Al-Baqara in the context of "Sūrah"

A surah (/ˈsʊərə/; Arabic: سُورَة, romanized: sūrah; pl. سُوَر, suwar) is an Arabic word meaning "chapter" in the Quran. There are 114 surah in the Quran, each divided into verses (Arabic: آيات, romanized: āyāt, lit. 'signs'). The surah are of unequal length; the shortest surah ("al-Kawthar") has only three verses, while the longest (al-Baqarah) contains 286 verses. The Quran consists of one short introductory chapter (Q1), eight very long chapters, making up one-third of the Quran (Q2‒9); 19 mid-length chapters, making up another one-third (Q10‒28); and 86 short and very short ones of the last one-third (Q29‒114).

Of the 114 surah in the Quran, 86 are classified as Meccan (Arabic: مكي, romanized: makkī), as according to Islamic tradition they were revealed before Muhammad's migration to Medina (hijrah), while 28 are Medinan (Arabic: مدني, romanized: madanī), as they were revealed after. This classification is only approximate in regard to the location of revelation; any surah revealed after the migration is termed Medinan and any revealed before it is termed Meccan, regardless of where the surah was revealed. However, some Meccan surah contain Medinan verses (verses revealed after the migration) and vice versa. Whether a surah is Medinan or Meccan depends on if the beginning of the surah was revealed before or after the migration.

Al-Fatiḥa (Arabic: ٱلۡفَاتِحَةِ, romanized: al-Fātiḥa, lit. 'the Opening') is the first chapter (sura) of the Quran. It consists of seven verses (ayat) which consist of a prayer for guidance and mercy.

Al-Fatiḥa is recited in Muslim obligatory and voluntary prayers, known as ṣalah. The primary literal meaning of the expression "Al-Fatiḥa" is "The Opener/The Key".

A Medinan surah (Arabic: سورة مدنية, romanized: Surah Madaniyah) of the Quran is one that was revealed at Medina after Muhammad's hijrah from Mecca. They are the latest 28 Suwar. The community was larger and more developed, in contrast to its minority position in Mecca.

The Medinan Surahs occur mostly at the beginning and in the middle of the Qur'an (but are said to be the last revealed surahs chronologically), and typically have more and longer ayat (verses). Due to the new circumstances of the early Muslim community in Medina, these surahs more often deal with details of moral principles, legislation, warfare (as in Surah 2, al-Baqara), and principles for constituting the community. They also refer more often to the community with "O people!" and at times directly address Muhammad or speak of him as "an agent acting in combination with the divine persona: 'God and his messenger' (Q 33:22)".

Menstruation in Islam relates to various purity related restrictions in Islamic jurisprudence. The ḥayḍ (Arabic: حيض) is the religious state of menstruation in Islam. The Qur'an makes specific mention of menstruation in al-Baqara 2:222:

The language is taken to imply that sexual relations during menstruation are prohibited.