Allah dedicates two and a half pages of Surat al-Baqarah to the verses of infaaq, spending, ayahs 261-274. In fact, in the whole Quran, there are more ayahs encouraging people to spend in the way of Allah than commanding people to pray. This is because it’s very difficult for people to give away their money. One of the first things that happened after the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ death was that some tribes decided they would not pay zakat anymore. They didn’t say they would stop praying, or anything else, but it was......

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‘Take due care of all the prayers, and the middle prayer), and stand before Allah in total devotion.’ Salah was revealed gradually In this ayah, Allah is teaching the believers how to pray. Of course, the angel Jibril came down and taught the conditions, and the timings. Each salah was taught over two days: the first day he came and prayed with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at the beginning of the salah time, and the second day towards the end of it. But the whole process was gradual. These days we......

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Limits on divorce Three pages of Surat al-Baqarah are devoted to the rules of divorce, or talaq. In Jahiliyya times, divorce was very common, but it was misused a lot, because there were no limits. Islam came to set boundaries, hudood. In Islam, divorce is permissible but it has conditions to prevent it being misused and abused. There are two main principles: first, you can only divorce and remarry the same person three times. In Jahiliyya, men used to divorce their wives and then take them back, over and over again. This......

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The history of Hajj Hajj was the last of the five pillars to be made an obligation, around the year 7 or 8AH. In the year 9AH, Abu Bakr led the Hajj, and in the tenth year, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made his final Hajj with the whole Ummah, which at the time was around 120,000 companion. This was his Farewell Hajj, the only one he performed after it was obligated. Hajj is actually a ritual that has been in the Ummah as far back as the time of Ibrahim (peace be......

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Righteousness is not in turning your faces towards the East or the West. Rather, the righteous are those who believe in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Books, and the prophets; who give wealth, despite (their) love for it, to relatives, orphans, the poor, travellers, those who ask (for help), and for freeing captives; who establish prayer, pay Zakat, fulfil the contracts they have agreed, and who are patient in times of suffering, misfortune, and times of hardship. This ayah of Surat al-Baqarah is about birr, righteousness. This is a......

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Alhamdulilah we are blessed that we could witness Ramadan. Many people departed from this world to the akhirah, some passed away just before it started and some will not make it to the end. We are fortunate therefore, that we have been given the opportunity to fast, to pray and to recite the Quran. Life itself is an opportunity from Allah. For everyone who has been given this gift, we have done nothing to deserve this gift. He gave life as a gift and He takes life. Look at how many opportunities......

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Ayahs 142-144 of Surat al-Baqarah, at the start of the second juz, talk about the change in the qibla from Jerusalem to the Kaba. The original qibla The angel Jibril came down and taught the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ how to perform salah in the second year after the revelation. This was before the five daily prayers were made obligatory, so he would pray in the morning and evening. Zaid bin Haritha (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: عن زيد بن حارثة......

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Spread good news In ayah 119 of Surat al-Baqarah, Allah says ‘Surely, We have sent you with the truth, as a bearer of good tidings, and a warner, and you will not be asked about the people of Hell.’ Allah is referring to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, one of whose names is al-Bashir, the one who carries good news. He used to tell his Companions, ‘Give glad tidings, and do not scare people away. Make things easy, and do not make things difficult.’ Your style of delivery can be what......

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Allah challenges Bani Israil In ayah 94 of Surat al-Baqarah, Allah challenges Bani Israil, after they repeatedly betrayed their Messenger, Musa (peace be upon him) and reneged on their covenants with Him. Feeling a sense of superiority, they claim that Jannah is exclusively for them, and Allah asks them, ‘If the Home of the Hereafter with Allah is exclusively for you out of all humanity, then wish for death if you are truthful.’ If they truly believe that they are certain to go to Jannah, why are they suffering in the......

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Tonight we recited the central story of Surat al-Baqarah – the story of the cow, from which the surah takes its name. The story of the cow We know from historical narrations that a very rich man from Bani Israil was killed one night by his nephew, who was his only heir. In the morning, his body was found somewhere far away, and the tribe accused the people around that area. A big argument followed, and they decided to go to Musa (peace be upon him) for advice. Musa told them that......

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Surat al-Baqarah contains so much wisdom that it’s difficult to know where to start talking about it! As well as being the longest surah, it also contains the longest ayah in the Quran (Ayat ad-Dayn, which is about debt) and the best ayah, which is the Ayat al-Kursi. Bani Israil There are 115 ayahs about Bani Israil, which is 40% of the surah. Even though there is a whole surah called Surah Bani Israil (another name for Surat al-Isra). Surat al-Baqarah says more about them than that whole surah. The name of......

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We are lucky to be witnessing Ramadan and to be able to pray in a mosque where we have a roof above our heads. The people of Gaza have no place to pray; food to eat; water to drink. Inshallah Allah will give them relief soon. We are starting with Surat al-Baqarah. Of course, this is the longest surah of the Quran, which was revealed in Madinah. Scholars have mentioned that this surah alone has 1000 rulings. We could take two weeks to reflect on just the opening verses we have recited......

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Ramadan is the month of patience and the month of resilience. The Battle of Badr, the first battle, took place in Ramadan. The Prophet (peace be upon him) encouraged his companions to endure challenges with patience and strength. We all face our own challenges and as an Ummah we are witnessing an extremely challenging time – the most challenging time which we have witnessed in living memory. Not only are we seeing a tragedy unfold, we are shocked and aghast that so many have lost their morals and the goodness but basic......

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In Surat Tawbah, Allah summarised the story of the Battle of Tabouk, which took place in the ninth year after the migration. The Prophet (peace be upon him) mobilised an army of 30,000 soldiers which was the largest Muslim military campaign in his lifetime against the formidable Roman army, who were 100,000 troops. The believers lacked military equipment, funds and provisions. Allah called this battle the Battle of Usrah (9:117), as it was a time of hardship and difficulty. It was the challenging time for the Muslims due to their lack of......

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The fortunate amongst us will live to receive Ramadan – due to illness or death. We ask Allah to enable us to receive Ramadan with good health and high imaan. Every year we have Ramadan, so what is the best way to receive it. This year I want to reflect on the state of our hearts when we enter Ramadan. Our faculties Allah created everything with a purpose. Allah created each of our faculties for a reason, like our eyes, they see truth, beauty and the magnificence of Allah’s creation. Our ears......

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