Ramadan Mubarak.
Every Ramadan, our community at Qaswa gathers to study one surah in depth — weaving tafseer into our nightly prayers. We’ve journeyed through Al-Baqarah, Ali Imran, An-Nisa, Al-Ma’idah, and Al-An’am. This year, we enter Surah Al-A’raf: 206 ayat, one of the longer Makki surahs, and a surah that carries a message every generation needs to hear.
If you're following along, the Surah Al-A'raf Study Guide and Workbook is your companion through this series — structured notes, key points, and reflection questions for each thematic section, designed to help you move from listening to living the lessons. Physical copies are available at the tarawih hall and Qaswa House. And if you're reading this on Substack, consider a paid subscription to receive a free digital copy of the workbook — your support also helps keep this tafseer series going.
The Surahs Come in Pairs
One of the beautiful structural features of the Quran is that the early surahs mirror and complement each other.
Al-Baqarah purifies the heart — iman and taqwa. Ali Imran extends that inward transformation outward — Islam and submission. An-Nisa moves from the individual to the community, beginning with the most vulnerable: orphans and women. Al-Ma’idah scales further outward still — to national and international relations.
Then Al-An’am, a Makki surah, brings us back to basics. Back to aqidah. It makes the case for Islam through reason — the logical argument of Prophet Ibrahim, who observed that a god who appears and disappears cannot be God.
Surah Al-A’raf continues that argument — but shifts the angle. Where Al-An’am appealed to logic, Al-A’raf appeals to history. What happened to the nations before us? What became of the peoples who refused to listen?
Makki vs Madani: What We’ve Been Getting Wrong
Here is something worth sitting with: roughly 70% of the Quran is Makki. Only 30% is Madani.
The Madani surahs contain our laws — fasting, zakat, hajj, rulings on marriage and wealth and dress. Important, yes. But the bulk of Allah’s revelation is Makki, and the Makki surahs are concerned above all with akhlaq — character, ethics, the way we treat one another.
The Prophet ﷺ was asked repeatedly: who is the best person? His answers: the one with the most beautiful character. The one who is most useful to others.
Yet over 1400 years, we have narrowed our definition of a good Muslim to ritual: how many rakaat, how many khatms, how long the fast, how correct the recitation. We’ve let the 30% overshadow the 70%. We’ve mistaken the branches for the roots.
Surah Al-A’raf will have something to say about this — particularly in the story of Prophet Adam and his expulsion from Jannah, where we will see what Allah identifies as the most important quality of a believer.
