---
title: "What Is a Surah? | Islam Is Mercy"
description: "A surah is a chapter of the Qur'an. There are 114 surahs, from very long to just three verses, and almost all begin with the Bismillah."
lang: en
url: https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/surah/
---

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3.  What Is a Surah?

# What Is a Surah?

Written by **Islam Is Mercy Editorial Team**· 1 min readAwaiting scholar review

## The short answer

A surah is a chapter of the Qur'an. The Qur'an has 114 surahs of very different lengths, each with its own name, such as Al-Fatiha (The Opening) or Maryam (Mary). Every surah except one opens with the Bismillah, the invocation of God's name, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

## On this page

1.  Meaning
2.  How Muslims use it
3.  Example

**Surah** (Arabic: سورة; plural *suwar*) is pronounced *SOO-rah*.

## Meaning

A *surah* is a chapter of the Qur’an. There are 114 of them. They are not arranged by date of revelation or by topic, but in an order Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught, broadly from longer to shorter. The first, *Al-Fatiha* (The Opening), is a short prayer recited in every unit of the Muslim prayer. The longest, *Al-Baqarah* (The Cow), has 286 verses; the shortest have only three.

Each surah has a name, usually taken from a memorable word or story inside it: *Maryam* (Mary), *Yusuf* (Joseph), *An-Naml* (The Ant). Every surah except the ninth begins with the *Bismillah*. The Qur’an even uses the word *surah* when challenging those who doubted its divine origin:

> وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍۢ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا۟ بِسُورَةٍۢ مِّن مِّثْلِهِۦ وَٱدْعُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ ﴿٢٣﴾

> And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant \[Muhammad\], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful.

[Qur'an, Al-Baqara 2:23](https://quran.com/2?startingVerse=23&translations=20)Saheeh International

## How Muslims use it

Muslims refer to the Qur’an by surah and verse number, for example “Surah 19, verse 30”, or simply 19:30. Children often begin by memorising the short surahs at the end of the Qur’an, and every prayer includes the recitation of a surah or part of one.

## Example

*“In the second unit of the prayer, the imam recited Surah Al-Ikhlas.”*

To learn more about the Qur’an’s structure and message, read [What Is the Qur’an?](https://islamismercy.com/en/start/what-is-the-quran/)

## Key takeaways

-   A surah is one of the 114 chapters of the Qur'an.
-   Surahs range from three verses to nearly three hundred.
-   Each surah has a name, often taken from a word or story within it.

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## Sources

-   [Qur'an, Al-Baqara 2:23](https://quran.com/2?startingVerse=23&translations=20)

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## Keep reading

[Start Here

### What Is the Qur'an?

The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam — God's words revealed to Muhammad ﷺ. Learn how it was revealed, preserved, organised and recited.

Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/start/what-is-the-quran/)[Glossary

### What Is an Ayah?

An ayah is a verse of the Qur'an. The word also means 'sign' — Muslims see both the verses and the wonders of nature as signs of God.

Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/ayah/)[Glossary

### Qur'an — Meaning and Use

The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam, which Muslims believe is the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Its name means the recitation.

Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/quran/)