Tafsir Club Day 3: Surah Al Baqarah: Verse 285-286

[KhadijahM]

Ramadan 3, 1428

2. Al Baqarah: Verses 285-286
Please read “Tafsir Club Intro: Purpose, Instructions, & Rules” PRIOR to posting a reply. (Direct link: http://www.crescentyouth.com/board/s...d.php?t=16178)

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 AI-Madinah have also been included in it.

Historical Background

Click here: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau2.html#S2

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]y the same that was revealed to Prophet Moses (Allah's peace be upon him).

Topics and their Interconnection

The basic articles of the Faith have been recapitulated here at the end of the Surah, just as they were enunciated at its beginning. Then the Surah ends with a prayer which the Muslim Community needed very much at that time when they were encountering untold hardships in the propagation of the Guidance. 284 - 286
Click here for more: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau2.html#S2

Tafsir ibn Kathir
Go to the following link: http://www.tafsir.com/Default.asp. Choose ‘Al Baqarah’ in the list and click ‘go’. Scroll down to the bottom and skim through the following topic:
‘The Tafsir of the Last Two Ayat of Surat Al-Baqarah’
(use CTRL+F if needed).

Quran Jams
Go to the following link: http://www.quranjam.com/jam/Chapter.aspx?ChapNum=2. Click ‘see jams’ to read reflections on a specific ayah.