KHUTAB II - 6. Commentary of Sūrat al-Baqarah :1-3

6. Commentary of Sūrat al-Baqarah  :1-3

 (4 July 2003)  

Brothers and sisters in Islam,

I would like to introduce to you briefly one example of the way early commentators of the Qur’ān commented the verses of the Qur’ān. When we open the Qur’ān, after the introductory chapter called Sūrah  al-Fātih.ah., meaning “the Opening Chapter”. This is its most common name. The early commentator al-Qurtubī (d. 671/1272), for example, used this name in his tafsīr (commentary of the Qur’ān).  It is also called surat al-H.amd meaning “the Chapter of Praise”, as it starts with praising Allah. The earlier commentator Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276/889) used this name in his book. 

          If we go the second chapter, sūrat al-Baqarah we find that it starts with the mysterious letters A.L.M. (الم)  the meaning of which, like letters in the beginning of many other chapters of the Qur’ān are unknown. This is the view of Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Ibn Mas‘ūd, and others. However, there are many different views concerning these letters: (1) They are the names of the sūrah, in this case, Sūrah  الم ْالبَقَرَة (A.L.M. al-Baqarah). This is the view of Zayd ibn Aslam (d. 136/754) (2) They are Allah’s oaths. The letters الم  represent the whole letters of the alphabet, and therefore  الم  here means “by the letters of the alphabet…” (3)  They are a symbol of challenge; with them Allah challenged the Arab idolaters to a chapter similar to that of the Qur’ān. This is the view of the contemporary scholar Dr. Mustafa Zayd. This three letters constitute one verse in this chapter of the Qur’ān. Then the verse continues with verse no. 2:

  ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ  (البقرة  : ٢)

“This is the Book whereof there is no doubt,

a guidance to the muttaqīn (those

who fear Allah)” (Q. 2:2)

The term ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ literally means “that book”, where “that” means “something absent or hidden”, but here is translated as  هَذا الْكِتَابُ “this book”, because the term ذَلِكَ  (“that”) also means  هَذا (“this”)  in Arabic language. Many expressions in the Qur’ān where the term “that” means “this”, such as (الممتحنة : ١٠) ... ذَلِكُمْ حُكْمُ اللَّهِ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ... “…that is the judgment of Allah, He judges between you…” (Q. 60:10), meaning “this is the judgment of Allah...” However, scholars who insist in the literal meaning “that book” have different interpretations, such as, “that book in the Preserved Tablet” (اللَّوْحُ اْلمَحْفُوْظ), “that book with which the Muslims implored Allah for victory”, and so on.

The term  لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى can be read in three ways, by stopping either before or after فيه  or without stopping. The first reading means “(This book) is no doubt, in it there is guidance”, whereas the second reading means “(This book) there is no doubt in it (as) guidance”. If we read without stopping, then the meaning includes both first and second readings.

There is another interpretation of the term لَا رَيْبَ . The term لَا  instead of being لا النَّافِيَة  (“no” indicating negation) as translated above, it is also لا النَّاهِية  (“no” indicating prohibition, namely, “don’t!”), so that the verse means “do not doubt that this book is guidance”.

The term لِلْمُتَّقِينَ is originally لِلْمُوْتَقِيِيْن (lilmūtaqiyīn) then it becomes لِلْمُوْتَقِيْن   (lilmūtaqīn), then لِلْمُتْتَقِيْن (lilmuttaqīn) with double ت, and finally لِلْمُتَّقِينَ (lilmuttaqīn) with one stressed ت. The termالتَّقْوَى   according the early philologist Ibn Fāris originally means قِلَّةُ اْلكَلام  “speaking very little” as protection. It is a kind of protection against accident or mishap (اِتِّقَاءُ اْلمَكْرُوْه), such as in the poem of the classical poet al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī when he saw a woman’s veil fell down when there were men, as follows:

سَقَطَ النَّصيفُ ولم تُردْ إِسْقاطَهُ  *  فتَنَاوَلَتْهُ واتَّقَتْنَا بالَيدِ

 Her veil fell down unintentionally, then she picked it

 up (with one hand) and protected herself from us (by

 covering her face) with (another) hand.

 ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb asked Ubayy ibn Ka^‘b about the meaning of al-taqwā. Ubayy asked him: ”Have you ever taken a path where there were many thorns on it?” “Yes,” said ‘Umar.  “Then what did you do?,” asked Ubayy. “I prepared myself and took care [not to step on them]”, said ‘Umar. “That is taqwā,” said Ubayy. For this meaning of “self protection” the poet Ibn al-Mu^ctazz said his poems as follows:

خَلِّ الذُّنُوْبَ صَغِيْرَهَا    *   وَ كَبِـيْرَهـَا ذَاكَ التُّـقَى

وَ اصْنَعْ كَمَاشٍ فَوْقَ أَرْ    *    ضِ الشَّوْكِ يَحْذَرُ مَا يَرَى

لاَ تَحْـقِرَنَّ صَغِـيْرَةً       * إنَّ الْجِبَالَ مِنَ اْلـحَصَى

Abstain from sins, either small or big, and that is taqwā (self- protection). And do like a person walking on a thorny piece

 of land taking care of what he is seeing.  Do not look down

 a minor sin, verily, the mountains are made of pebbles.

The term تَقْوَى   is originally from وَقْوَى   in the pattern of فَعْـلَى and the letter و is replaced with letter ت and becomes تَقْوَى meaning “prevention”, and a person who is تَقِيّ is a person who is “afraid” of doing something, as an act of self protection.

The verse الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ is translated as “those who believe in the unseen”. It includes believing in Allah, His angels, etc. However, the term بِالْغَيْبِ has also another interpretation. It is “being absent from people, being alone”.  Therefore, the verse (الأنبياء : ٤٩) الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَيْبِ ْmeans “Those who fear their Lord without seeing Him” (Q. 21:49) as well as “Those who fear their Lord without being seen by people”, namely, being alone. Therefore, the verse الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ above also means “those who believe while being unseen by people”, and this is translated into actions, so that a believer will not commit sin when he is alone, not seen by people. This interpretation is in line with the character of the hypocrites mentioned later, namely,

وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا قَالُوا آَمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْا إِلَى شَيَاطِينِهِمْ

قَالُوا إِنَّا مَعَكُمْ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُسْتَهْزِئُونَ. (البقرة : ١٤)

“And when they [i.e., the hypocrites] meet those

 who believe, they say, ‘we believe’, but when they are

 alone with their evil ones, they say, ‘we are really

 with you, we were only jesting”  (Q. 2 :14)

Although surah al-Baqarah was Madinian (revealed in Madinah after Hijrah), it is put right after the introductory surah.  There are wisdoms behind it.  From the very beginning the reader will know whether this Qur’ān is a guidance or not for him. It divides human beings into three categories:

1.    believers where their characteristics are mentioned will be guided by this Book, it is guidance for him/her;

2.    non believers, who reject faith, will not get benefit from this Book, and their characteristics are mentioned briefly in two verses;

3.    hypocrites, those who pretend to believe, and their characteristics are elaborately mentioned in twelve verses. They are the worst enemies, enemies in disguise, and their place in the Hereafter is the bottom of the Hell, as mentioned in the Qur’ān (al-Nisā’ 4:145).

Conclusion:  Early commentators give their interpretation of the verses of the Qur’ān through philological analyses, the expression of the Prophet, of the ancient Arabs and classical poetry, as well as scrutinizing other verses which could explain the verse in question, as the verses of the Qur’ān explain each other.