SURAH BAQARAH THE COW VERSES 1-20 Al Baqarah literally means the Cow and it takes its name

from an incident that occurred in this Surah. Alif Laam Meem haruuf ul muqatt at there have been different theories advanced as to what these letters actually represent; some say that they stand for different names of Allah swt but really the beauty is that nobody but Allah swt knows their meaning. We don t know because the Prophet pbuh did not tell us. Right at the beginning of the Qur an, Allah swt starts his book with the challenge to all mankind with a reminder that O man, you who who might reach great heights in technology you cannot discover anything unless Allah swt wills. Allah swt tells us also in the Qur an you ve been given but little of knowledge . So when Allah swt says Alif Laam Meem we read it, we believe in it but none but Allah swt knows the true meaning. This book, no doubt about it. There is no doubt in it. There is no other book in the world of which we can make this claim that this book is absolutely authentic like sometimes when people write biographies and they say containing the true facts just revealed but you still don t know how much is truth and how much is lies. Allah swt says the only book no doubt about it. What has this book come for? Guidance. For whom? For the Allah conscious. Why is it guidance for the Allah conscious? Allah swt is reminding us firstly that he is answering our prayer in Fatiha where we ask him Guide us to the straight path . Allah swt answers that dua and says for those that read that Fatiha in ever rakat of their prayer Allah has provided the solution here here s the guidance that you sought but only those who are Allah conscious will be able to truly benefit from it. Who are the Allah conscious? People say Oh Allah knows how much I love him and Allah knows how pure my heart is . Who are the muttaqeen by Allah swt s definition? Those who believe in the unseen. What is Al Ghaib ? From a hadith we learn that it means belief in Allah, belief in the angels, belief in the divine books, belief in Allah s messengers, belief in the day of judgement and belief in destiny. Now iman pertains to our thoughts, our beliefs in our heart and mind. Thats not enough; people who just sit back and think Oh we are all Muslims so Allah will enter us into jannah . We need to prove that iman. How? They establish salat. Salat the worship of our limbs and from that which we have provided them they spend. This ayat is a summary of a Muslim s life. Allah talks about the mu min s belief, Allah talks about the mu mins actions when he fulfils the rights of Allah the greatest right being salat and then Allah mentions that this mu min is not just sitting on the prayer mat all day and reading tasbih he s involved in mankind aswell. HE cares about humanity. They spend from that which we have given them. They don t give it all away but they share the blessings which Allah swt has given them. What is rizq just the wealth that we have? No. Its all the blessings that Allah swt has given us tangible such as our wealth and our children our houses, our clothes, our property and intangible, our knowledge, our time, our talent, our energies, they share those with mankind, they are caring people. As the prophet pbuh said deen is well wishing . Its not just selfishly being involved about yourself, caring about yourself. Allah swt goes on to say those who believe in that which has been

sent down to you and in that which was sent down before you they believe in the qur an and they believe that the torah and the injeel were revealed by Allah above all they believe with certainty in the day of judgment. Only someone who has certain belief in the day of judgement will be able to do these actions. Someone who is really worried about the day of judgement who knows there will come that day when he will stand before Allah and answer for every minute of his life only such a one can do all these actions not someone with a laid back attitude. We need to know that these qualities are fara id they are compulsory. Such people are on guidance from their Lord and such people they are the winners, they are the ones who are successful. We can analyse ourselves and think do we come in this category? Are we fulfilling all these actions? Because now Allah goes on to the second category of mankind. Indeed those who disbelieve, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them they will not believe, Allah swt has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be a great torment. Who are the kafireen. The kafireen come under two categories. Kufr literally means to cover up. There are those people who clearly disbelieve. They say I do not believe in Allah or I do not believe in the Qur an or I do not believe in the Prophet pbuh and then there are people who say we believe who don t say that they don t believe but their actions prove that they disbelieve. If you think about it, as we will read later in this surah, when Shaytaan was told to bow down to Prophet Adam he didn t say I don t believe in Allah he said i m not going to obey Allah swt so when people wilfully disobey Allah swt that too is a category of kufr. Allah swt says such people will not listen they are stubbornly determined to go on doing what they feel like doing and Allah swt us theirs will be a grave torment. That was the second category of mankind Now we come to the third. And of mankind there are some who say we believe in Allah swt and the last day while infact they believe not. They think to deceive Allah and those who believe, while they only deceive themselves and they do not realise it. In their hearts is a disease and Allah swt has increased their disease ; a painful torment is their s because they used to tell lies. And when it is said to them do not make mischief on the earth, they say we are only peacemakers. Know that these people are the true mischiefmakers but they do not realise. Who are these people? They are the hypocrites. There are two kinds of hypocrites. The first kind of hypocrites are those that pretend to believe in Allah who pretend to believe in Islam but their hearts do not contain one iota of imaan, its a total lie from start to finish. Allah swt says when it is said to them believe as the people have believed, they say shall we believe as the fools have believed in other words, these hypocrites think that all those who follow Islam are total fools, they are totally naive, simpletons. Even today we have people call others fanatics because they despise them. Hypocrites pride themselves on being street smart as the words are. They say shall we believe as the fools have believed? Allah says indeed they are the fools but they do not know. And when they meet those that believe they say we believe but when they are alone with their devils they say truly we are with you. Indeed we were but mocking. Allah mocks at them and gives them respite in their wrongdoing to wander blindly. These are they who have purchased error for guidance so their bargain was profitless and they were not guided. Their likeness is the likeness of one who kindled the fire, then when it lighted all around him Allah took away their light and left them in darkness so they could not see.

They are deaf, dumb and blind so they return not. This example is an important example to understand people who think are deceiving Allah completely, whose hearts do not contain an atom of faith, Allah says their hearts are sealed from understanding the truth. They listen to the Qur an but they can t absorb it, it doesn t make sense to them, it doesn t affect them, it doesn t move them, they will not return. They are so far gone in that darkness of theirs, Allah will leave them straying in that path. Now we come to the second category of hypocrites and this is really important for all of us. Or like a rainstorm from the sky wherein is darkness, thunder and lightening. They clasp their fingers in their ears to keep out the stunning thunderclap for fear of death but Allah ever encompasses the disbelievers. Who are the second kind of hypocrites those people who believe in Allah but their faith is weak. So they believe in Allah and they obey Allah some of the time and they disobey Allah some of the time. When it s convenient for them to obey Allah or when they are feeling spiritual they obey Allah but when they are feeling lazy or lethargic or people around them are just not conducive to that atmosphere they will forget about obeying Allah. Allah says its like a rainstorm. What is this rain; the rain of Islam. Wherein is thunder, darkness and lightening. What is this thunder, darkness and lightening these are the trials the opposition we face when we set out in the path of obeying Allah. Now think about it when we set out to obey when one command of Allah s for those of you who might have taken up hijab, think of the initial response you were met with maybe from your family members, maybe from your friends, maybe from people you knew or cared about what is it that you have done, have you gone mad? . All this Allah likens to thunder, darkness and lightening, all the trials, all the problems, Allah says those hypocrites, people who are scared of people will halt therein. They will think Well maybe we should do this later on, maybe we should compromise because people won t let us live otherwise . Allah says the lightening almost snatches away their sight. Allah s describing their fear of people, their fear of society. Whenever it flashes for them they walk therein and when it is dark upon them, they halt. Everyone s getting up to pray so I can get up to pray but no-one is getting up to pray, i m certainly not going to get up and make a laughing stock of myself. Everyone is covering their head, so I will cover my head, no-one else has covered their head so why should I stand out by covering my head. The hypocrite is one who wants the best of both worlds. He wants to please people most of the time and he wants to please Allah some of the time. Allah swt says such hypocrisy is not acceptable to me. If Allah willed he could have taken away their hearing and their sight. Allah is able to do all things. Allah doesn t need or want such half hearted worship.

Now we have read about three categories of mankind we need to pause and analyse. Allah is talking about regular people like you and me. Which category do we come under. Do we come under the muttaqeen or is it the kafireen or maybe its the munafiqeen. We want to obey Allah but most of the time we are too scared or too lazy to obey him so we will obey him when its convenient for us and when its not convenient we will forget about it. Now Allah comes to the central theme of the Qur an...