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100

Read Al-Fatihah. What is the first actual request we make to Allah after praising Him and declaring our worship?

Guidance — Ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim.

100

Tell us the story of Adam ﷺ and Iblis as it appears in 2:30–39.

  • Allah announces the creation/placing of a khalifah on earth.
  • Allah teaches Adam the names.
  • Adam demonstrates that knowledge.
  • Allah commands the angels to bow.
  • The angels obey.
  • Iblis refuses and becomes arrogant.
  • Adam and his wife are allowed in the garden.
  • They are told not to approach a particular tree.
  • Shaytan causes them to slip.
  • They are sent to earth.
  • Adam receives words from Allah and repents.
  • Allah accepts his repentance.
  • Allah promises guidance.
100

Your friend says:

“Islam is basically just a bunch of rules.”

Using something from Al-Baqarah, give them a better picture of what Islam is about.

2:186 — Allah says He is near and responds when His servant calls Him.

Other valid evidence:

  • 2:152 — remember Allah and He remembers you.
  • 2:153 — seek help through patience and prayer.
  • 2:177 — righteousness includes belief, worship, generosity, character and patience.

Main point: Islam is relationship with Allah, guidance, character, worship, community and responsibility—not merely rules.

100

Near the very beginning of Al-Baqarah, Allah describes the Qur’an as guidance for a certain type of person.

Find the ayah.

Hint: First page of the surah.

2:2

The Book in which there is no doubt, guidance for the people of taqwa.


100

CLAIM:

“If someone makes a serious mistake, that means Allah no longer wants them back.”

Strong evidence: 2:37 — Adam ﷺ sins, turns back to Allah, and Allah accepts his repentance.

Also acceptable:
2:222 — Allah loves those who repeatedly repent.

200

 Read 2:127–129. Ibrahim ﷺ and Isma‘il ﷺ are building the Ka‘bah. What are at least THREE things they ask Allah for?

  • Accept this from us.
  • Make us Muslims/submitting to You.
  • Make from our descendants a submitting nation.
  • Show us our acts of worship.
  • Accept our repentance.
  • Send among them a messenger who recites Allah’s verses, teaches the Book and wisdom, and purifies them.
200

Tell us the full story of the cow in 2:67–74. Don't just say, “They were told to slaughter a cow.”

  • Musa tells Bani Isra’il that Allah commands them to slaughter a cow.
  • They accuse/question whether Musa is mocking them.
  • They repeatedly ask for more details.
  • They ask about its age.
  • They ask about its color.
  • They ask for more description.
  • The required cow becomes very specifically described.
  • They finally slaughter it.
  • The story is connected to a murdered person.
  • Part of the cow is used, by Allah’s command, in connection with revealing the truth of the murder.
  • Allah demonstrates His power to give life to the dead.
  • Their hearts afterward are described as hardened.
200

Someone says:

“Why should I pray? Allah doesn't need my prayer.”

Use Al-Baqarah to make a convincing response.

2:153


Seek help through patience and prayer.

  • 2:45
  • 2:21 — worship your Creator so that you may develop taqwa.

Allah does not need our salah; we need Allah, and prayer is one of the ways Allah teaches us to seek His help and build taqwa.

200

Find the ayah where Allah tells believers to seek help through two things.

Hint: It appears more than once in Al-Baqarah. Finding either occurrence counts.

two things: patience and prayer.

Answer: 2:45 or 2:153.

200

CLAIM:

“Asking questions about religion is a sign of weak faith.”

Verdict: FALSE.

Strong evidence:

  • Angels ask Allah about Adam in 2:30, yet they obey.
  • Ibrahim asks how Allah gives life to the dead in 2:260, and explicitly says he believes but wants reassurance.

Important distinction: Questions seeking understanding are different from questioning as an excuse to resist obedience.

300

Find a dua in Al-Baqarah that asks Allah for good in both this life and the next.
 

2:201. 

 

وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ [1]

"Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire." [1]






300

Using 2:124–132, tell us the story of Ibrahim ﷺ in this section of Al-Baqarah.

  • Allah tests Ibrahim with commands.
  • Ibrahim fulfills them.
  • Allah appoints him as an imam/leader for humanity.
  • Ibrahim asks about his descendants.
  • Allah says His covenant does not include wrongdoers.
  • The Ka‘bah is made a place of return/security.
  • Ibrahim asks Allah to make Makkah secure.
  • Ibrahim and Isma‘il raise the foundations of the Ka‘bah.
  • They ask Allah to accept their work.
  • They make du‘a for themselves and their descendants.
  • They ask Allah to send a messenger.
  • Ibrahim teaches his descendants submission to Allah.
300

Someone says:

“I'm Muslim because my parents are Muslim. That's enough.”

Use Al-Baqarah to respond.

2:132–134

Especially 2:134: previous generations have what they earned, and you have what you earn.

Family can teach and influence faith, but each person is accountable for their own belief and actions.

300

Question: You are looking for an ayah where Allah says:

  • He is near,
  • He hears the person who calls Him,
  • and He responds to du‘a.

Hint: Look inside the section discussing Ramadan and fasting.

2:186. 

"When My servants ask you concerning Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided."

300

CLAIM:

“If you know a lot about religion, you are automatically guided.”

Verdict: FALSE.

Strong evidence:

  • 2:44 — telling others to be righteous while forgetting yourself despite reading scripture.
  • Bani Isra’il receive knowledge/signs yet repeatedly disobey.
  • Iblis knows Allah but refuses His command.

Main point: Knowledge needs humility, faith and action

400

Read 2:286 and identify at least FOUR separate things believers ask Allah for.


  • don't punish us for forgetting/mistakes;
  • don't place burdens like those before us;
  • don't burden us beyond our capacity;
  • pardon us;
  • forgive us;
  • have mercy on us;
  • grant victory/help.
400

Tell us the story of Talut and Jalut from 2:246–251, beginning with Bani Isra’il asking for a king.

  • Leaders of Bani Isra’il ask their prophet to appoint a king so they can fight.
  • Their prophet warns that they may refuse when fighting becomes required.
  • Most eventually turn away.
  • Allah chooses Talut as king.
  • They object because he lacks wealth/status.
  • Their prophet explains Allah chose him and gave him knowledge and physical ability.
  • A sign of his kingship is given.
  • Talut leads the army.
  • They are tested at a river.
  • Most fail the test.
  • A smaller group continues.
  • Some fear Jalut’s army.
  • Believers say that many small groups have defeated larger groups by Allah’s permission.
  • They make du‘a for patience and firmness.
  • They defeat Jalut’s forces by Allah’s permission.
  • Dawud kills Jalut.
  • Allah grants Dawud authority and wisdom.
400

Your friend is going through something difficult and says:

“If something hurts this much, it must mean it is bad for me.”

Use Al-Baqarah to respond in a way that is comforting without dismissing their pain.

2:216

You may dislike something that is good for you and love something that is bad for you; Allah knows and you do not know.

Pain is real, but our knowledge is limited. Something difficult can still contain wisdom or good that we cannot yet see.

400

Find the ayah containing:

“There is no compulsion in -------.”

Then read the rest of the ayah and tell us what contrast Allah gives immediately afterward.

Hint: It comes immediately after one of the most famous ayat in the Qur’an.

Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood. So whoever renounces false gods and believes in Allah has certainly grasped the firmest, unfailing hand-hold. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

400

CLAIM:

“A person with more money and status is probably more qualified to lead."

Verdict: FALSE.

Strong evidence: 2:247

Bani Isra’il object to Talut partly because he lacks wealth. Their prophet says Allah chose him and increased him in knowledge and physical capacity.

500

Compare 2:127–129 with 2:285–286.

What do both passages reveal about a believer's attitude after doing something good?

Humility and dependence. Ibrahim finishes building the Ka‘bah and still asks for acceptance; believers affirm faith and obedience but still seek forgiveness and mercy

500

Al-Baqarah gives us two unusual stories back-to-back in 2:259–260. Tell us BOTH stories.

2:259

  • A man passes by a ruined town.
  • He wonders how Allah will bring it back to life.
  • Allah causes him to die for one hundred years.
  • Allah resurrects him.
  • He thinks he remained there for a day or part of a day.
  • His food and drink remain unchanged.
  • He is shown what happened to his donkey.
  • Allah demonstrates resurrection before him.

2:260

  • Ibrahim asks Allah to show him how He gives life to the dead.
  • Allah asks whether he believes.
  • Ibrahim says yes, but wants reassurance for his heart.
  • Allah tells him to take four birds.
  • They are divided/placed on different hills according to the command.
  • Ibrahim calls them.
  • They come to him by Allah’s power.
  • The story demonstrates Allah’s power over resurrection.
500

Someone tells you:

“Islam is only about prayer, fasting and personal worship. It doesn't really say much about how you treat people.”

Make the strongest case you can from Al-Baqarah that they are wrong.

2:177

  • belief in Allah;
  • giving wealth despite loving it;
  • helping relatives;
  • orphans;
  • needy;
  • travelers;
  • freeing people;
  • salah;
  • zakah;
  • keeping promises;
  • patience during hardship.

Other evidence:

  • charity passages, 2:261–274;
  • debt/financial ethics, 2:282;
  • justice and social obligations elsewhere in the surah.

Al-Baqarah presents righteousness as faith + worship + ethics + generosity + responsibility toward people.

500

Somewhere in Al-Baqarah, Allah gives an image of a person who gives charity but then ruins the reward through reminders or hurtful behavior. 

Find the ayah and identify the image.

Hint: Look in the long section about spending and charity.

2:264 

O believers! Do not waste your charity with reminders ˹of your generosity˺ or hurtful words, like those who donate their wealth just to show off and do not believe in Allah or the Last Day. Their example is that of a hard barren rock covered with a thin layer of soil hit by a strong rain—leaving it just a bare stone. Such people are unable to preserve the reward of their charity. Allah does not guide ˹such˺ disbelieving people.

500

CLAIM:

“The main problem with Bani Isra’il in Surah Al-Baqarah was simply that nobody had explained Allah's guidance clearly enough to them.”

Verdict: FALSE.

For full points, teams must give at least THREE pieces of evidence.

Possible evidence:

  • They witnessed rescue from Fir‘awn and the splitting of the sea — 2:50.
  • They worshipped the calf despite receiving signs — 2:51–54.
  • They received manna and quail — 2:57.
  • They repeatedly resisted the command regarding the cow — 2:67–71.
  • Their hearts became hardened after signs — 2:74.
  • They are accused of hearing Allah's words and distorting them after understanding — 2:75.
  • They are criticized for accepting part of revelation while rejecting another part — 2:85.

Main verdict: Their problem was often not lack of information, but how they responded to guidance they had already received.