Virtues of Sorah al Baqarah
Tafsir Ibn Katheer

In Musnad Ahmad, Sahih Muslim, At Tirmithi and An Nasaa'i, it is recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said,

«لَا تَجْعَلُوا بُيُوتَكُمْ قُبُورًا فَإِنَّ الْبَيْتَ الَّذِي تُقْرَأُ فِيهِ سُورَةُ الْبَقَرَةِ لَا يَدْخُلُهُ الشَّيْطَان»

(Do not turn your houses into graves. Verily, Shaytan does not enter the house where Sorah al Baqarah is recited.) At Tirmithi said, Hasan Sahih.

Also, `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "Shaytan flees from the house where Sorah al Baqarah is heard." This Hadith was collected by An Nasaa'i in Al Yawm wal Laylah, and Al Hakim recorded it in his Mustadrak, and then said that its chain of narration is authentic, although the Two Sahih did not collect it. In his Musnad, Ad Darimi recorded that Ibn Mas`ud said, "Shaytan departs the house where Sorah al Baqarah is being recited, and as he leaves, he passes gas." Ad Darimi also recorded that Ash Sha`bi said that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "Whoever recites ten Aayaat from Sorah al Baqarah in a night, then Shaytan will not enter his house that night. (These ten Aayaat are) four from the beginning, Aayat Al Kursi (255), the following two Aayaat (256-257) and the last three Ayat." In another narration, Ibn Mas`ud said, "Then Shaytan will not come near him or his family, nor will he be touched by anything that he dislikes. Also, if these Aayaat were to be recited over a senile person, they would wake him up."

Further, Sahl bin Sa`d said that the Messenger of Allah (salla Allaho 3alaihi wasallam) said,

«إِنَّ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ سَنَامًا، وَإِنَّ سَنَامَ الْقُرْآنِ الْبَقَرَةُ، وَإِنَّ مَنْ قَرَأَهَا فِي بَيْتِهِ لَيْلَةً لَمْ يَدْخُلْهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ثَلَاثَ لَيَالٍ، وَمَنْ قَرَأَهَا فِي بَيْتِهِ نَهَارًا لَمْ يَدْخُلْهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّام»

(Everything has a hump (or, high peek), and Al Baqarah is the high peek of the Qur'an. Whoever recites Al Baqarah at night in his house, then Shaytan will not enter that house for three nights. Whoever recites it during a day in his house, then Shaytan will not enter that house for three days.) This Hadith was collected by Abu Al Qasim At Tabarani, Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and Ibn Marduwyah.

At Tirmithi, An Nasa'i and Ibn Maajah recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah (salla Allaho 3alaihi wasallam) sent an expedition force comprising of many men and asked each about what they memorized of the Qur'an. The Prophet came to one of the youngest men among them and asked him, `What have you memorized (of the Qur'an) young man' He said, `I memorized such and such Sowar and also Al Baqarah.' The Prophet said, `You memorized Sorah al Baqarah' He said, `Yes.' The Prophet said, `Then you are their commander.' One of the noted men (or chiefs) commented, `By Allah! I did not learn Sorah al Baqarah, for fear that I would not be able to implement it. The Messenger of Allah said,

«تَعَلَّمُوا القُرْآنَ وَاقْرَءُوهُ، فَإِنَّ مَثَلَ الْقُرْآنِ لِمَنْ تَعَلَّمَهُ فَقَرَأَ وَقَامَ بِهِ كَمَثَلِ جِرَابٍ مَحْشُوَ مِسْكًا يَفُوحُ رِيحُهُ فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ، وَمَثَلُ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَهُ فَيَرْقُدُ وَهُوَ فِي جَوْفِهِ كَمَثَلِ جِرَابٍ أُوكِيَ عَلى مِسْك»

(Learn Al Qur'an and recite it, for the example of whoever learns the Qur'an, recites it and adheres to it, is the example of a bag that is full of musk whose scent fills the air. The example of whoever learns the Qur'an and then sleeps (i.e. lazy) while the Qur'an is in his memory, is the example of a bag that has musk, but is closed tight.)

This is the wording collected by At Tirmithi, who said that this Hadith is Hasan. In another narration, At Tirmidhi recorded this same Hadith in a Mursal manner, so Allah knows best.

Also, Al Bukhari recorded that Usayd bin Hudayr said that he was once reciting Sorah al Baqarah while his horse was tied next to him. The horse started to make some noise. When Usayd stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving about. When he resumed reading, the horse started moving about again. When he stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving, and when he resumed reading, the horse started to move again. Meanwhile, his son Yahya was close to the horse, and he feared that the horse might step on him. When he moved his son back, he looked up to the sky and saw a cloud radiating with light that looked like lamps. In the morning, he went to the Prophet and told him what had happened and then said, "O Messenger of Allah! My son Yahya was close to the horse and I feared that she might step on him. When I attended to him and raised my head to the sky, I saw a cloud with lights like lamps. So I went, but I couldn't see it." The Prophet said, "Do you know what that was" He said, "No." The Prophet said,

«تِلْكَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ دَنَتْ لِصَوْتِكَ وَلَو قَرَأْتَ لَأَصْبَحْتَ يَنْظُرُ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهَا، لَا تَتَوارَى مِنْهُم»

(They were the angels, they came close hearing your voice (reciting Sorah al Baqarah), and if you had kept reading, the people would have been able to see the angels when the morning came, and the angels would not be hidden from their eyes.)

This is the narration reported by Imam Abu Ubayd Al Qasim bin Salam in his book Fada'il Al-Qur'an.