The Qur’ānic sūrah as an autonomous unit of analysis: Sūrat al-baqarah as a case study

Abstract

This paper aims to discern the central integrating theme(s) of Sūrat al-Baqarah. Within any Qur’ānic sūrah, there are, assumingly, some organizing themes around which single verses revolve. Disconnected from these organizing themes, the meanings of single verses can be obscured. To test this hypothesis, the paper uses Sūrat al-Baqarah, which is the longest sūrah in the Qur’ān, as a case study. After revisiting some existing interpretive entries employed by scholars of Qur’ānic studies; namely, the sūrah’s name, its opening verses, and its closing ones, we have deduced two more entries, and have, consequently, developed a new interpretive model. Applying this model to Sūrat al-Baqarah has proved to be a useful method for detecting its major themes, as well as its overall structure. We have concluded that there is a strong connection between the name of Sūrat al-Baqarah, its opening verses, and its concluding remarks and that these three are greatly augmented by the other two entries we have added. We have also found that all these entries converge on two central ideas: Concealing and/or revealing the truth. A careful analysis of these two concepts helps to discern the primer objective of the sūrah and its internal structure and, hence, enables us to have a better understanding of why some ideas and episodes are included in this sūrah while others are not.