Path
Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 1–5There is no doubt that the Quran is a book of guidance.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 6–7If one closes one’s eyes, one will not be able to see.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 8–16For those who put worldly interests and expediency first, total and unconditional devotion to truth appears unwise, for their true allegiance is to their worldly interests; only on a superficial level can they attach themselves to the truth.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 17–20In a dark room black and white look the same, but as soon as the lights are turned on, black appears as black, and white as white.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 21–25God alone has created man and all that is in the heavens and on earth.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 26–29Man’s first duty to God is to be true to the covenant made between the Creator and His creatures at the beginning of the world, namely, that man should remain God’s servant.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 30–33The literal meaning of ‘khalifah’ or ‘caliph’ is ‘one who takes another’s place’— a successor.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 34–39When God made Adam stand up in front of the angels including Iblis (Satan), and tested them by commanding them to bow down before Adam, He was giving the first man on earth a practical demonstration of the two paths that would be open to his progeny.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 40–46The greatest favour that God bestows upon a people is to send His prophet to them, thus opening for them the road to eternal salvation.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 47–57The Israelites were chosen by God.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 58–61God bestowed special blessings upon the Israelites.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verse 62Four communities are mentioned in this verse: Muslims, who are the followers of the Prophet Muhammad; Jews who follow the Prophet Moses; Christians, who follow the Prophet Jesus; and Sabeans, who adhered to the teachings of John the Baptist, the Prophet Yahya.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 63–66A covenant was made with Moses’ people that they would faithfully carry out the divine teachings given to them in the form of the Ten Commandments.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 67–73Another mistake that the Israelites had made was to destroy the simplicity of divine religion by involving themselves in complicated theological wrangling.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verse 74Those who seek to find loopholes in God’s commandments become more and more insensitive.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 75–77One of the reasons for the promptness with which the people of Madinah recognized the Prophet Muhammad, and believed in him, was that they had often heard from their Jewish neighbours of the coming of a final prophet.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 78–82The Arabic word for ‘false notions’ is amani.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verse 83Man’s first duty to God is to become His worshipper without ascribing any partners to Him.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 84–86Before the advent of Islam, three Jewish tribes inhabited the area around Madinah: the Banu Nadir, the Banu Qurayzah, and the Banu Qaynuqa‘.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 87–90The Torah was the Book of God revealed to the Jews.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 91–96The Jews were not ready to accept the Quran, because they thought they were already rightly guided.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 97–101Owing to their own rebelliousness, the Israelites had severe punishments meted out to them in ancient times.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 102–103When superstition and apathy set in in the declining Jewish race, certain individuals exploited this tendency in order to make commercial gains, by providing success-seekers with magical prescriptions.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 104–108Another gambit of those who deny the truth was to sit in the Prophet’s company and, by playing on words, make a mockery of his teachings.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 109–112One who has discovered the truth by the help of God has to face stiff opposition when he starts to communicate it to others.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 113–117To the Israelites the criterion of truth was their association with the prophets and saints.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 118–121Another error into which they fell was to liken God to man.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 122–124The Children of Israel were selected by God to perform a very special task: they were to call other nations to turn to God, impressing on them the fact that they were answerable to their Lord for their actions.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 125–126Every year, the faithful come from all over the world to visit the Ka‘bah in Makkah, where no one is allowed to harm even the lowliest living creature; for Makkah has been made into a sacred place of worship for all time.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 127–129God ordained that a universal centre of Islamic dawah be established in Hijaz.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 130–134The message taught by the Prophet Muhammad was exactly the same as had been taught by Abraham.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 135–141The religion that the Prophet Muhammad taught was the religion of the Prophet Abraham, the very religion to which the Jews and the Christians claimed allegiance.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 142–143The qiblah is the direction which Muslims face when praying.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 144–147Not until the Prophet Muhammad received divine revelation on a particular matter, did he change the pattern of previous prophets.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 148–152When the Ka‘bah in Makkah was appointed as the prayer direction, or qiblah, the People of the Book started discussing whether the East was God’s direction or the West.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 153–157One who has adopted religion in the real sense of the word has truly discovered God.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 158–162Prophet Abraham was a native of Iraq.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 163–164Mankind has only one God: He is the only worthy focus of man’s attention.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 165–167By their nature and circumstances, human beings always look for an external support—a being, who may compensate for their feelings of helplessness, and may serve as a source of confidence and conviction.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 168–171What is polytheism?Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 172–176Human beings should feel thankful and obedient to God while eating food and drinking water.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verse 177There is no doubt that there are certain accepted forms of religious conduct but, in essence, a religious act is aimed at discovering God as the light of the earth and the heavens, One who is closer to man than his jugular vein.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 178–182Islam has laid down the principle of retaliation in like measure (qisas).Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 183–185The main aim of fasting is to reduce man’s dependence on material things and strengthen his spiritual resolve, so that he may enter the higher realms of faith and piety.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 186–188Fasting by its very nature is an act of patience, and patience involves putting up with all kinds of difficulties in order to carry out God’s commandments.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 189–193The waxing and waning of the moon are meant to serve only as measures of time.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 194–195Fighting during the sacred months (Muharram, Rajab, Dhu’l-Qada, Dhu’l-Hijjah) or fighting within the precincts of Makkah is forbidden.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 196–197The Hajj pilgrimage takes place once a year, in the month of Dhu’l-Hijjah, whereas ‘umrah (the minor pilgrimage) may be performed at any time.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 198–203Fear of God is the basic element of worship.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 204–207Those who have adopted opportunism as their religion are always able to impress people with words.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 208–212There are two ways of adopting Islam as one’s religion.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 213–214Religion, as revealed by God, is one religion.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 215–216Man thinks that the best utilization of his life and wealth is for the benefit of his family.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 217–218In Rajab, 2 A.H., a group of the Prophet’s companions clashed with a group of the Quraysh (the pagan Makkans), at Nakhlah, which lies between Makkah and Taif.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 219–220The answers to the above questions reveal certain fundamental principles: firstly, if something does more harm than good, it should be eschewed: secondly, any wealth in excess of one’s actual needs should be spent for the cause of God: thirdly, in one’s dealings with others, one should avoid any action which could lead to evil, and engage only in such activity as will bring some positive benefit to society.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 221–223To illustrate the purpose of the matrimonial bond, the relationship between man and woman may be likened to that of a farmer and his field.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 224–228Swayed by anger and obstinacy, sometimes an individual swears an oath that he will not do anything which would benefit a certain person.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 229–231Divorce is an abnormal event which takes place in an abnormal situation.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 232–233(b) Literally ‘when you have divorced wives and they reach the end of their waiting period’. (a) After divorce, many matters remain to be cleared up.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 234–237While explaining the laws of marriage and divorce the Quran repeatedly enjoins going in fear of God and being kind to others.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 238–242The word hafizu (literally ‘guard’) is used to denote yet another aspect of prayer.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 243–245The Muslims left Makkah for Madinah as a result of severe persecution at the hands of the Makkans.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 246–248About three hundred years after the death of Moses, the Israelites were again subjugated by the polytheistic neighbouring nations.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 249–251About three hundred years after Moses and about one thousand years before Christ the Philistines attacked the Israelites and annexed most of the region of Palestine.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 252–253Literally ‘We favoured some above others’.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 254–257Only one who spends for the cause of God finds God.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verse 258In the modern age, the right to govern a people is secured by popular support.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 259–260The two experiences of resurrection after death mentioned here relate to the prophets.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 261–264Every act committed by man is like a seed planted in the ground.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 265–266If an individual has some goal in mind, his own striving towards the attainment of that goal further strengthens his will-power and increases the mental resolve which enables him to reach his objective.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 267–269There are two ways of spending one’s earnings in this world.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 270–274One who spends his money for the sake of God in the way that He has commanded him to do, proves that he has been blessed with wisdom.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 275–277The word ‘riba’ in the original is translated here as ‘usury’, which means the practice of lending money to people at unfairly high rates of interest.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 278–281The basic principle of the reformation of a society is for its members to treat each other with justice.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 282–283Where there is a cash transaction between two parties, the matter ends there itself.Chapter 2, The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) · verses 284–286Everything in the universe is under God’s command.