SYNOPSIS OF SURA YASEEN (Part 2)
Sura Yaseen, verse four (4) states:
عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ
- On a Straight Path (i.e. on Allah’s religion).
It means that the path the Prophet ﷺ walked upon, and the message which he preached to the people, were based on guidance and truthfulness. It was the straight path which all prophets walked upon, and was free from error, crookedness and misguidance.
Sura Yaseen , verse five (5) states:
تَنْزِيلَ الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ
- (This is a Revelation) Sent down by the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful.
It means that the Quran which came to the Prophet ﷺ was a revelation which came directly from Allah, the All Mighty and Most Merciful.
It was not a fabrication, nor was it a compilation of the spoken words of Muhammad ﷺ. Instead, it was revealed by the One who is All Mighty in His kingdom and Most Merciful to His creation. It came directly from Allah.
While commenting on this verse, some exegetes have stated that the words, ‘Sent down by the All Mighty, Most Merciful’ refers to the sending of the Prophet ﷺ. The verse tells the unbelievers that Muhammad ﷺ was indeed from among the Messengers because he was sent directly by Allah, the All Mighty. (Tafseer Al Qurtubi, Vol.15, Pg.11, Maktab Rasheedya / Tafseer At Tabari, Vol.22, Pg.177, Dar Ihya At Turath Al Arabi)
Some commentators have explained that the words, ‘Sent down by the All Mighty, Most Merciful’ refers to the ‘straight path’ which was mentioned in the previous verse. The verse explains that the straight path which the Prophet ﷺ was sent with, was sent down by the Lord of Honour and Might, who is Most Merciful to His servants. It was not a religion which was ‘made-up’ by human beings, instead, it was the path of guidance sent down by Allah. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol.5, Pg.272, Amjad Academy, Lahore, Pakistan)
The above verse therefore makes it abundantly clear to the unbelievers that the Holy Quran, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the path of guidance, Al Islam, were all sent directly by Allah.
Sura Yaseen , verse six (6) states:
لِتُنْذِرَ قَوْمًا مَا أُنْذِرَ آبَاؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَافِلُونَ
- In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless.
Here, the Prophet ﷺ was informed of his task which he was required to do, having been chosen as a Messenger and given the Quran as the Book of guidance. Allah informed him that his job was to warn the people and instil the fear of Allah in them regarding His punishment. The people referred to in the verse were the Arabs. They were the descendants of Ismail (A.S), and since the period of Ibraheem (A.S) and Ismail (A.S), no prophet came to them. On account of this long period, they became unmindful of Imaan (faith) and guidance, and as a result plunged into kufr (disbelief), shirk (polytheism) and other sinful deeds.
The Prophet ﷺ was sent to warn and direct them to the right path so that they may come out from the darkness of kufr and shirk, which they had fallen into. It was about this state, the verse stated, ‘In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless.’