Sūrah al-Baqarah (Part 10)

Final part of observations on how Sūrah al-Baqarah is organized

Last week we observed the structure and coherence of the overall structure and symmetry of the entire sūrah. This week we will conclude our series of Sūrah al-Baqarah with an in-depth look at motifs and anchors that tie the entire sūrah together.

The following analysis will be based on our original breakdown of the sūrah’s structure, shown below:

The Motifs of Election, Instruction, and Test

Nevin Reda (cited below) has drawn attention to a recurring pattern in the sūrah, which involves a combination of the topics of election, instruction, and test. “Election” refers to the divine appointment of a person or group to a special role and position. “Test” refers to a test of the obedience of a person or group. “Instruction” refers to Allah’s provision of guidance in the form of a command or counsel. In each case, it is Allah ﷻ who does the electing, testing and instructing of human beings. These motifs appear throughout the sūrah in varying combinations:

• In Section [A], Adam, representing the human race, is divinely elected to the position of Allah’s representative on the earth. He is then tested with the command not to approach the forbidden tree. Finally, when he “slips” and eats from the tree, Allah ﷻ provides Adam instructions on how to obtain His forgiveness.

• Section [B] alludes to the Israelites’ election to the position of Allah’s chosen nation. The section refers to the instructions they were given in the form of the Covenant (the Torah). However, they were repeatedly tested and failed the tests, eventually resulting in their loss of their elected positions.

• In Section [C], the story of Abraham is told. Abraham is tested. As a result of passing these tests, he is elected to the position of being “a leader for mankind.” Finally, he is instructed to build and purify the Ka'bah.

• In Section [D], the people of Medina - including both the Muslims and Jews - are tested with the change of ritual prayer direction and instructed to pray towards Mecca. The Muslims obeyed the command, and were thus elected as the new divinely chosen nation, taking over the position the Israelites previously held.

• In Section [C’], the community is warned that, because of their election to this role, they will face upcoming tests, which will involve a loss of lives and fruits. However, they are given various instructions to prepare them for these tests, which extend all through Sections [B’] and [A’].

Our above analysis also reveals another interesting pattern:

Notice that the first and last examples, “the story of Adam” and the “address to the Muslim nation” display an identical pattern: election, test, instruction. Then, in the second and second-to-last examples, “the Children of Israel” and “the change of ritual prayer direction,” these occur in the opposite order: election, instruction, test and test, instruction, election. Finally, and very appropriately, in the center is “the story of Abraham,” which is characterized by its own unique pattern of test, election, instruction.

Integrative Coherence Between Sections [A] and [A’]

In Part 4, we looked at how two consecutive sections of the sūrah, the first and second sections ([A] and [B]), are connected. Now we will look into the relationship between two sections that mirror each other, the first and final sections of the sūrah ([A] and [A’]). If anyone needs a review, please see Part 3 and Part 9 for details on Sections [A] and [A’], respectively.

In addition to sharing the same essential themes, the concluding section is connected to the beginning section by an extensive overlap of anchors:

The above list, which has been reduced somewhat for the sake of concision, should suffice to show how closely the first and final sections of the sūrah are connected, further reinforcing the overall ring composition of the sūrah.

Conclusion

In the case of Sūrah al-Baqarah, until recently regarded as the most chaotic of all suwar in the Quran, we have seen that a careful study reveals a beautiful and intricate structure, as well as profound logic and coherence. And this is despite this series being a truncated summary of the available research on the topic—we did not properly broach the subject of linear coherence, for example.

In Part 1 we said to

keep in mind that this sūrah was revealed over the course of many years, not in the order it is compiled today, while responding to real-time events.

Having now gone through a preliminary analysis of the sūrah’s structuring, one can only wonder how much more there is to discover in this burgeoning field.

والله أعلم - And Allah knows best

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Sources

Ali Khan, Nouman and Sharif Randhawa. Divine Speech: Exploring the Quran as Literature. Bayyinah Institute, 2016

Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī, Tadabbur-e-Qur’ān: Pondering Over the Qur’ān Volume 1: Tafsīr of Sūrah al-Fātiḥah and Sūrah al-Baqarah, trans. Mohammad Saleem Kayani (Kual Lampur: Islamic Book Trust, 2006), 526-527

Mustansir Mir, “The Sūra as a Unity: A Twentieth Century Development in Qur’an Exegesis” in Approaches to the Qur’an, eds. G. R. Hawting and Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, eds. (London: Routledge, 1993), 211-224

Robinson, Discovering the Qur’an, 201-223

A. H. Mathias Zahniser, “Major Transitions and Thematic Borders in Two Long Sūras: al-Baqara and al-Nisā’” in Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Qur’an, ed. Issa J. Boulatta (RichmondL Curzon, 2000)

Raymond Farrin, “Surat al-Baqara: A Structural Analysis,” Muslim World 100.1 (2010): 17-32

Nevin Reda El-Tehry, Textual Integrity and Coherence in the Qur’an: Repetition and Narrative Structure in Surat al-Baqara (PhD diss., University of Toronto, Toronto, 2010)

Farrin, Structure and Qur’anic Interpretation, 9-24