SURAH BAQARAH ayat 1-5

Surah Al Baqarah

This is the first Surah revealed in Madiha and the the 87^th surah in order of revelation.

VERSE 1-5

1.       ALIF, Lam, Mim. (These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings)

2.       This Scripture there is no doubt in it, is a Guidance for the reverent

3.        who believe in the Unseen, and establish the Salat, and out of what We have provided them with, they do spend;

4.        and who believe in what has been revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you, and regarding the Hereafter they firmly believe.

5.        These are upon Guidance from their Rabb, and these are themselves the successful

Abu Hurairah reported Muhammad to have said, "Do not make your houses graveyards. The devil flees from the house in which Surah Al-Baqara is recited." from Sahih Muslim
It is reported from ‘Uqbah Ibn ‘Amir Al-Juhani that he said that Muhammad said: “Recite the last two verses from Surat Al-Baqarah, for I was given them from a treasure trove beneath the Throne” (Ahmad)

These 5 ayats deal with the attributes of the righteous people who fear Allah and abstain from sins. It states that this Book (The Holy Quran) is indeed a guidance for those are muttaqi (pious). These are the people who believe in whats hidden from the naked eye, who perform Salat as it should be performed (give priority to it and perform it in the best possible way as it should be performed) and who spend from what has been given to them (rizq). This rizq may be in  tangible(food, money etc) or intangible(knowledge etc) form both. Thus, just spending money in the path of Allah is not enough. We need to convey our knowledge to others and if we know something we should guide others as well. And these muttaqi people believe in not only the the Quran and the Holy prophet(pbuh) but also on the meaning of Quran all that has been revealed before the Prophet – the Taurat (Torah), Injeel (Gospel) etc and they believe with certainty (yaqeen which is the last level of eman) in the Hereafter. Indeed these are the people who are on the right path, who have received Hidayat (guidance) from the Quran and Sunnah and for sure they will be successful (will enter Jannah).

To sum up these five verses are defining the characteristics of muttaqi people who will be successful in both the worlds. We can get success (Jannah) if we get guidance (hidayat) from the Book and Sunnah. This hidayat would lead to taqwa(God fearing) within us. And this taqwa can be achieved by believing in the gaib , performing Salat properly, spending from the rizq God has given us, believing in the Quran, Sunnah and whatever had been revealed before the Prophet(pbuh) and a firm belief in the Hereafter.

Success - Hidayat - Taqwa - Five characteristics mentioned above