Ayah 1:

الم
Alif, Lam, Meem.

These are Huroof al Muqatta’aat – Disjointed letters.

We do not know their true meaning, which humbles mankind – people who recite letters in their daily speech but they do not have full knowledge of the meanings of all words.

Opinions of Scholars:

Ar-Razi said: In surah al Fatihah, we asked Allah to ‘guide us to the upright path’. Showing that we cannot be guided by our own will, we need Allah’s help.
The letters in this ayah; Alif, Lam, Meem – show that we cannot know and understand everything, so we should put more hope and reliance upon Allah.
Allah lets us know that if you really want to get guidance from this Book – you will ask Allah to give you understanding of this religion, you cannot know it of your own accord. So an arrogant attitude will prevent you from true knowledge, and submission to Allah will open the doors for true understanding.

ash-Sha’arawi:
(this is a Madani surah, in which the Israelites thought they were extremely knowledgable, so they would mock the Arabs of being Ummi – illiterate).
When Allah’s Messenger recited; Alif Lam Meem, the ones who thought that they had full knowledge of language became shocked. How can a people who are illiterate use such letters which are only used in text?

al Kashshaaf by az-Zamakshari:
One of the benefits of these letters is a rhetorical benefit; O you disbelievers, how come you cannot come up with a similar Qur’an to this one? Aren’t these the same letters you use in your daily speech? So why can’t you produce a similar Qur’an if it is not from Allah?

http://www.linguisticmiracle.com/tafsir/baqarah

Ayah 2:

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
dhaalika-al kitaabu laa Rayba feehi, hudan lil muttaqeen
That is the Book, No Doubt in it is Enormous Guidance for the Guarders against Evil/Allah’s Punishment etc.

Dhaalika = That.
'That' is used when something is far away. Because the Qur’an is not in Book form yet (during the life of Allah’s Messenger), Allah is telling us that the Kitab/book is in the heavens with Allah. And only later – you will write it down and compile it in Book format.

Related words:

Haadha = This.

Also in Arabic rhetoric – to point that something is far away gives that thing an Elevated status.

, Laa Rayba feehi – there is Absolutely No room for any doubt whatsoever in it.

when a Fat-ha/zabar is placed after the Laa [i.e. Laa raybA], this shows ‘No doubt whatsoever.’

[Later on in the surah, Allah will say; if you are in any Doubt (fee Raybin, ) [al Baqarah 2:23] – so we see how RaybA has more emphasis.]


, HudaN lil Muttaqeen,
HudaN [taNween] = (mufeed-ul ADhma) = ENORMOUS Guidance.

lil muttaqeen – for those who have Taqwa.

Taqwa comes over 36 times in different forms in this surah. It is directly related to our pursuit of guidance.

HudaN lin-Naas – enormous guidance for mankind. This is used in other parts of the Qur’an, but
Hudan lil muttaqeen – is enormous guidance for those who have seeked it and do not want to disappoint Allah.
Taqwa is not just fear. It is the attempt to ‘want to protect yourself’ /taking precautions. [from; Evil, Allah's anger and His Punishment]

Ayah 3:

الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
aladheena yu’minoona bi-’l Ghayb, wa yuQeemoona as-Salaata, wa min maa razaqnaa hum yuNfiquwn
Those who believe in the Unseen, and they Establish the prayer, and from what We provided them – they spend [in charity].

This teaches us;
1 – You are not spending anything that is yours. You are giving that which Allah gave you, back to Him (i.e. for His sake) so that He can reward you in the next life.
It is like transferring funds from this worldly account to the bank of the hereafter.

2 – When you perform salaah [prayer] properly, you find it easy to spend for Allah’s pleasure, because you have a good connection with Him through salaah.

Ayah 4:

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ
wa-aladheena yu’minoona bi maa unzila ilayka wa maa unzila min Qablika wa bi-l aakhirati hum yuwQinoon
And those who believe in what was revealed upon you, and what was revealed to those From Much (Min) before you. And especially in regards to the Hereafter, they have Certainty.
Dr Murtaza Malik in Pakistan used this ayah in refuting new movements like Qadianis and Nation of Islam etc. who use the Quran to argue that Prophets’ will come after Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam).
Dr Murtaza Khan said; Allah tells us to; believe in what was revealed upon you (Muhammad) and what was revealed to those before you. – There is no mention of believing in books of people who will come after Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam.)

, wa bil Aakhirati hum yoowqinoon
and Especially with the Afterlife (because Akhirah is mentioned earlier in the sentence structure = Ikhtisas/Especially) – they are Certain.
yoowqinoon- Eeqaan / Yaqeen – Certain = Convinced of something so much, as if you can see it.

That is how solid our certainty is in regard to the Afterlife.
Emaan was mentioned about alot of things, but Yaqeen (Certainty) was mentioned about the Afterlife. Since our actions of Emaan are only useful when we have certainty of belief in the hereafter.

أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَىٰ هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

Ulaa/ika ‘alaa hudan min Rabbihim – wa ulaa’ika hum-ul muFlihoon

Those are the people who are commited to great guidance from their Master. And those are the ones who are truly successful.

(aFlaha) / muFlih = Farmer who has put in alot of effort in sowing his seeds, and when his crops grow and he collects the fruit = muFlih/ Fal-lah, he sees his success and rewards.

He puts his time and effort to see his success.

Similar words;
Faa’iz

Ayah 6:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

Inna aladheena kafaroo, sawaa’un ‘alayhim, a-andhartahum am lam tundhirhum - laa yu’minoon

No doubt, those who have disbelieved, it is the same upon them, whether you warn them or not – they will not believe.

This is a particular brand of disbelievers – people who Allah’s Messenger warned for an entire decade. And all that only increased was their closed mindedness and arrogance against Islam. It is these people -

Past tense: inna-aladheena Kafaroo – surely those who disbelieveD (past tense)
Present tense: Not; inna-aladheena yaKfuroo – surely those who disbelieve (present-future tense)

Past tense is used, which shows that those who have been warned alot clearly with the message, and their arrogance prevents them from following the guidance, then they will not be guided in the future.

When they have shown their animosity to the truth and shown stubbornness – then they will not believe.

Ayah 7:

خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ ۖ وَعَلَىٰ أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

khatama Allahu ‘alaa quloobihim, wa ‘alaa sam’ihim, wa ‘alaa abSaarihim ghishaawah, wa la-hum adhaabun aDheem

Allah has placed a seal upon their hearts, and upon their hearing, and upon their Sight is a covering, and for them is a Tough/Severe Punishment.


Why has Allah mentioned putting a Seal on their Hearts?

This surah began with;

Ayah 2: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَارَيْبَۛفِيهِ - that is the Book in which there is no Doubt. (Doubt affects the heart)

[ وَمَن يُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ يَهْدِقَلْبَهُ ۚ - (and whoever believes in Allah - He guides his heart) [Taghabun 64:11]. – so Emaan is in the heart.]

Ayah 2: هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ - Hudan lil muttaqeen – Guidance for the (God) fearing who guard against evil.

Guidance produces Taqwa in the heart and is shown through action:
[فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ - then surely that is from (the) taqwa of the heart. (Surah Hajj 22:32)]

Ayah 3: الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ - those who believe in the unseen.. (with the Heart)

Ayah 6 & 7: those who disbelieve.. they will not believe.. Allah has set a seal upon their Hearts. – we again see that the heart is that which has disbelieved, so a Permanent seal has been placed ontop of it.

Allah has sealed their Hearts permanently, because they have closed their Hearts to the guidance.

GEM:

Now if we compare this Sealing with an ayah in surah Jaathiyah 45:23;

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heartand put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah ? Then will you not be reminded?

Allah tells us; He has sealed their hearing first.

Now why would Allah seal their hearing in surah Jaathiyah and seal their hearts in surah al Baqarah?

Because earlier in surah Jaathiyah 45:8 – Allah told us that the disbeliever refused to listen to the guidance – so Allah sealed the disbelievers hearing first.

يَسْمَعُ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ يُصِرُّ مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَن لَّمْ يَسْمَعْهَا ۖ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

Who hears the verses of Allah recited to him, then persists arrogantly as if he had not heard them. So give him tidings of a painful punishment.

In surah al Baqarah – we are being told that these people refused to believe in the guidance with their hearts and had doubts – even though they saw the miracles, so Allah has sealed their hearts.

This is amazing precision of the Qur’an word useage.


..Wa ‘alaa aBsaarihim ghishaawah – and upon their Sight is a Cover.

So these people see, but they do not see clearly. They see miracles, and they deny/reject them. They see the truth, but they call it falsehood.

لَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا - they have eyes but they cannot see by them (al A’raf 7:179)

Wa lahum adhaabun aDheem – and for them is a Tough/Severe punishment.

Ayah 8:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَمَا هُم بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

wa min an-Naasi man yaQoolu aamannaa bi-illahi wa bi-l yawmi-l aakhiri wa maa hum bi mu’mineen

and from the People are he who says we believe in Allah, and in the Last Day, and they are not believers at all.

And from mankind are those who say, We believe in Allah.

Interesting Language:
One could say; wa min al-naasi ALADHEENA yaQooloona aaman-naa bi-illah

Because ‘Man‘ and ‘Aladheena‘ both imply; Who/those.

Similar words:
Man = Who (usually refers to the Singular.)
Aladheena = Those (refers to Plural)

Allah purposelly used the word ‘Man’ (who) to show that One person is talking whilst being in a group of people. This is why it is said;

Wa min al-naasi Man (who [singular]) yaQooloona (Say [plural]) aamaan-naa bi-illah – and from the people there is he Who [singular] – Says[plural] – we believe in Allah…


Why?

Because Allah is describing the hypocrite (munaafiq) who is pretending to be amongst the believers, but infact he is a Hypocrite who has other hypocrites with him.

The hypocrite and his crowd who pretend to be believers say;

Aaman-naa bi-illahi (We believe in Allah), wabi-il yawmi-il ‘aakhir (and in the Final Day [Judgment Day])

..wa MAA hum Bi mu’mineen – and they are not believers at all.

There are many ways of Negating something. But to say Maa (strong negation) with the word ‘Bi’ after it = this is of the strongest ways of saying ‘No’.

Allah is telling us that they are not believers at all!

Ayah 9:

يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّا أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ

yuKhaadi’oon Allah wa-aladheena Aamanoo wa maa yaKhda’oona il-laa aNfusaHum Wa maa yash’uroon

They are trying to deceive Allah and those who believe and they do not deceive anyone at all except their Own selves, but they do not know.

yuKhaadi’oon Allah – they are trying to deceive Allah

wa-aladheena Aamanoo – and those who believe

wa maa yaKhda’oona il-laa aNfusaHum – and they do not deceive anyone at all except their Own selves.

When they pretend to be believers and mingle amongst them – Allah is calling them as deceivers and as spies within the community of the believers.

They try to fool; Allah, those who believe, but they don’t fool anyone but themselves.

Wa maa yash’uroon – and the have no realisation.

There are 2 basic types of Hypocrites:

1 – Those who know they are not believers and spy amongst the believers for a specific motive.

2 – The 2nd type is more dangerous – he doesn’t know he is a hypocrite. They think they are good Muslims. This can be any one of us. This was so scary for our Salaf [earlier generations], i.e. Even Umar bin al Khattab that he would be worried for himself!


Allah tells us how to find the Disease of hypocrisy.

What are the symptoms – Allah tells us throughout the Qur’an. One is explained as follows in this surah;

Ayah 10:

فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ

Fee quloobihim maraD, Fa Zaadahum-ullahu maraDa, wa LaHum adhaabun Aleemun, bi maa kaanoo yaKdhiboon

in their Hearts is a disease, so Allah has Increased their disease, and Especially for them is a Painful Punishment, for what they continuously Lied.

Fee quloobihim maraD – in their Hearts is a disease

Fa Zaadahum-ullahu maraDa – so Allah has Increased their disease

So this is a fatal heart disease.

wa LaHum adhaabun Aleem -

And they especially [because 'LaHum = For Them' is placed earlier in the sentence to signify 'Especially'] have Painful punishment.

Allah told us that the disbelievers will have a ‘Tough’/great (aDheem) punishment.
But He warns the hypocrites of an Especially Painful punishment (an even severer warning.)

Aleem:-
Alam = Pain
alEEm = CONSTANT pain.

Adhaab = Punishment.

So Allah is warning the Hypocrites of a Pain which is Constant and does not End – you always feel that same level of constant Pain. (imagine having a constant toothache, how bad it is. And a constant punishment in the lowest parts of Hell is so unimaginably painful. We ask Allah to save us from His punishment, ameen.)

This is an even worser punishment than the punishment of the disbelievers. And Allah is always severer with the hypocrites than the disbelievers.

We will see how throughout this surah how this surah deals with purifying the heart, and eman (belief).
And in the next surah aal Imran (3rd surah) – there is more focus on Islaam (doing rituals/actions of the religion.)

Bi maa kaanoo yaKdhiboon – because of the lies they continue to make

Istimraar:
Kaanoo (past tense) – used to
yaKdhiboon (present tense) – continue toLie

Merging the past and present tense shows Strong emphasis that they Persist in Lying in the past and the continuous present.

This is a strong disease of the hypocrite which we have to avoid so we are not hypocrites – Lying.

Ayah 11:

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ

wa idhaa Qeela lahum laa tuFsidoo fi-l ‘arDi Qaaloo inna-maa nahnu muSlihoon

And when it is said to them – don’t cause corruption in the Earth, they say we are the Peace-makers/reconcilers.


The Context of the Ayah: The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam) is in an intense struggle against disbelief.

The truth and falsehood have collided, but the hypocrites have a mix of disbelieving and believing friends. They don’t make a clear distinction in their allegiance on whose side they are really on.

They think the Muslims might lose and get overpowered – so they don’t have full allegiance to Allah, His Messenger and the believers. They are connected to the disbelievers too (in their allegiance). And Allah is not happy with their half-heartedness in the religion.
So when they are asked about their half-heartedness – their excuse is that ‘we are only peace makers/reconcilers’.

muSlihoon- Sulh = Connection, reconciliation.

Some of these hypocrite people did think they were trying to cause peace. But they didn’t know how much intense hatred the disbelievers have against the believers.

Ayah 12

Ayah 12:

أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ

ALaa innahum hum-ul muFsidoona wa-laakin laa yaSh’uroon

No! Beware! Surely they [the hypocrites], they are the cause of corruption, yet they have no realisation!


ALaa = You should all Know! No! Beware!

muFsidoon – from the meaning ‘Fasaad’ = Corruption.

Ayah 13:

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَا آمَنَ السُّفَهَاءُ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَاءُ وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
wa idhaa Qeela lahum aaminoo kamaa aamana an-Naasu Qaaloo anu’minu kamaa aamana as-Sufahaa’, ALaa innahum hum us-Sufahaa’u wa laakin laa ya’lamoon
When it is said to them – why don’t you have belief – like the people believe, They (look at the emigrants/true believers and) say; You want us to be believe like these fools/ignorant? No, it is indeed these people who are the ignorant, and they do not know (how foolish they are).

When it is said to them – why don’t you have belief – like the people believe (i.e. like those who have proven their belief i.e. Abu Bakr, Umar etc.)

They (look at the emigrants and) say;
You want us to be believe like these fools/ignorant? (sufahaa)

The hypocrites would accuse the righteous like Abu Bakr etc. of being foolish that they left their businesses etc. for the religion. And sarcastically saying how foolish they are for giving up their ‘normal’ lifestyle and giving it up for an Islamic cause.

Someone could even say that those who insult the righteous before us (i.e. The sahabah/companions of the Prophet) and saying they are people of old who were foolish – they might also be warned in these aayaat.

These hypocrites insult the believers by saying that they are foolish and ignorant for following the religion whole-heartedly – so Allah defends the believers and responds by telling us that it is the hypocrites who are the ignorant and foolish, but they do not know.

“No, it is indeed these people who are the ignorant, and they do not know (how foolish they are).”

So Allah has 2 emphasises; in one place Allah tells us – and they do not percieve it (their ignorance), and in ayah following it – He tells us they do not know (their ignorance.)

So another Conclusion derived from this is that Hypocrisy results from a lack of knowledge. They do not know their own ignorance.

And later in the surah – Allah tells us how to leave hypocrisy, through following the Legacy of Prophet Ibrahim/Abraham (peace be upon him.)

وَمَن يَرْغَبُ عَن مِّلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مَن سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ ۚ وَلَقَدِ اصْطَفَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَإِنَّهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
and who wants to leave the legacy of Ibrahim, except the one who fools himself. Truly, We chose him in this world and verily, in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous. [Baqarah 2:130]

And Allah tells us the sacrifices Ibrahim does, and how his sacrifices are a sign of his intellect (and whoever abandons sacrifices is the fool.)