Juz 1 — Thematic Outline (English Translation) work done by Dr. Shamsi.

Oct 23, 2026 · @zsyed52@hotmail.com

Surah Al-Fatihah — Makki — Verses: 7

Praise and Attributes of Allah [1–3]

• Lord of the Worlds, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment

Supplication [4–7]

• Seeking help; being guided along the Straight Path; explanation of the Straight Path

Surah Al-Baqarah — Madani — Verses: 286

The Quran is guidance, but only for those who… [1–7]

• are God-conscious, believe in the unseen, establish prayer, spend in Allah’s way, believe in the Quran and the earlier divine scriptures, and are certain of the Hereafter. Those who reject it have a seal on their hearts and ears and a veil over their eyes.

The Hypocrites [8–20]

• They profess belief in Allah and the Hereafter with their tongues, but their hearts are diseased
• They spread corruption in the land, yet claim, “We are only reformers”
• They consider the sincere believers fools
• They secretly collude with the opponents and enemies of Islam
• Their parables:
  1. The light of a fire illuminates everything around them, yet their sight is taken away: the outright hypocrite
  2. In flashes of lightning they walk a few steps, and on hearing the thunder they block their ears: the wavering hypocrite

The Call to Worship the Lord [21–22]

• He is your Creator and the Creator of those before you, Creator of the earth and the heavens. He made the earth and sky for you, sent rain from the sky and brought forth produce from the earth

Doubt about the Quran: The Challenge [23–25]

• Produce a single surah like it, and call on whomever you wish besides Allah for help. You will never be able to do so, and as the penalty for rejecting the truth you will become fuel for Hell
• Glad tidings for the believers who kept doing righteous deeds: Gardens beneath which rivers flow, with fruits and pure spouses

The Parable of the Mosquito [26]

• Those who accept the truth find it through such parables, while the defiantly disobedient (fasiqun) are led astray

Who Are the Fasiqun? [27]

• They break Allah’s covenant after firmly binding it
• They sever what Allah commanded to be joined
• They spread corruption in the land

“How Can You Disbelieve in Allah?” [28–29]

• Having seen the signs within yourselves and across the universe, how can you adopt the attitude of disbelief?

The Creation of Adam [30–39]

• The announcement of Adam’s creation, the angels’ concern, Adam taught the names, the angels commanded to prostrate, and Iblis’s refusal
• At Satan’s prompting, Adam and Hawwa disobeyed and were sent down to earth. They repented and were forgiven
• Follow whatever guidance comes to you from Me. Those who deny it will face the Fire

Al-Baqarah [40–103] — The Children of Israel

The Invitation to the Children of Israel [40–46]

1. Fulfil the covenant you made with Me, and I will fulfil the covenant I made with you
2. Fear Me alone
3. Believe in this Book, which confirms your own scripture. Do not become its rejecters
4. Do not sell My verses for a small price
5. Do not obscure the truth by coating it with falsehood
6. Do not knowingly conceal the truth
7. Establish prayer
8. Give zakah
9. You enjoin righteousness on others yet forget yourselves, even though you recite the Book
10. Seek help through patience and prayer. Prayer is hard, except for those who fear Allah and are certain of the Hereafter

Allah’s Favours upon the Children of Israel [47–61]

1. Preference over all the nations of the world
2. Deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh’s people
3. Forgiveness when you repented, despite taking the calf as a god
4. The Book and the Criterion (al-Furqan) given to Musa for your guidance
5. Despite your audacity in demanding to see Allah, when the thunderbolt struck you down lifeless, you were raised back to life
6. The shade of clouds in the Sinai desert
7. Manna and quails (al-Mann wa al-Salwa)
8. The command to enter the town saying “Hittah, Hittah” (relieve us of our burdens), with permission to enjoy its produce
9. Twelve springs of water
10. Their demand for the earth’s produce (greens, vegetables, wheat, garlic, onions and lentils) was granted

Despite all this, they denied Allah’s verses and unjustly killed the prophets, so humiliation and wretchedness were imposed on them and they incurred Allah’s wrath.

Only Faith and Righteous Deeds Count with Allah [62]

• Belonging to a group cannot be the basis of your salvation, whether it is the believers, the Jews, the Christians or the Sabians. Only sincere faith and righteous deeds count, and these alone guarantee Paradise

The Disobedience of the Children of Israel [63–103]

1. The Mount (Tur) was raised over you and a covenant taken, then you turned away from it
2. They broke the law of the Sabbath
3. Commanded to sacrifice a cow, they began to stall and make excuses
4. They were shown the dead brought back to life, yet their hearts grew harder than stone, for even from stone springs gush forth
5. Their scholars deliberately distorted the divine Book
6. The unlettered among them cling to baseless hopes and wishes and follow conjecture and assumption
7. Their scholars bent the divine word to suit their desires and attributed it to Allah
8. Their belief that the Fire will never touch them, except perhaps a punishment of a few days
9. A firm covenant was taken from them that they would:
   1. Worship none but Allah
   2. Treat parents, relatives, orphans and the needy kindly
   3. Speak good words to people
   4. Establish prayer
   5. Pay zakah — all but a few turned away from this covenant
10. A firm covenant that they would not shed one another’s blood. They agreed to it, yet today openly violate it
11. Musa was given the Book, then messengers were sent one after another, and ‘Isa was given clear signs. They rebelled: some they denied and some they killed
12. When the Prophet they had been eagerly awaiting finally came, they refused to accept him
13. When told to believe in this Prophet, they say, “We will only believe in one from our own lineage,” meaning the Children of Israel. If so, why did they keep killing the prophets who were from the Children of Israel?
14. Musa came with clear signs, and as soon as he turned his back, they took the calf as a god
15. The Mount was raised over you and a covenant taken. You said, “We hear, but we will not obey”
16. Their love of this world is so great that each of them wishes to live a thousand years. They consider the home of the Hereafter reserved for themselves, in which case they should long for death, but they never will
17. Enmity toward Jibril, whereas whoever is an enemy of Allah, His messengers, His angels, Mika’il and Jibril, Allah is the enemy of such disbelievers
18. Following the devils who presented things of disbelief in the name of Sulaiman’s kingdom and taught sorcery
19. The angels Harut and Marut were sent as a trial. They taught what caused discord between husband and wife, and this was the knowledge most in demand among them
20. Hair-splitting: they would put all kinds of questions to Musa

Al-Baqarah [104–141] — Warnings and the Way of Ibrahim

Beware the Ways of the Jews [104–123]

• Do not say “Ra’ina”; say “Unzurna”
• They do not want any good to be sent down to you from your Lord
• The Jews’ objection: why do some rulings of the Quran differ from the Mosaic law? Because whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring in its place one better than it, or at least like it
• Do not make the kind of questions or demands of your Messenger that the Children of Israel made of Musa
• Out of sheer envy, they want to turn you back to disbelief. Be on your guard against them
• They claim Paradise is only for the Jews, or, as the Christians say, only for Christians. Bring your proof. The only criterion is obedience to Allah and righteous deeds
• Those who prevent the remembrance of Allah in His mosques are the greatest wrongdoers
• East and West both belong to Allah; wherever you turn, there is Allah
• Allah has no son
• The demand for a miracle: “Why doesn’t Allah speak to us Himself, or send us a sign?” The misguided before them made the same demand. What greater sign is there than that you (ﷺ) were sent as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner?
• A reminder to the Children of Israel that they were favoured over all nations and warned about the Day of the Hereafter

Ibrahim (AS) [124–141]

1. He was tested in certain matters and fulfilled them all, and was then appointed leader and Imam of all people
2. “Does this promise also extend to my descendants?” “My promise does not include the wrongdoers.”
3. The command to build the Ka’bah, a centre for people and a place of security
4. The supplication of Ibrahim and Isma’il while raising the foundations of the Ka’bah: “Make us Muslims, submitting to You, and make our descendants a nation submitting to You. Raise among them a Messenger who will recite Your verses to them, teach them the Book and wisdom, and purify their lives.”
5. Turning away from the way of Ibrahim is nothing but ignorance and folly
6. When told, “Submit,” he immediately replied, “I have submitted to the Lord of all creation,” and he enjoined the same on his children, as did Ya’qub on his
7. Not Judaism, nor Christianity, but only the way of Ibrahim, and he was not one of the polytheists
8. O Muslims, say: “We believe in Allah and in the guidance revealed to Ibrahim, Isma’il, Ishaq, Ya’qub and the descendants of Ya’qub, and in what was given to Musa, ‘Isa and all the other prophets”
9. Take on the colour (sibghah) of Allah. What colour could be better than His?
10. Were Ibrahim, Isma’il, Ishaq, Ya’qub and the descendants of Ya’qub Jews or Christians?