The Cow

With 286 verses, this is the longest surah in the Quran.

This surah has the greatest verse (255), the longest verse (282), and probably the last verse revealed of the Quran (281).

The Prophet ﷺ called this surah and the next the 'two bright lights.' He said that this surah should be recited in our homes to keep Shaytan away. {Imam Muslim}

This surah focuses on the qualities of the believers, disbelievers, and hypocrites.

The surah also discusses the beliefs and practices of the People of the Book—the Jews and Christians.

The Quran has been revealed by Allah as a guide to all of humanity.

Those who question the Quran are challenged to produce something like it.

Allah is the Master Creator and He can easily bring everyone back to life for judgment.

Allah has blessed us with so many things and He deserves our worship and gratitude.

Shaytan is humanity's biggest enemy.

Allah tests people with certain duties to show if they are obedient or not.

Prophet Ibrahim is mentioned as a role model because of his obedience, gratitude, and true faith in Allah.

The surah covers many topics including acts of worship (salah, hajj, and fasting), war and peace, marriage and divorce, charity and loans, etc.

Sincerity is very important for our actions to be accepted and fully rewarded.

Allah has forbidden bad things and allowed good things for our benefit.

If Allah is on our side, it does not matter who is against us.

It is important to make du'a in both good and bad times.

We should learn from others' mistakes to avoid making those mistakes ourselves.

Allah does not ask anyone to do anything beyond their ability.

This is a fictional story of a king who had 3 servants. One day, he asked each of them to go to the store and fill up a cart with food. So, they went to a big shopping centre and each of them took a cart and some bags.

The first one filled up his cart with fruits, vegetables, bread, juice, chocolate, nuts, and water.

The second one ignored the king's orders and said, "I'll just buy all the stuff I want." So, he filled up his cart with clothes, shoes, belts, and toilet paper.

The third one pretended to fill his bags with food, but he left with empty bags.

When they returned to the king, he ordered his guards, "Lock each of them away in a separate room for 2 weeks, and let them eat what they got from the store!"

The first one had no problem because he listened to the king. So, for 2 weeks, he was relaxing on a couch, enjoying all the amazing food he brought from the store.

This is an example of the 3 types of people living in this world, who are ordered to obey Allah and do good deeds that will benefit them in the Next Life.

The believing servants who obey their Lord—they will take their good deeds with them and will be happy with their rewards.

The disbelieving servants who disobey Allah—the deeds they take with them will not benefit them on Judgment Day.

The hypocrites who pretend to be faithful but disobey Allah in secret—they will also pay a heavy price for their disobedience.

This surah focuses on the qualities of the believers, disbelievers, and hypocrites. It teaches us that those who obey Allah and do good will benefit themselves. As for those who disobey Him and do evil, they only harm themselves.

As mentioned in the Introduction, Makki surahs focus mainly on true belief in Allah as the only Creator and Provider, Who will bring everyone back to life for judgment.

Madani surahs, like Chapter 2, focus on practical rulings related to acts of worship, people's duties towards Allah, and their relationships with each other—including business, marriage, divorce, war, peace, and so on.

The purpose of these surahs is to teach the Muslims how to build strong individuals, families, and societies.

Individuals are taught how to develop a strong relationship with Allah.

Families are introduced to rules that protect marriages and solve their problems.

The new Muslim community in Madinah is instructed to protect themselves against inside and outside threats. The inside threats came from hypocrites, and the outside threats came from some non-Muslim enemies.

To build a strong Muslim community, Madani surahs—especially this one—emphasize 2 important requirements:

Taqwa of Allah, which means to always keep Him in mind (by doing the things that please Him, and staying away from the things that displeas Him). You will notice that the acts of worship mentioned in this surah are combined with reminders to keep Allah in mind.

Obedience to Allah and His Messenger. This surah provides many examples on the importance of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. For example,

Adam was told he could eat from any tree except a particular one, but he forgot and disobeyed Allah.

Iblis was ordered to bow down to Adam, but he refused arrogantly.

The Children of Isra'il were ordered to sacrifice a cow, but they gave Musa a hard time.

They were told to honour the Sabbath (by not fishing on Saturdays), but some of them chose to break it.

They were ordered to enter the gate of the city and say a certain prayer, but they said something totally different.

Later, they were ordered to accept Talut as their new king, but many of them protested.

Talut asked his army to avoid drinking from a river on their way to battle, but most of them didn't listen to him.

This training in taqwa and obedience was very important to prepare the believers for some major commands, including the change of the qiblah (direction of prayer) from Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem) to the ka'bah (in Makkah).

The faithful immediately obeyed this order, whereas the hypocrites argued and questioned it.

Someone may ask, "What is the purpose of 'Alif-Lam-Mim' (in verse 1) if no one knows exactly what it means?" In his famous tafsir, Imam Ibn 'Ashur listed 21 different opinions on the meaning of these letters.

The chosen opinion is that these letters came to challenge the idol-worshippers who claimed that the Quran had been made up by the Prophet ﷺ. Even though the Arabs were the masters of the Arabic language, they failed to match the style of the Quran.

Not only did they fail to produce one surah, they also couldn't match one ayah (verse), not even a small one like Alif-Lam-Mim, Ta-Ha, or Qaf.

The disbelievers were challenged to produce something that matched the style of the Quran (see 2:23), but they failed miserably. Instead, they started making up excuses, saying, 'What kind of revelation is this?

It gives an example of a fly (22:73) and an example of a spider (29:41)!' So, verse 2:26 was revealed to respond to their foolish claim. It doesn't matter whether Allah uses the example of a tiny bug or a huge elephant.

They are not much different to Allah, because He created both with the word 'Be!' (Imam Ibn 'Ashur)

Someone may ask, "Why did Allah tell the angels that He was going to create the human race, even though He doesn't need anyone's permission?" According to Imam Ibn 'Ashur, Allah informed the angels because He wanted them to know the importance of Adam and the human race.

Allah also wanted to teach us to discuss matters with others.

Someone may ask, "If the angels obey Allah all the time (21:26-28), how come they questioned His decision to put humans in charge of the earth?" According to Imam Ibn Kathir, the angels didn't question Allah's decision; they just wanted to learn the wisdom behind His decision.

In Islam, there is nothing wrong if someone asks a question to learn and grow in faith, just like Ibrahim did when he wanted to learn how Allah gives life to the dead (2:260).

Someone may ask, "How did the angels know that humans were going to cause trouble on earth?" According to Imam Ibn Kathir, some scholars said that maybe Allah Himself told the angels.

Other scholars said that maybe there had been other creatures on earth (perhaps the jinn) who did horrible things, so the angels assumed that humans would do the same. And Allah knows best.

Someone may ask, "What did Allah mean when He said to the angels in verse 30, 'I know what you do not know.'?" Maybe Allah meant that even though some humans would do bad things, others would do great things.

Think of Muhammad and other prophets and see how much goodness they brought to this world. Think of the sahabah. Think of scholars like Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Al-Bukhari, and many others. Think of Salahuddin, Muhammad Al-Fatih, and 'Omar Al-Mukhtar.

Think of all the good people who pray, give charity, and serve others. Think of all the teachers, doctors, engineers, workers, fathers, and mothers who made the world a better place.

According to the Quran, Shaytan was created from fire and Adam was created from clay. Shaytan was a jinn, not an angel (18:50). When Allah created Adam, He made it clear that He was going to put him on earth as an authority.

Since Shaytan worshipped Allah a lot, he was always in the company of the angels dedicated to Allah's worship. When Allah ordered those angels to bow down to Adam, Shaytan was standing with them.

They all bowed down, except for Shaytan, who protested, "I'm better than him—I was created from fire and he was created from clay. Why should I bow down to him?" So, he disobeyed Allah because of his arrogance. (Imam Ibn Kathir)