SURAH AL-BAQARAH (The Cow)
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah the extremely merciful, the extremely forgiving.
Ayah 1
الم
ALIF , LAAM, MEEM
ALIF , LAAM, MEEM
The second Surah begins with the recitation of the Arabic Letters (not words). The MuqoTTo’ah letters as an ayah by itself which is known as “ayah Mutasyabihah” (unspecified ayah). The meaning or purpose is not immediately known by the common people. Even the scholars have multiple opinions on the exact meaning or purpose. These Mutasyabihah ayaat act as a Test upon the people reading them. Will their mind be corrupted or will they still maintain the correct faith.
You’ve just asked Allah (in the last Surah) for instructions (guidance) to be His slaves, and He replied “Aleef, Laam, Meem”. The slaves will be surprised because he has no idea what the letters supposed to mean or represent. Allah wants to humble us. He wants us to know human can never know everything that exists.
These letters act as a test whether we will react to it arrogantly by ridiculing it or it becomes a Reset button to remove our arrogance.
The first lesson is = “you still don’t know anything”. If you can accept this, then you are ready to explore the Qur’an.
During the time of the Prophet s.a.w in Arabia, most of the people were illiterate. They can speak but did not know how to spell since they were not familiar with the Arabic letters. Only a few who knew how to read and write. There were no public school or classes that teach reading and writing. For the mass Arab population at that time, access to education like reading and writing were almost none. So when they first heard of the letters, they did not know what they actually were.
The Qur’an at that time was spoken scriptures (recitation) and not the written book as we know it now. It will be pointless to present to the Arabs with written scriptures as they could not read. The few Arabs who knew how to write will write down the verses right after they heard it. Since the believers will focus their attention to whatever the Quran was saying, hence these letters may act as a reminder to the illiterate that they are to start learning how to read and write.
Surah al-Baqorah was revealed during early “Medina times”. Therefore the messages were intended for the Jewish people there (and the lessons that we “the ummah” can learn from it).
The Jews in Medina was a scholarly community who knew how to read and write. They regard themselves as a knowledgeable race. They regarded the pagan Arabs as illiterate. So when they first heard of the “muqotto’ah” letters in the Qur’an, they were surprised as how Arabic letters were being recited by an illiterate Arab man, i.e. the Prophet s.a.w.
(As of today, we see how people in the West look down on the Muslim ummah as a bunch of lowly uneducated nation.)
The Jews were trying to find an excuse for disbelieving in the Prophet s.a.w with the narrative that how can he be a Messenger/Prophet of God when he didn’t even know how to read and write? Comparing him and them, they had vast knowledge which was a product of them being a nation of reading and writing. So when the Messenger recited the Qur’an with the letters "alif", "laam", "meem", it showed them that this illiterate man was somehow suddenly being taught. In later ayaat, we were told that the Jews concealed the knowledge that they knew of this man as a Prophet of Allah from their own scriptures. These Muqotta'a letters in the Quran might be one of the signs indicating of his Prophethood. Letters represent knowledge. This made the Jews anxious and angry about having an Arab Prophet.
Allah was showing to the Jews that He can give knowledge not only to the Jews but to whom He wishes. They had assumed that any Messenger of God must be a Jew.
Only Allah knows why He mentioned these Arabic letters specifically the letters “alif”, “laam” and “meem” in this Surah. Other Surahs have different letters mentioned at the start. The letters were not randomly inserted into the beginning of a Surah but was selected specifically for that Surah. There is a connection between the letters and the Surah. Scholars can try to figure it out what they mean but ultimately we say that only Allah knows.
Allah starts with the letters "alif laam meem", something that we don’t know what is the meaning. It is to make us realize that no matter how much knowledge we have, there are some other knowledge out there that we have no idea unless it was told to us by the Creator, so we should put more hope and reliance upon Allah.
The human mind is unable to know all of Allah’s knowledge. There are things that we are unable to see and possibly know, eg. the worlds outside of our own universe, the creatures that live there, the “unseen” world like the hereafter, the different dimensions of the angels, jinns, etc.
Do you think humans are able to match with the same level of knowledge as God the Creator? Human knowledge is just like a single tiny water droplet in unlimited oceans of divine knowledge.
In the previous Surah, we are told that we are unable to guide ourselves unless we are guided by our Master. In this Surah, we are told that we cannot arrogantly assume that we are able to know everything by our own accord. We are to humbly submit to the fact that only He can open the doors to knowledge that even our humanly “Science” is unable to reach. Scientists are unable to know the existence of the angels and other “unseen” creatures. Only the Creator can tell us that the “unseen” world exist.
Do not be arrogant that you know it all via your limited knowledge of Science. Science is a study of things that already existed and how you make use of those things. There are many other things that are yet to be discovered and many more things that will never be discovered by men if the knowledge is not revealed to man by the Creator. If you really want guidance from this Book, you are to approach the Qur’an with intellectual humility.
Having knowledge does not mean having wisdom. The Quran is a book of Wisdom. Some Non-Muslim Scientists approached the Quran only to find scientific evidence. However he is not looking for wisdom i.e guided way of life for humankind. The best of wisdom is when it is shaped via guided knowledge.
Here are some attempts to understand what these “muqotta’ah (disconnected)” letters mean :-
The Quran emphasized the Arabic alphabet at the beginning of the Surah which indicate how important it is to know how to read and write. To pass knowledge to others is to know how to read and write which begins with learning the Alphabet. The Arabs of that time and other ancient nations did not have the attitude of knowing how to read and write.
Hence you see that the Qur’an encourages reading and writing which is the spark where knowledge will thrive. Throughout the Qur’an, the second ayah that comes after the “muqotto’ah” letters will mostly describe about the Qur’an itself before going on to other topics. By talking about the Qur’an (in the second ayah) right after the “opening letters”, is to give us an idea that the letters have some connection to the Qur’an itself.
(One lesser opinion was that the letters = “alif-lam-mim” is the name of “that” book. If you look at the ayaat in sequence = “alif lam miim”, “That is the book” = indicates that the book is called “alif-lam-mim”)
The main opinion regarding these Muqotta’a letters is that the Qur’an was being recited from the same letters and words that make up the Arabic language but why was it that the Pagan Arabs (or the Jews) who opposed and disbelieved in the Messenger were not able to create a surah on their own like a Surah in the Qur’an.
These letters were challenging to the Masters Poets of Arabia. Why don’t you believe that this was from your Lord while you can’t even create something like it?
(For more discussion on why historically they had not produce another surah like the Qur’an, please refer to Ayah 23.)
The verses just came out of the Prophet (s.a.w) mouth with no editing. Most of us who want to challenge the Qur’an will write our words down and from there we do the editing to try make the sentence meaningful and outstanding. The Prophet (s.a.w) did not know how to read and write. Therefore once he said those words, there was no taking back as the people already heard, memorized and some had written the words.
Some believed that the letters at the start of the Surah represent the letters that are the most frequently used within that Surah, i.e. if the Surah is written. Wallahu'alam.
It will take an incredible amount of time and patience to count the letters or to compose a chapter with this kind of concept which makes it impossible for anyone to say that the Qur’an was written by an illiterate man who do not even know the Arabic Alphabet to begin with.
The way to recite alif-lam-mim melodiously with tajweed is an art by itself. Allah is showing us creativity in art. Islamic art flourished such as taranum (the different melody in recitation), Islamic caligraphy on architectural design and murals, etc. Before the Prophet (s.a.w) came, the Arabs were just having a very basic culture unlike other civilization at that time.
The recitation style (with Tajweed) of the Qur’an was totally new to the pagan Arabs of those times who were used to hearing the recitation style of classical Arabic poems (w/o Tajweed).
Trying to recite alif-lam-mim (with tajweed) will require a person to take a deep breath before producing long sounds (6 harakats each) for the letters Lam and Meem. You will realize that breathing is something that is given to you by Allah. The source of you being alive. Hence reciting these muqotta’a letters has a profound effect on your "eeman". It may also have a good effect on your health.
Wallahu'alam.