All about Surah Al-Baqarah

 

To understand what Surah Baqarah is about, it might be helpful to briefly understand what the Quran is all about . The Quran in essence is a narration of God's final engagement with mankind through his Final Messenger and prophet Muhammad (pbuh) . The Message of the Quran is quite simple and straight forward : There is one and only one God and that one day we have to stand trail for our deeds in front of Him. The rest of the Quran just expands on this basic message with proofs and arguments to support it. Moreover, the Quran talks to its direct addressees such as the Jews, the Christians, the Arabs (specifically the Quraysh) of the Prophets time and also those brought faith and to the Messenger himself.

Now the Quran is not collection of chapters and verses . It is divinely ordered in the form we know it today. The Qur’an is divided into seven distinct groups and the surahs within each group occur in pairs. Thus Surah Baqarah and Aal Imran are pairs . This pairing of the surahs is on the basis of the topics discussed, and each member of a pair has a complementary relation with one another. Some surahs are an exception to this scheme like Surah Fatihah, which is like an introduction to the whole Qur’an. Some other surahs have come as a supplement or as a conclusion of a group.

Each group of the Qur’an begins with one or more Makkan surah and ends with one or more Madinan surah.

Following is a brief description of the seven Qur’anic groups: I {Surah Fatihah (1) - Surah Mai’dah (5)}

Makkan: 1

Madinan: 2-5

Group II {Surah An‘am (6) - Surah Tawbah (9)}

Makkan: 6, 7

Madinan: 8, 9

Group III {Surah Yunus (10) - Surah Nur (24)}

Makkan: 10-23

Madinan: 24

Group IV {Surah Furqan (25) - Surah Ahzab (33)}

Makkan: 25-32

Madinan: 33

Group V {Surah Saba (34) - Surah Hujurat (49)}

Makkan: 34-46

Madinan: 47-49

Group VI {Surah Qaf (50) - Surah Tahrim (66)}

Makkan: 50-56

Madinan: 57-66

Group VII {Surah Mulk (67) - Surah Nas (114)}

Makkan: 67-112

Madinan : 113-114

Surah Baqarah belongs to the first group. The theme of the first group is (1) to communicate the truth (the message of the Quran) to the Jews and Christians to the extent that they are left with no excuse to deny it, (2) to institute a new ummah from among the Ishmaelites, (3) spiritual purification of this new ummah, (4) to instate a new law for this ummah and (5) a description of its final covenant with the Almighty.

Thus in Surah Baqarah the main addressees are the Jews of Madina and with extension to all Jews . The first few verses of the Surah are sort of an introduction to the attitude of these Jews of Madina towards the Quran and Allah’s Messenger . (from Verses 1 to 29). Then the Quran starts to talk directly to the Jews of Madina and with extension to all Jews . The Quran reminds them of all their deeds and misdeeds . The Quran also reminds them of their covenant with God. This talk goes on up till verse 143. Then Allah sets up a new group from among the Ishmaelites (Arabs) as his chosen people and the Israelites are removed from their position of favor with God, which is symbolized by the changing of the direction of prayer. This new group is then given a new Law to abide by (and by extension all Muslims). In the last few verses of the Surah, Allah reaffirms the covenant with the Ishmaelites and reminds them that their responsibility as His chosen people is not a burden that they cannot carry. Allah then gives the Ishmaelites a prayer to end the Surah.

Thus this Surah is actually about how the Israelites were taken out of Allah’s favor as His chosen people. Allah enlists all the favors He bestowed upon them and how they still transgressed bounds and did not carry out His commands. Thus Allah takes away from them His favor. So He establishes a new nation from the other son of Abraham (the Ishmaelites) to carry out His commands and spread His message all over the world .

Hope this helps.