Day 2 · Surah Al-Baqarah Verses 1-16

Al-Baqarah 1–16

After affirming the Qur'an as an indisputable truth, today's reading divides mankind into three groups: the God-conscious who take it as guidance, the stubborn disbelievers, and the hypocrites.

• The first verse consists of a combination of letters whose meaning was not explained by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ nor by the Companions, so the majority of scholars chose not to interpret it and left its meaning to Allah.
• The Qur'an is described as a truth that cannot be disputed in terms of language, content, scientific data, and historical information, yet only the God-conscious take it as guidance for life.
• The characteristics of the God-conscious are believing in the unseen, establishing prayer, spending part of their sustenance, believing in the Qur'an and the earlier scriptures, and believing in the Hereafter.
• The disbelievers are described as stubbornly rejecting the truth until Allah seals their hearts, hearing, and sight.
• The hypocrites claim to believe with their mouths but doubt in their hearts, wishing to deceive Allah and the believers while in fact deceiving only themselves, driven by diseases of the heart such as showing off, arrogance, and envy.

Verse 1 (الم) consists of 3 Arabic letters, namely alif, lam and mim. In the Qur'an there are 29 surahs that begin with a combination of several letters, as at the start of this surah Al-Baqarah. No one knows their meaning except Allah alone. The Prophet ﷺ never explained their meaning. Likewise the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, to whom the Qur'an was first revealed, never explained what they meant. For that reason, the majority of scholars did not dare to interpret them. They only said: Allah alone knows their meaning.

This is the best attitude in interpreting the Qur'an with regard to every surah that begins with a combination of Arabic letters.

Verse 2 explains that the Qur'an is a truth that mankind can never dispute throughout time, whether in terms of language, content, or the various scientific data and historical information it contains. However, only those who are God-conscious can take the Qur'an as guidance for life.

Among their characteristics, explained in verses 3-4, are:

1. Believing in unseen matters, such as Paradise, Hell, and so on.
2. Establishing prayer.
3. Spending part of the sustenance Allah has given them.
4. Believing in the Qur'an and the earlier scriptures (the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospel)
5. Believing in the Day and the life of the Hereafter

Verse 5 explains that whoever follows the guidance of the Qur'an is guaranteed success in this world and the Hereafter.

Verses 6 and 7 explain the stubborn attitude of the disbelievers who refuse to accept the truth of the Qur'an and Islam, so that Allah seals their hearts, hearing, and sight.

Verses 8-16 explain the nature and characteristics of the hypocrites, who are unable to accept Islam wholly and honestly, but instead accept it with doubt, so that their hearts, words, and behaviour are out of sync. With their mouths they say they believe, yet in their hearts they doubt, and likewise in their daily behaviour they refuse to follow the teachings of Islam for various reasons.

In truth, they do not believe. Through this hypocrisy they wish to deceive Allah and the believers. In reality, it is only themselves whom they deceive, though they do not realise it. This hypocrisy is caused by various diseases of the heart, such as showing off (doing good deeds and acts of worship in order to gain people's praise), doubt, arrogance, envy, cunning, love of this world, and so on. These traits can multiply within a person, changing their character into a severe form of hypocrisy.

Their characteristics are: spreading corruption on the earth, considering the believers foolish, being two-faced towards the believers, belittling the believers, and selling the interests of the Hereafter for the sake of worldly interests.

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