Sūrah Al-Baqarah The Cow
سورة البقرة
Al-Qurṭubī treats Al-Baqarah as a comprehensive legal surah containing the foundations of Islamic fiqh from qiblah change and Ramadan fasting to marriage, divorce, ʿiddah, and ribā and spends extended analysis on the cow sacrifice narrative as an example of the fiqh principle of proportional response to divine commands.
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Al-Qurṭubī
Al-Qurṭubī structures his treatment of Al-Baqarah around its major legal sections, spending extensive analysis on the debt-documentation verse (2:282 the longest verse in the Quran) and the fiqh of testimony. He extracts twelve rulings from 2:282 alone: the obligation of written documentation for credit transactions; the requirement of two male witnesses or one male and two female witnesses; the prohibition of harming the scribe or witnesses; and the permissibility of oral contracts for immediate spot transactions ("ḥāḍiran tudīrūnahā baynakum"). He notes that 2:282 is the strongest Quranic evidence for the permissibility of commercial documentation contracts, receipts, and records are not merely permitted but commanded.
On the ribā verses (2:275–281), al-Qurṭubī documents the comprehensive four-school position on what constitutes ribā al-faḍl (increase of like for like) and ribā al-nasīʾah (increase through delay). He applies the uṣūl principle of ʿumūm al-lafẓ (generality of wording): the Quranic command "abandon what remains of ribā" (2:278) uses an unrestricted general term "mā baqiya min ar-ribā" covering all forms of stipulated interest regardless of what name it is given. He then notes the severity of the ribā declaration (2:279 "war from Allah and His Messenger") as a uniquely strong Quranic legal threat, applied by al-Qurṭubī to demonstrate the absolute nature of the prohibition.
- Twelve rulings from one verse: Al-Qurṭubī extracts twelve distinct fiqh rulings from 2:282 demonstrating his method of comprehensive legal extraction from a single Quranic verse.
- Ribā comprehensiveness: The ʿumūm al-lafẓ principle applied to 2:278 means all stipulated interest increase is prohibited regardless of form or label the four schools are unanimous on the core prohibition.
- War declaration severity: Al-Qurṭubī notes that 2:279's "war from Allah and His Messenger" is uniquely the only Quranic verse that declares war on believers who persist in a specific sin, indicating the severity of ribā above other prohibitions.
- Documentation ruling: Al-Qurṭubī documents the obligatory vs. recommended debate and aligns with the majority position (recommended) while preserving the minority (Ẓāhirī) obligatory view.
- Fasting intention split: The nightly vs. monthly intention debate for Ramaḍān fasting is documented with al-Qurṭubī preferring nightly intention as more cautious a characteristic approach when a position entails more worship.