SYNOPSIS OF SURA YASEEN (Part 1)
SYNOPSIS OF SURA YASEEN
Sura Yaseen is from among the Makkan Suras and comprises of 83 verses. The Sura discusses three important topics which are from the fundamental teachings of the Holy Quran. These topics are:
1) Belief in Resurrection and life after death.
2) Incident of the people of a specific city.
3) Evidences and proofs of the Oneness of the Lord of the worlds.
The Sura begins with an oath taken upon the Holy Quran, establishing the soundness of the revelation sent to the Prophet ﷺ and the apostleship of Muhammad ﷺ. Reference is then made to the unbelievers of the Quraish who stayed in misguidance and falsehood, and denied the final Prophet, Muhammad ﷺ. On account of this, they became deserving of the punishment from Allah.
The incident of the people of the city (Antaqiyah-Antioch) who denied their prophet is then narrated so that the punishment given to them may serve as a lesson for those who wish to adopt the same path.
The Sura also highlights the evidences and proofs of Allah’s great power, and the fact that He is One who has no partners. Matters of the hereafter, the Day of Judgement, and Paradise and Hell are further discussed. Those who will be fortunate to gain entry into Paradise, and those who will be doomed to Hell have also been mentioned. The Sura concludes with the topic of ‘Resurrection and Requital’ and establishes evidences for these. The Sura has been named ‘Sura Yaseen’ since Allah has started the Sura with these letters.
The Sura begins with the following verses:
يس
- Ya-Sin.
وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ
- By the Qur’an, full of wisdom (i.e. full of laws, evidences, and proofs),
إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
- Truly, you (O Muhammad S.A) are one of the Messengers
The Sura begins with the word ‘Ya Seen’, which is from among the Huruf Al Muqata’at (disjoined letters). These letters/words are placed at the beginning of some Suras to show the miraculous nature of the Holy Quran. It sent a message to the Arabs that these words were made with the same letters that they used in their alphabet, yet, they were totally unable to arrange the letters in such an eloquent style as given in the Quran, and were also ignorant of the meanings of these letters. Therefore, it became evident that the Quran was not ‘made-up’ by Muhammad ﷺ, instead, it was a revelation which was sent by Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
While explaining the word ‘Ya Seen’, the great companions (Sahabahs) like Abdullah bin Abbas (R.A), Abdullah bin Masood (R.A) and others have stated that it means, ‘O Human being’ (and the addressee is the Prophet Muhammad S.A). The great Tabi’ee scholar, Saeed bin Jubair (A.R) has stated that ‘Ya Seen’ is a name from among the names of the Prophet ﷺ. Imam Malik (A.R) has stated that ‘Ya Seen’ is a name from among the names of Allah. (Tafseer Al Qurtubi, Vol.15, Pg.9, Maktaba Rasheediya, Queta, PakistanTafseer Al Qurtubi, Vol.15, Pg.9-10, Maktaba Rasheediya, Queta, Pakistan)
The great scholar, Al Maawardi has narrated from Ali (R.A) that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Allah has named me with seven names in the Quran. They are: Muhammad, Ahmad, Taha, Yaseen, Al Muzammil, Al Mudathir, Abdullah.’ (Tafseer Al Qurtubi, Vol.15, Pg.9-10, Maktaba Rasheediya, Queta, Pakistan)
It is narrated from Abdullah bin Abbas (R.A), Saeed bin Jubair and Ikrimah that the word ‘Ya Seen’ is from the Ethiopian language. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol.5, Pg.271, Amjad Academy, Lahore, Pakistan / Tafseer Ibn Jareer, Vol.22, Pg.175, Dar Ihya At Turath Al Arabi)
Having addressed the Prophet ﷺ by saying ‘Ya Seen’ ‘O Human being’, ‘O Man’, ‘O Muhammad’, Allah goes further to swear by the Holy Quran and states, ‘By the Quran, full of wisdom.’ Here, Allah takes an oath on the Quran and says that it is filled with wisdom. It is also the ‘well-established’ book which has been sent with all its laws for the guidance of man.
Having sworn by the Quran, Allah says to the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Truly, you (O Muhammad) are one of the Messengers.’ While explaining this verse, Imam Qurtubi has quoted the narration of Abdullah bin Abbas (R.A) in which he said, ‘The unbelievers of the Quraish said to the Prophet ﷺ, ‘You are not a messenger and Allah has not sent you to us.’ In response to this, Allah took an oath by the Quran and made it abundantly clear to the unbelievers of the Quraish that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was indeed from among the Messengers.
Swearing by the Quran was done for the sake of emphasis, and to make it firmly established that the Prophet ﷺ was indeed a Messenger of Allah, and that Allah Himself has testified to the Prophet ﷺ being upon the path of true guidance.