then He enumerated the ordinances of the religion: He spoke of fasting the month of Ramadan and of the retreat in the mosque (iʿtikāf) that takes place therein. Next He turned to what is connected to the month of fasting—namely, the months of pilgrimage—so He mentioned the pilgrimage, and He set down the ruling on fighting in general and, more specifically, within the Sacred Precinct. Once He had dealt with prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, striving in Allah’s cause, and almsgiving, He proceeded to the lawful and unlawful regarding sexual relations. Thus He laid out the rulings on marital intercourse, menstruation, the ilāʾ oath of abstention, divorce, and khulʿ. He then set forth the rulings concerning children and their nursing; the waiting periods of women and proposals to them during the ʿidda; and their divorce both before and after consummation. After that He returned to the prayers and the duty of guarding them, and He confirmed the Return, adducing as evidence the repeated revival of the dead in this world.

Accordingly, this single surah gathers within it everything people need in religion, in both its fundamentals and its particulars. It opens with faith in the Scriptures and the messengers, places that faith at its midpoint, and concludes with it—because faith in the Scriptures and the messengers is the pillar, the foundation, and the sum of all belief.

In it He addresses His creation in general and in specific terms; He mentions belief in the Creator and the signs of His lordship, belief in the Resurrection and the Final Abode, and the righteous deeds He has prescribed, and that whoever among the followers of the messengers—believers, Jews, or Christians—