of this Holy Book right at the start, and then expounds on these objectives as a lawmaker would in the preamble to a law. Thus the following assertions are laid out:
- This Book is from Allah, the All Knowing, Who not only knows human nature and the needs of human beings, but also has knowledge about the past and future.
- This is a complete Book and not a compendium of scattered words or pages.
- Its objective is to guide or to bring humanity to the right path.
The surah then explains those rules that a person must follow to be rightly guided. There are five rules in all, three relating to belief and two to practice. The issues of belief are, belief in the unseen (Allah and His angels), belief in revelation from Allah, both that was revealed to the Holy Prophet and that which was revealed to the prophets before him, and belief in the Hereafter i.e. reward and punishment for actions. The rules of practice are, prayer, which encompasses a person’s obligations to God, and giving of one’s wealth and potential to serve humanity, which encompasses one’s obligation to God’s creation. The result of following these rules is success. The explanation of the basic precepts of religion are so comprehensively stated in the very first section of this surah that its natural place is at the beginning of the Book. This then also evidences that the arrangement of the Quran is Divinely inspired.
Period of revelation: This surah was revealed in Madinah after the Migration, and a major portion of it was revealed before the Battle of Badr. Some consider this to be the first surah that was revealed after the Migration. Some verses of this surah belong to the last period of the Holy Prophet’s life. Some people conjecture that specific verses were revealed in Makkah but there is no basis for this idea. There is no doubt that certain surahs were revealed over a long period of time, but given a lack of clear evidence, it is incorrect to consider some verses of the surahs from the Madinah period to have been revealed previously at Makkah. Generally, it is more likely that in the surahs revealed primarily in Makkah there may be some verses that were revealed later in Madinah. But this too is not acceptable if it is merely a guess and there is no cogent and clear evidence for it. Just as it is incorrect to assume that those verses that begin with يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلنَّاسُ (O people) were revealed at Makkah even if the words occur in a Madinah surah, and the verses that begin with يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ (O you who believe) were revealed in Madinah even if the surah belongs to the Makkah period; it is also incorrect to assume that the surahs that contain references to the Jews and Christians or to the Torah and the Gospels are necessarily from the Madinah period even though they occur in the surahs of the Makkah period.
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