The Virtues of Surah Al-Baqarah

As Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu  

The Virtues of Surah Al-Baqarah

In Musnad Ahmad, Sahih Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i, it is recorded that Abu Hurayrah (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam)  said,

“Do not turn your houses into graves. Verily, Shaytan does not enter the house where Surah Al-Baqarah is recited.” (Muslim, At-Tirmidhi An-Nasa’i)  

Also, `Abdullah bin Mas`ud (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said, "Shaytan flees from the house where Surat Al-Baqarah is heard.'' (An-Nasa'i in Al-Yawm wal-Laylah)

Ad-Darimi recorded that Ash-Sha`bi said that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said, "Whoever recites ten Ayat from Surah Al-Baqarah in a night, then Shaytan will not enter his house that night. (These ten Ayat are) four from the beginning, Ayat Al-Kursi (255), the following two Ayat (256-257) and the last three Ayat.'' In another narration, Ibn Mas`ud said, "Then Shaytan will not come near him or his family, nor will he be touched by anything that he dislikes. Also, if these Ayat were to be recited over a senile person, they would wake him up.''



Sahl bin Sa`d (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam)  said,

“Everything has a hump (or, high peek), and Al-Baqarah is the high peek of the Qur'an. Whoever recites Al-Baqarah at night in his house, then Shaytan will not enter that house for three nights. Whoever recites it during a day in his house, then Shaytan will not enter that house for three days. This Hadith was collected by Abu Al-Qasim At-Tabarani, Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and Ibn Marduwyah.


At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah sent an expedition force comprising of many men and asked each about what they memorized of the Qur'an. The Prophet came to one of the youngest men among them and asked him, `What have you memorized (of the Qur'an) young man' He said, `I memorized such and such Surah and also Al-Baqarah.' The Prophet said, `You memorized Surah Al-Baqarah' He said, `Yes.' The Prophet said, `Then you are their commander.' One of the noted men (or chiefs) commented, `By Allah! I did not learn Surah Al-Baqarah, for fear that I would not be able to implement it. The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam) said,

“Learn Al-Qur'an and recite it, for the example of whoever learns the Qur'an, recites it and adheres to it, is the example of a bag that is full of musk whose scent fills the air. The example of whoever learns the Qur'an and then sleeps (i.e. lazy) while the Qur'an is in his memory, is the example of a bag that has musk, but is closed tight.”

This is the wording collected by At-Tirmidhi, who said that this Hadith is Hasan. In another narration, At-Tirmidhi recorded this same Hadith in a Mursal manner, so Allah knows best.




Al-Bukhari recorded that Usayd bin Hudayr (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said that he was once reciting Surah Al-Baqarah while his horse was tied next to him. The horse started to make some noise. When Usayd stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving about. When he resumed reading, the horse started moving about again. When he stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving, and when he resumed reading, the horse started to move again. Meanwhile, his son Yahya was close to the horse, and he feared that the horse might step on him. When he moved his son back, he looked up to the sky and saw a cloud radiating with light that looked like lamps. In the morning, he went to the Prophet and told him what had happened and then said, "O Messenger of Allah! My son Yahya was close to the horse and I feared that she might step on him. When I attended to him and raised my head to the sky, I saw a cloud with lights like lamps. So I went, but I couldn't see it.'' The Prophet said, "Do you know what that was'' He said, "No.'' The Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam) said,

“They were the angels, they came close hearing your voice (reciting Surah Al-Baqarah), and if you had kept reading, the people would have been able to see the angels when the morning came, and the angels would not be hidden from their eyes.”


This is the narration reported by Imam Abu Ubayd Al-Qasim bin Salam in his book Fada'il Al-Qur'an.



Source: Tafsir ibn Kathir (Abridged)