Surah Baqaraah Full | Quran

Al-Baqara, alternatively transliterated Al-Baqarah (Arabic: الْبَقَرَة, ’al-baqarah; lit. "The Heifer" or "The Cow"), is the second and longest chapter (surah) of the Quran.[1] It consists of 286 verses (āyāt) which begin with the "mysterious letters" ("muqatta'at") A.L.M.[2][3] In recitation the names of the letters (alif, lām, and mīm) are used, not their sounds. Q2:282 is the longest single verse in the Quran. It is concerned with agricultural futures contracts.[4]

The sūrah encompasses a variety of topics and contains several commands for Muslims such as enjoining fasting on the believer during the month of Ramadan;[5] forbidding interest or usury (riba); and several famous verses such as The Throne Verse, Al-Baqara 256, and the final two or three verses. The sūrah addresses a wide variety of topics, including substantial amounts of law, and retells stories of Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham) and Mūsa (Moses). A major theme is guidance: urging the pagans (Al-Mushrikeen) and the Jews of Medina to embrace Islam, and warning them and the hypocrites (Munafiqun) of the fate God had visited in the past on those who failed to heed his call.[6]

Al-Baqara is believed by Muslims to have been revealed at Medina over a long period after the Hijrah, with the exception of the riba verses which Muslims believe were revealed during the Farewell Pilgrimage, the last Hajj of Muhammad.[7][8] In particular, verse 281 in this chapter is believed to be the last verse of the Quran to be revealed, on the 10th day of Dhul al Hijjah 10 A.H., when Muhammad was in the course of performing his last Hajj, 80 or 90 days before he died.

The surah includes a few Islamic rules related to varying subjects, such as: prayers, fasting, striving on the path of God, the pilgrimage to Mecca, the change of the direction of prayer (Qiblah) from Jerusalem to Mecca, marriage and divorce, commerce, debt, and a great many of the ordinances concerning interest or usury