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Preface

There is no book like the Qur’an. It quickens hearts and transforms lives, it leads whole people from glory to glory. It is the final answer to man’s eternal, existential quest. For Muslims, it is the ultimate arbiter of their destiny: be it their rise to the heights of glory and civilization or their fall into the bottomless pits of decay and ignominy, it all happens because of how they live with respect to the Qur’an.

The Qur’an has untold, priceless treasures to offer: the endless joys of blissful conversations with our Creator; the immense riches of knowledge and wisdom that guide on the path of our Lord; the radiant light that illuminates the deepest reaches of souls as well as the most public domains of lives; the healing that cures all our sicknesses, inner or social; the mercy and forgiveness that support, succour and comfort so that we carry the burdens of life joyfully and reach salvation and success both here and in the Hereafter.

These treasures are there for all the wayfarers and seekers. They are available to them today, I have no doubt, just as they were available to its hearers yesterday, fourteen centuries ago. But the Qur’an has the same claim upon its followers now as it had then: to hear it and make it heard, to understand it and make it understood, to live by it and invite all others to live by it, to strive to bring human life under the Qur’an. Only then will the Qur’an open its gates for us, only then will it become our destiny.

It is the infinite mercy of Allah upon me, for which I can never be thankful enough to Him, that I have always been granted some share of these treasures – enormous compared to the little I did to deserve them, but very little compared to the vast oceans that the Qur’an has to offer. Out of an urgent sense of duty as laid down upon every Muslim by Allah and His Prophet (bpuh), I have always tried to share with others whatever Qur’an I knew, even if it be one verse. But knowing full well the gross inadequacies of my knowledge and Taqwa, and having no pretensions to being a learned scholar or mufassir of the Qur’an, I have always been very reluctant to publish what I have been speaking of. But many friends who heard me have always urged me to make it reach the larger reading public. Hence, this first small booklet, Key to al-Baqarah, which, I hope Insha Allah, will not be the last in a larger intended Treasures of the Qur’an Series.

My aim, as I also said in my preface to the Way to the Qur’ān, in writing this booklet is very modest. This is not a work of erudite scholarship. I am writing for the ordinary, unlearned seekers after the Qur’an, especially the young men and women, who ardently desire to live by it. I am writing about things which I am learning myself, as one wayfarer to another. Hence the reader will not find here fine points of grammar, lexicon or philosophy, nor rational and philosophical discourses, nor details of Fiqh. My sole aim is to make the message of the Qur’an, and its summons to live by it, reach the hearts and minds of readers. Despite my shortcomings, I have every hope that this will rejuvenate them, because I trust the Qur’anic promise: ‘We have made the Qur’an easy for reminder.’

We are living in a time when the need to centre our lives on the Qur’an is most urgent and compelling. Without this we Muslims will never discover our selves, never give meaning to our existence, never find dignity in this world. More importantly, we will never please our Creator and Lord. Without the Qur’an, mankind, too, will continue to slide from abyss to abyss.

What meaning and purpose the Qur’an gives to the Muslim Ummah, how it shapes the Ummah to live up to that meaning and purpose, and what resources of heart and mind, morals and manners, piety and worship, of communal life and institutions are required to fulfil this task – all this is beautifully encapsulated in the 286 verses of Sūrah al-Baqarah. The exposition of the whole sūrah, though important, would have been an onerous task. Hence I have given a concise overview of the entire sūrah, as well as its major themes. I think this will in itself be highly useful. In addition it may kindle an eagerness in the hearts of the readers to reflect upon the sūrah in more detail, as well as equip them with keys to undertake that task. In short, it is intended to be a key to understanding al-Baqarah, and ultimately all of the Qur’an.

I would especially like to thank Abdur Rahim Kidwai and Sohail Nakhooda, who read the entire manuscript and offered valuable comments and advice. I also thank Sohaib Hasan, Salim Kayani, Abdur Rashid Siddiqi, Abdul Aziz, Batool Al-Toma, Farooq Murad, Ataullah Siddiqui, and Zahid Parvez, whose assessment of its quality and usefulness greatly encouraged me to finalize the work. Whatever errors there are, I alone am responsible for them.

Finally, I pray to Allah, subḥānahū wa ta`ālā, to accept this humble endeavour, forgive my shortcomings and mistakes, grant me to live by what I say, and not to count me among those who ‘say things, they do not do’.

Leicester 27 Rabiul Awwal 1417 12 August 1996

Khurram Murad