Surah Al-Baqarah, the second and longest surah in the Quran, has 286 ayat and takes about 1 hour, 47 minutes and 59 seconds to listen to in full, in the Hafs an Asim recording of Maher Al-Muaiqly available on Quran Orb. Two short passages inside it are worth knowing on their own: Ayat al-Kursi (2:255) and the surah's last two ayat (2:285-286), both quoted here in full. A hadith in Sahih Muslim also ties the surah directly to the home, which is why so many households make a habit of reciting or listening to it there.
How long does Surah Al-Baqarah take to listen to?
At 286 ayat, Al-Baqarah is the longest surah in the Quran by a wide margin, covering roughly two and a half juz on its own. Quran Orb's complete recording of it, read by Maher Al-Muaiqly in the Hafs an Asim transmission, runs 6,479 seconds: 1 hour, 47 minutes and 59 seconds. For comparison, the entire Quran in that same recording runs 22 hours and 41 minutes, so Al-Baqarah alone accounts for roughly one thirteenth of the whole listening time.
That length is exactly why many people split it up rather than listen in one sitting. A short plan further down covers one practical way to do that over a week.
Why Surah Al-Baqarah gets recited at home
The house connection is not a folk custom, it comes from a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ recorded in Sahih Muslim 780: "Do not make your houses as graveyards. Satan runs away from the house in which Surah Baqara is recited." A related hadith, Sahih Muslim 804a, groups Al-Baqarah with Al Imran: "Recite the two bright ones, al-Baqara and Surah Al 'Imran, for on the Day of Resurrection they will come as two clouds or two shades, or two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading for those who recite them. Recite Surah al-Baqara, for to take recourse to it is a blessing and to give it up is a cause of grief, and the magicians cannot confront it."
Both hadith are about the surah as a whole rather than any single ayah, which is part of why a full, uninterrupted listen, even spread across several sittings, is worth building into a week rather than only sampling a few verses.
Ayat al-Kursi (2:255): the greatest ayah in the Quran
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ ﴿٢٥٥﴾
البقرة: 255"Allāh - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great."
Al-Baqara 2:255, Saheeh International
Ibn Kathir's tafsir introduces this ayah as Ayat al-Kursi and notes that it is widely known as the greatest ayah in the Quran. Al-Sa'di's tafsir explains why in plain terms: in a handful of lines it gathers God's oneness ("there is no deity except Him"), His complete, self-sustaining life that needs no rest ("the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining... Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep"), His ownership of everything in the heavens and earth, and knowledge and power that reach every part of creation without any strain to Him.
One night-time practice around this ayah comes from Sahih al-Bukhari 2311, though its context matters: the advice is spoken by a thief Abu Huraira caught taking from the Ramadan charity store, who told him, "Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayat-al-Kursi... till you finish the whole verse. (If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you and no satan will come near you till morning." When Abu Huraira reported this to the Prophet ﷺ, he confirmed it, saying, "He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar."
The last two ayat of Surah Al-Baqarah (2:285-286)
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٢٨٥﴾ لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ ۖ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٢٨٦﴾
البقرة: 285-286"The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allāh and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination." Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
Al-Baqara 2:285-286, Saheeh International
Ibn Kathir's tafsir reads these two ayat as a pair: 2:285 states the belief every messenger and every believer shares, in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers, without singling any messenger out, closing with a request for forgiveness. 2:286 then answers that request in practical terms, that no soul is asked to carry more than it can bear, followed by a series of short supplications for pardon, mercy and support against disbelief.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5009 records a direct hadith about these two ayat: "If somebody recited the last two Verses of Surat Al-Baqara at night, that will be sufficient for him." Many people who cannot manage the whole surah in one sitting still keep this short pair as a nightly habit for that reason.
A simple plan to listen to all of Al-Baqarah at home
Splitting 108 minutes of listening across a week is far easier than clearing a single long sitting for it:
- Day 1-2: Juz 1 (1:1 to 2:141), roughly the first third.
- Day 3-4: Juz 2 (2:142 to 2:252), the middle stretch, including the verse of the throne's surrounding passages on charity and patience.
- Day 5: The remainder through Ayat al-Kursi and on to the end, 2:253 to 2:286.
- Every night: the last two ayat alone, which take under two minutes and fit easily before sleep.
Listening while doing something else, commuting, cooking, winding down before bed, is enough to listen to the whole surah this way, a little each day. For building that into a lasting habit rather than a one-week push, our daily Quran listening habit guide has a fuller framework, and memorizing by listening covers how repeated listening turns into memorization over time.
Reciters who recorded Al-Baqarah, and how they differ in sound
Quran Orb's own recording uses Maher Al-Muaiqly in Hafs an Asim, in the murattal style, the same steady, unhurried delivery used for nearly every complete mushaf recording. It is not the only recording of Al-Baqarah worth knowing about, either: Al-Muaiqly also has a complete mujawwad recording, in a more ornamented style, which includes Al-Baqarah.
Al-Baqarah is also one of the most searched-for surahs by reciter name, and two names come up constantly: Abdur-Rahman as-Sudais and Saud Al-Shuraim. Both have recorded the surah in the Hafs an Asim transmission, in murattal style, and both recordings are widely available. Comparing a few ayat of Al-Baqarah across two or three reciters, rather than reading about pace and tone in the abstract, is the fastest way to find which voice suits your own listening. Our guide to well-known reciters is a good next stop for that comparison.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to listen to all of Surah Al-Baqarah?
In Quran Orb's recording of Maher Al-Muaiqly, the complete surah runs 1 hour, 47 minutes and 59 seconds. Splitting it across two or three sittings, or a week of shorter ones, is the easiest way to listen to all 286 ayat.
What is Ayat al-Kursi and why is it called the greatest ayah?
Ayat al-Kursi is 2:255 of Surah Al-Baqarah. Tafsir Ibn Kathir describes it as widely known as the greatest ayah in the Quran, and Al-Sa'di's tafsir explains that this is because it gathers, in a few lines, Allah's oneness, His eternal and self-sustaining life, and knowledge and power that reach the heavens and the earth without any weariness to Him.
What do the last two ayat of Al-Baqarah mean?
2:285 states the shared belief of the Messenger and the believers in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers, and closes by asking for forgiveness. 2:286 answers that request, affirming that no soul is burdened beyond its capacity, and closes with short supplications for pardon, mercy and support.
Is there a hadith about reciting Surah Al-Baqarah at home?
Yes. Sahih Muslim 780 records the Prophet ﷺ saying, "Do not make your houses as graveyards. Satan runs away from the house in which Surah Baqara is recited." Sahih Muslim 804a also describes Al-Baqarah and Al Imran together as coming for their reciters on the Day of Resurrection.
Which reciter should I listen to for Surah Al-Baqarah?
Quran Orb's recording, by Maher Al-Muaiqly in Hafs an Asim murattal, is a steady starting point for a first complete listen. Abdur-Rahman as-Sudais and Saud Al-Shuraim have also both recorded the surah in the same transmission and style, so comparing a few of the same ayat across all three is a quick way to find the voice you want to keep listening to.
Sources
- Saheeh International, English translation of the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Kathir
- Tafsir al-Sa'di
- Sahih Muslim 780
- Sahih Muslim 804a
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2311
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5009