Aṭ-Ṭiwāl as-Sabʿ — the seven long
الطُّوَل السبعThe seven long sūrahs that open the muṣḥaf after al-Fātiḥah.
The first long stretch of the muṣḥaf was treated by the Companions as a recognised portion. Taking it on — reading it, learning it, living with it — was described as taking a great share, because between them these seven carry most of the law, most of the arguments with the People of the Book, and most of the major battles.
Scholars differ on the seventh: some name Yūnus, others count al-Anfāl and at-Tawbah together as one, since no Bismillāh separates them. This page lists the second counting; the difference is one of arrangement, not of text. The wording of the report about 'taking the seven' is graded differently by different ḥadīth scholars.
The sūrahs in this group
- 2Al-BaqarahThe CowMadinah · 286 āyāt · The Hijrah — migration to Madinah
- 3Āl ʿImrānThe Family of ʿImrānMadinah · 200 āyāt · The Hijrah — migration to Madinah
- 4An-NisāʾThe WomenMadinah · 176 āyāt · The Hijrah — migration to Madinah
- 5Al-MāʾidahThe Table SpreadMadinah · 120 āyāt · Conquest, completion and farewell
- 6Al-AnʿāmThe CattleMakkah · 165 āyāt · The journey to Ṭāʾif and the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ)
- 7Al-AʿrāfThe HeightsMakkah · 206 āyāt · Going public — and the persecution
- 9At-TawbahThe RepentanceMadinah · 129 āyāt · Conquest, completion and farewell
'Whoever takes the seven, he is a scholar' — reported of the seven long sūrahs.
— Musnad Aḥmad 6:82, from ʿĀʾishahSaʿīd ibn Jubayr identified the seven long as al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān, an-Nisāʾ, al-Māʾidah, al-Anʿām, al-Aʿrāf and Yūnus.
— Al-Suyūṭī, al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān
What runs through all of them
Where the law lives
Prayer, zakāh, fasting, marriage, inheritance, contracts, food, war and treaties are concentrated here more than anywhere else.
The long argument with earlier communities
Banū Isrāʾīl, the family of ʿImrān, the covenants broken and kept — the pattern of a people given a Book and what they did with it.
The prophets in sequence
Al-Anʿām and al-Aʿrāf run through Nūḥ, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lūṭ, Shuʿayb and Mūsā back to back: one message, many messengers, the same refusal.
The community under pressure
Badr, Uḥud, the treaties and the hypocrites — the seven long are where the Madinan years are recorded.
Words that keep returning
طِوَال
ṭiwāl · root ط و ل
the long ones
حُكْم
ḥukm · root ح ك م
a judgement, a ruling that settles a matter
عَهْد
ʿahd · root ع ه د
a promise you are held to
Take this with you
- If you want the law and the Madinan years, this is where they are.
- They are long on purpose: the Companions measured a person's share by whether they had taken them on.
- Read them slowly across months, not in one attempt.
- Scholars differ on which sūrah completes the seven — say so plainly rather than picking one and hiding the other.
Check what stayed with you
Answer from memory. That one moment of recall is what makes it stay.
What are aṭ-Ṭiwāl as-Sabʿ?
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