The Study of Surah Yaseen Lesson 01

2 Introductory Points

Detailed Study Of

Surah Ya-Seen Ustadh Asim Khan

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

Introductory Points The expectation of the course is to go through the surah ayah by ayah in some detail. We will focus on classical sources such as Tafseer Imam at-Tabari ‫رحمه هللا‬, Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi, and look at the ayaat in isolation to extract the meaning and take some of the guidance. We will build on that research by looking at the nathm of the surah – how the ayaat come together such that the first links to the second, the second to the third and so on and so forth, as well as how the surah is presenting a message. The word surah, though we translate it as chapter, it doesn’t actually mean chapter. One of the meanings of the word surah is an encompassing wall. In fact, the Arabs of old would call the wall that encircles the city the “sur” because the idea is that it is supposed to protect the city from attack from outside. So Allah chose the word to identify what we would call a chapter. Why is that? One of the reasons is that a wall contains a city and the same way, the surah contains the message. And some of the later scholars said that each and every surah of the Qur’an represents one unique message which is different to the other surahs. So we have 114 surahs and each and every one of them is expressing a very unique message. We will try to touch upon that analysis – how do the ayaat come together to present this unique message? This will also build our appreciation of the Qur’an because anyone who reads the Qur’an (the translation for non-Arabs), and wants to understand it, he will see something which is slightly unusual in that when he sees the ayaat he will think that the Qur’an is jumping from one subject matter to other subject matter in a way that he cannot understand why this was said and then this was said. For example, in Surah al-Baqarah. First Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬mentioned the believers, the muttaqeen, their characteristics. Then he mentioned the disbelievers, allazina kafaru, those who disbelieve or are bent on disbelief, it doesn’t matter whether you warn them or not. And then the munafiqeen. And then many other things. Somebody may ask, why did the surah start like this in the first place? Somebody may say, why is Surah al-Baqarah called the chapter of the Cow? What’s the wisdom

Introductory Points 3 behind that? Some of the scholars of Islam, later on especially, looked at these things – why is this said and then that said? And also the name – is the name telling us anything as well? One of the interesting things is that in these times there are non-Muslim critics of the Qur’an, and one of the things that they wish to point out as a criticism of the Qur’an, and they don’t believe its revelation, is that they say the Qur’an is incoherent. What does that mean? It means (or so they claim) that the Qur’an is not an organized book presenting coherent messages. Rather it is this followed by that and then this and there is no connection between them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Through Surat Ya-Seen we will present the reality of the Qur’an in that it is a wellorganized, coherent, sophisticated message being given to us by Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬We ask Allah ‫سبحانه‬ ‫ وتعالى‬to aid us in this and to really allow us to benefit from this study of the Qur’an.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

My Reflections

4 Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen

Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen Verses 1-12 The Qur’an & the Heedlessۡ ‫َو ۡٱل ُق ۡر َء‬ ‫ِيم‬ ِ ِ ‫ان ٱل َحك‬ Verses 69-83

Verses 13-32 Lessons from Historyً‫ٱض ِر ۡب لَهُم َّم َثال‬ ۡ ‫َو‬ ۡ ۡ ۡ ‫ب ٱل َقر َي ِة‬ َ ‫أَص َح ٰـ‬

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

The Qur’an & the Arrogant‫إِ ۡن ه َُو إِ ََّّل ذ ِۡك ٌ۬ر‬ ٌ۬ ‫َوقُ ۡر َء ٌ۬ان مُّب‬ ‫ين‬ ِ

Central theme: Establish the veracity of the Prophet’s Message & Belief in Resurrection Verses 49-68

Verses 33-44 Lessons from Natureٌ۬ ُ‫َو َءا َية لَّ ُه ُم ۡٱۡلَ ۡرض‬ ‫ۡٱل َم ۡي َت ُة‬

The Blind on the Day of Judgement‫َو ۡٱم َت ٰـ ُزو ْا ۡٱل َي ۡو َم أَ ُّي َہا‬ ‫ُون‬ َ ‫ۡٱلم ُۡج ِرم‬ Verses 45-47 The stubborn & the blindَّ ‫أَ ُن ۡط ِع ُم َمن لَّ ۡو َي َشآ ُء‬ ُ ‫ٱَّلل‬ ‫أَ ۡط َع َم ُه‬

This diagram is going to enable us to understand the whole surah in a summarized way. And what we say about Surat Ya-Seen is that it can be neatly divided into 6 passages. These 6 passages are telling the story of the surah which ultimately is communicating 1 key message.

Virtues of Surat Ya-Seen 5

Virtues of Surat Ya-Seen There is a hadith of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬that everything has a heart and the heart of the Qur’an is YaSeen. This hadith, according to the scholars of hadith is a weak hadith. But it is found in many books of tafseer. Why? Because it is to do with virtue. And when it comes to virtue, many of the scholars of Islam said a weak hadith can be used to speak about virtue. Why? Because they said this hadith is not going to be used to build any laws or any concepts in theology, rather it is going to just elaborate the virtue of something already known through authentic proofs. That is why it is mentioned. Building on that, some of the scholars said that perhaps one of the reasons why the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬ referred to Surat Ya-Seen as the heart of the Qur’an is because of its core message. Its core message is like the heart of Islam, in that it speaks about 3 main things: The first of them is about the prophecy of Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, that ‫ال اله اال هللا محمد رسول هللا‬

.

‫ محمد رسول هللا‬is a core message of Islam. And Surat Ya-Seen will express that, will establish that, will put it beyond doubt. For example, in the very beginning, Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬swears by the Qur’an. ‫ َو ْالقُرْ آ ِن ْال َح ِك ِيم‬. To say what? To say َ‫ك لَ ِمنَ ْال ُمرْ َسلِين‬ َ َّ‫( إِن‬You, O Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬are from those who have been sent), establishing that this man is not ‫ وال ِعيا ُذ باهلل‬making up this message, rather, he has been sent by god. He is one of the prophets of god. And this is said in many different ways throughout the Qur’an. 2. The second thing is that Surat Ya-Seen will establish belief in the hereafter. ‫إِنََ ا نَحْ نُ نُحْ يِي ْال َموْ تَى‬

.

‫ص ْينَاهُ فِي إِ َمام ُّمبِين‬ َ ْ‫َيء أَح‬ ْ ‫ َونَ ْكتُبُ َما قَ َّد ُموا َوآثَا َرهُ ْم َ َو ُك َّل ش‬Allah mentions that Indeed We bring the dead back to life and We record everything as well. This is said in a different many ways. This is establishing belief in the resurrection. 3. And lastly, it is the belief in the oneness of Allah and His right to be worshipped. We will read a story of Ashab al-Qaryah, people who were told and called to worship Allah, they were idol worshippers, but they rejected and refused and so they were wiped out, they were punished by Allah ‫سبحانه وتعالى‬. These are the 3 messages, the key messages of Islam. If someone were to say, what is Islam all about? Can you summarize it for me? I want to know. That person should receive the answer as mentioned in Surat Ya-Seen. Because Surat Ya-Seen will teach us these 3 things in a beautiful way. and that is one of the reasons why, scholar like Ibn ‘Ashur said that even though the hadith is weak, we can understand something, in that Surat Ya-Seen is actually the heart of the Qur’an in that the Qur’an communicates 3 key messages, and that is belief in Allah’s oneness, the belief in the hereafter and the belief in the prophethood of Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬. A second hadith is that the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬apparently said, recite upon your dying (not, your dead), Surat Ya-Seen. This hadith again has been classed as weak by many scholars, however Ibn Taymiyyah said, that reciting Surat Ya-Seen on those that have died is a bid’ah. But reciting it on those that are

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

1.

6 on their deathbed is mustahabb (recommended). Meaning that though the hadith may be weak, many scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah ‫هللا‬

‫ رحمه‬took the hadith and they acted on it.

And one of the wisdoms why perhaps the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬was teaching us this is one of the things Surat Ya-Seen does is it builds hope in the heart of the believer. When a person is on his deathbed and is about to meet Allah, he is scared. Anyone who thinks about his death will become scared, because they think about their sins. And in that moment, he needs to be consoled about the mercy of Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬and paradise.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

In Surat Ya-seen, you have the story of Ashab al-Qaryah, and inside that, you have the story about the believing man who comes from Aqsa al-Madinah. He speaks to his people, tries to advise them, they don’t listen to him and they kill him. As he is killed, the surah says َ َ‫( قِي َل ا ْد ُخ ِل الْ َجنَّة‬it is said to him, Enter Paradise) And when he is in paradise, he says, َ‫( قَا َل يَا لَيْتَ قَوْ ِمي يَ ْعلَ ُمون‬if only my people knew, meaning, what I can see right now in paradise, if only my people could see what I can see right now. They would not have rejected me). So when a person is on his deathbed, hears those verses, and understands them, he feels inclined to the mercy of Allah, he becomes reassured; he becomes hopeful that Allah will forgive him and enter him into paradise. So it makes that moment in his life easier. As for the person who doesn’t understand, maybe it’s best to recite and read the translation as well. These are some of the virtues of Surat Ya-Seen.

My Reflections

Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen 7

Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen Going back to the diagram, we said that Surat Ya-Seen can be divided into 6 neat passages. If we study them one by one, we will see that they all come together in a very beautiful, organized way.

Verses 69-83 The Qur’an & the Arrogant‫إِ ۡن ه َُو إِ ََّّل ذ ِۡك ٌ۬ر‬ ٌ۬ ‫َوقُ ۡر َء ٌ۬ان مُّب‬ ‫ين‬ ِ

Verses 13-32 Lessons from Historyً‫ٱض ِر ۡب لَهُم َّم َثال‬ ۡ ‫َو‬ ۡ ۡ ۡ َ‫أ‬ َ ‫ب ٱلقر َي ِة‬ َ ‫ص َح ٰـ‬

Central theme: Establish the veracity of the Prophet’s Message & Belief in Resurrection Verses 49-68 The Blind on the Day of Judgement‫َو ۡٱم َت ٰـ ُزو ْا ۡٱل َي ۡو َم أَ ُّي َہا‬ ‫ُون‬ َ ‫ۡٱلم ُۡج ِرم‬

Verses 33-44 Lessons from Natureُ‫َو َءا َي ٌ۬ة لَّ ُه ُم ۡٱۡلَ ۡرض‬ ‫ۡٱل َم ۡي َت ُة‬

Verses 45-47 The stubborn & the blindَُّ ‫أَ ُن ۡط ِع ُم َمن لَّ ۡو َي َشا ٓ ُء ٱَّلل‬ ‫أَ ۡط َع َم ُه‬

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

Verses 1-12 The Qur’an & the Heedlessۡ ‫َو ۡٱل ُق ۡر َء‬ ‫ِيم‬ ِ ِ ‫ان ٱل َحك‬

8 Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen

CENTRAL THEME: ESTABLISH THE VERACITY OF THE PROPHET’S MESSAGE & BELIEF IN RESURRECTION VERSES 1-12 | THE QUR’AN & THE HEEDLESS- ‫َو ۡٱل ق ُ ۡر َء ا ِن ۡٱل َح كِ ي ِم‬ The first passage is about the Qur’an and heedless people. Allah takes an oath by the Qur’an. Allah swears by the Qur’an which is Hakeem. One of the meanings is that it is full of wisdom. And then Allah will tell us why the Qur'an was sent down - li tunzira qawma (in order that you, O Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, will warn your people). That’s why the Qur'an is coming down - to give you a message which you can use to warn people about their fate if they don't believe. However, what are those people like? They are heedless. They don’t pay attention. They are in a state of procrastination. That is Passage 1 – about the Qur’an, and about the reaction of the people being that of heedlessness.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

ۡ َ‫ٱض ِر ۡب لَه ُم َّم ثَل ا أ‬ ۡ ‫َو‬ VERSES 13-32 | LESSONS FROM HISTORY- ِ‫ب ۡٱل قَ ۡر ي َة‬ َ ‫ص َح ـ‬ Passage number 2 is a story. It is a historical account about a people who lived long before them, and they weren't sent one messenger - they were sent three. And on top of that, a believing man from amongst themselves also gives them advice, they reject all of that. What happens to them? Well the believing man goes to paradise, they are destroyed and they end up in the hellfire. What is the connection between passage 1 and 2? It is like this. Passage 1 is giving them a direct message. This is the Qur'an. It is true. This man is speaking the truth. You better listen and take a warning and change your ways. This is the direct message. But somebody may listen to that and think, well I am not going to accept that message. Do you leave it at that? No. You approach the same person from a different angle. This time, you ask them to reflect. Think about other people - people that came before. Tell them a story about other people who were also sent messages. Do you know what happened to them? They were also sent a messenger - in fact, they were sent three. And they were very obnoxious towards them. They were aggressive towards them. And one of them, from amongst themselves, he believed, and he tried to advise them in a very beautiful way, do you know what they did? They killed him. You know what happened to him? He went to paradise. You know what happened to those people? They were annihilated and they were punished by Allah ‫سبحانه وتعالى‬. Now that person is thinking to himself, that's a lot like what's happening to us right now, isn't it? We have a messenger here as well. He is telling us the same kinds of things that they were told. If we treat him the same way, we may also get the same treatment ourselves. Perhaps a person will take a sign from a story. So this is like the theory (passage 1) illustrated by a story (passage 2). Everyone loves stories. The same message, in the form of a story, everyone loves them. People are obsessed with stories. In our time we call them movies. People spend time watching movies because they love a story. This is the second passage.

Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen 9 A person is listening to a story in Surat Ya-Seen and he hears a story about people who were quite similar to him, in that they also quite heedless and rejected the message and then they met their fate. He is thinking, I should really pay attention to what is being said here. But then he thinks, stories are made up anyway. Who believes in these stories? They would say these are asateerul awwaleen (made up fables). He says, they are not real. I don’t believe that. Did that really happen? I don’t know about that. He rejects the story.

VERSES 33-44 | LESSONS FROM NATURE- ُ ‫َو َء ايَة ل َّه ُ ُم ۡٱۡل َ ۡر ضُ ۡٱل َم ۡي تَة‬

This passage is telling people, look at what is around you, look at nature. You see amazing things. You see beauty. You see design. You see things which bewilder your mind. Do you think they came by coincidence? Don't you think someone put them there? Who put them there? Allah put them there. The One Who created you. The One this man is calling you to worship. Would you not accept this? Ustadh Asim was reflecting over this verse where Allah mentions in Surat Ya-Seen the sun swims/ runs its own course until it reaches its defined point. From the perspective of a human being on the earth, the sun has its own course throughout the day. And it always sticks to it. It doesn't change. But from another perspective, from outer space, we learn today that the sun has its own orbit around another sun at the centre of the universe. They call this the galactic orbit of the sun. And it takes some 250 million terrestrial years for it to complete its orbit and it doesn't move from its orbit. Someone is looking at these signs in nature (we call them science) and he should think to himself, this message must be true. There are so many reasons for me to believe now. What if he still doesn't believe? There is Passage 4.

َّ ‫أَن ُ ۡط ِع ُم َم ن ل َّ ۡو يَ َش ا ٓ ُء‬ VERSES 45-47 | THE STUBBORN & THE BLIND- ُ ‫ٱهلل ُ أَ ۡط َع َم ه‬ Passage 4 is about the stubborn and the blind. They are blind to the signs that are in nature, the signs that are in history, and the signs that are being told to them directly - passage 1, 2 and 3. So Allah describes their stubbornness. When these people are told to feed the poor, they say, should we feed those whom, if Allah wanted, He could have fed them? You say, there are some poor people, why don't you give them some money? He says, give them charity? Well, if there really was a god, why would He let them starve? What an arrogant thing to say. When you think about it, isn't that the same thing that atheists say today? Why should I believe in god? If there was a god why is there so much injustice on the earth? Why is there so much killing? Why are there disabled people? Why are there people starving? Isn't

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

Then you say, let us approach the same person from another angle - passage 3, signs in nature. If you are not going to accept what is behind you, in terms of history, look at what is in front of you, in terms of nature. In one ayah in this passage, it is mentioned, and the sun, it is not befitting that it catches up with the moon. It has its own orbit. It has its own course. And the sun, it runs its own course and then it stops in its place.

10 Thematic Symmetry of Surah Ya-Seen that what they say? That is an expression of arrogance. It is not really a genuine concern. So Allah shows us the reason why they reject all these signs is because they are arrogant. And that is what is blinding them.

VERSES 49-68 | THE BLIND ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT- َ‫َو ٱمۡ تَـ ُز واْ ۡٱل يَ ۡو َم أَيُّہَا ۡٱل ُم ۡج ِر ُم ون‬ The second last passage is about the Day of Judgment. All that is left to tell that person who can ignore so many different signs and be so obnoxious and boastful and filled with pride is to tell them, listen, you know where you're going to go? When the trumpet is blown, it is said inside that passage, then they will come out of their graves and they will be ushered, moving towards their master in haste. They will turn to the believers and they will say, who has woken us from our resting places? The dead are brought back to life and the disbelievers will turn to the believers and say, who has brought us back to life? What is going on here? The believers will say, this is what Ar-Rahman promised you and it is exactly the truth that the messengers were telling you about.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

This is amazing because first there is a verse which is history, then there are signs, which is the present, then the Day of Judgment which is the future.

VERSES 69-83 | THE QUR’AN & THE ARROGANT- ‫إِ ۡن ه ُ َو إِ َّال ِذ ۡك ر َو ق ُ ۡر َء ان ُّم بِين‬ Then the surah concludes itself in the last passage by going back to the very beginning again. The Qur'an and the arrogant. Allah mentions, this is not poetry and it is not befitting for him to recite poetry. He is not a poet and this is not poetry. This is a Qur'an which is a zikr (reminder) and it is mubeen (clear). And this is how the surah has been all this while. It has been a reminder (historical account, nature) and also it is very clear in the way it is presented as well. Anyone who really read Surat Ya-Seen with their heart would feel like he is given a very strong message which is a reminder. And one of the interesting things about calling the Qur'an a reminder is that if it is truly a reminder, then it means that what is speaks about is not new to the listener. Otherwise it can't be a reminder. How is it a reminder? Because all these core messages are not alien to the human being. Allah has already ingrained them inside every single human being. Every human being is built upon the Fitrah. And that is how the Qur'an is very powerful and compelling. Because what it speaks about is already buried deep inside a person anyway, in terms of fitrah. And it just seeks to elaborate and build on that. That is why the Qur'an is called a zikr. This is like the summary of Surat Ya-Seen. All of these different passages, what are they communicating? They have a central message. And the central message, according to the book alMukhtassar tafseer, it is a new book on tafseer compiled by many scholars in Saudi Arabia, they said that the core message of this surah is to establish the veracity of the Prophet ‫’ﷺ‬s message and to establish the reality of the Day of Judgment. Anyone who reads Surat Ya-Seen and wants to know what is the summary, what is the key message here? It is, this man Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, he truly is a messenger and his message is from god. And secondly, you will die and be brought back to life to stand before Allah ‫سبحانه وتعالى‬. This is the summary of Surat Ya-Seen.

Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless 11

Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless ١ ‫يس‬ ٓ •1. Ya-Seen Ya-Seen is one of those ayaat that comes in the beginning of many surahs that begin with the disjointed letters. Disjointed letters in Arabic are called ‫حروف مقطعات‬. For example, Surat Al-Baqarah, alif-laam-meen; Surat Maryam kaf-ha-ya-ayn-saad; Surah Qaf, and so on and so forth, and this is one of those surahs and it begins with ya-seen.

1.

The first view is that these letters, though they have a meaning, we cannot speculate what the meaning is. La yufassar – we do not speculate as to what do the letters stand for, what do they mean.

2. However, the second view is that, though we do not know what they mean for sure, they do serve a purpose, and we can speculate as to what that purpose is. And then they have different views as to what that wisdom is. One of the prominent views from the second camp is that these muqata’aat, these disjointed letters represent a challenge to the Arabs of that time. And the way they represent a challenge is, the ayah says Ya-Seen, or Alif-Laam-Meem – these are all letters that make up your language. And you Arabs, especially at that time, you were obsessed with your language. It was the thing that made you great people. The Arabic knowledge happened back then. They were the masters in that language. They only declined after that. This Qur’an, you reject it, but it is composed of the very same letters that you establish your greatness upon. So if it is something that you are going to disbelieve in, then why don’t you use your letters to rival it? If you cannot rival the Qur’an, even though it is coming in the same letters that you use for your language, then it means that it is a miracle. Because you are the best at your language, but you cannot rival the Qur’an. So in that way they said the muqata’aat are like ‫( أتتحددي‬a challenge) to the Arabs at that time. One of the interesting nuances to this is that the man Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬was unlettered, meaning that he did not know how to read or write. But he comes and he starts reciting a surah, alif-laam-meem. He starts with alif-laam-meem, reciting 3 letters of the Arabic language. A person who doesn’t know how to read or write, will he really know the letters of the alphabet? No. Because the only time you learn the letters of the alphabet is to learn how

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

In general the huroof al-muqata’aat, there are 2 views. Any chapter of the Qur’an that begins with these letters, the scholars are divided into 2 views.

12 Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

to read and write. Otherwise you don’t know the letters. You don’t know what they are. You’ve never learnt them. So when the prophet ‫ ﷺ‬is coming and he is reciting and he is starting with letters, it is as if people being told, the man who doesn’t know letters is reciting letters to you. Why? Because they are not his words – they are the words of Allah ‫سبحانه وتعالى‬. And in that way it is a nuance to that second view, Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬knows best. However, when it comes to Surat Ya-Seen, there is an opinion from Ibn Abbas who said that Ya-Seen is actually like a shortened version of a statement, which is Ya Insaan (O Man). And this is the way the Habashi people would say Ya Insaan, by saying Ya Seen. Other scholars commented on this and they said, actually, this Habashi way of saying Ya Insaan by saying Ya-Seen, was Arabized. And the Arabs, what they would do is, instead of saying O man as Ya Insaan, they would say Ya-Seen as well. However, when they said Ya Seen, they meant Ya Unayseen. The difference is that when you say unayseen, it is like the smaller version of insaan. As an example, if you say Hey boy, and hey cute little boy, then you have just made that word into tasgheer, an affectionate word. So the Arabs, instead of saying insaan, to say it in a more endearing way, they would say unayseen. When you hear the word unayseen, what letter sticks out the most? Seen. So the Arabs cut down the whole word to the most dominant letter, which is the seen. That’s enough, we don’t need anything else, everything else is extra. And then they whack on the ya, which is the call. Ya seen, they said, is like saying Ya unayseen (O dear man). And that is why, other scholars said, this is actually a call to the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. This is another view. O dear man meaning, oh you, Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬. However, this is one view. The other view is that it is just one of the muqata’aat letters, and what we say about it is what we say about all the others, like what we have explained. So this is how the surah starts - Ya-seen. A challenge put forward to the audience. This is important because who are the audience? The first audience to Surat Ya-Seen was the Quraysh in Makkah. Ibn Atiyyah said, all the scholars of Islam are in agreement that surat Ya-Seen is Makki. It was revealed in Makkah. However, you don’t find many of the scholars speaking about when it was revealed in Makkah. How many years was the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬in Makkah? 13 years. And there is a lot that took place in the life of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬in those 13 years. Whereabouts does Surat Ya-Seen come? Here, Ibn ‘Ashur ‫رحمه هللا‬ said seems to be one of the few who stipulated that Surat Ya-Seen was revealed after Surat al-Jinn. Surat al-Jinn came down in the 10th year of prophecy. What is the 10th year of prophecy is also known as? It is known as aam al-huzn (the year of sorrow), because devastating things happened to the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬that year, like the death of the wife of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬Khadijah ‫رضي هللا تعالﯽعنها‬, like the death of his uncle Abu Talib who died as a mushrik, and also the rejection of the people of At-Ta’if – devastating things happened to him. So this is the year in which Surat Ya-Seen was revealed. This is important because if you were in Makkah at that time, you would have seen that the Muslims had it bad. We think that we see Islamophobia in our time, in the 10th year in Makkah, the Muslims had been through a nightmare. Torture, they had been boycotted, many of them left to starve, unable to marry, businesses destroyed, and things are not looking to get better anytime soon. 10 th

Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless 13 year was a very low period in that sense. And the prophet ‫ ﷺ‬has been doing dawah for 10 years. Imagine. The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, the most eloquent of all people, the most compassionate, the most loving, and he has been calling these people for 10 years – listen to me. Don’t worship stone anymore, worship Allah. I am a prophet of Allah. And for 10 years most of them have been neglecting him, rejecting him, and some of them even abusing him. In that environment, Surat Ya-Seen is revealed. Later on we will see, how do we understand some of the ayaat of Surat Ya-Seen - they seem to be very harsh. When you contextualize them, you will see that it makes sense to be that harsh. They have been told for 10 years to believe. He’s literally exhausted all of his efforts to persuade you, and you are still rejecting him? You are still being so arrogant about things? All that is left now is to warn you, and to be very harsh. So this is how the context helps understand the tafseer or appreciate it.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

My Reflections

14 Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless

ۡ ‫َو ۡٱلقُ ۡر َء‬ ٢ ‫ِيم‬ ِ ِ ‫ان ٱل َحك‬ •2. I swear by the Qur'an full of wisdom

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

What is the first thing the surah says? Ya-Seen by the Qur’an al-Hakeem. This second ayah, you have to really appreciate what is being said here. First of all, this ayah has an oath. The waw is a waw of qasm (an oath). Someone takes an oath for many different reasons. Why would someone take an oath in our times? If someone says I swear... why would he say that? In what circumstances would someone take an oath? 1. In a court of law. 2. When someone doesn’t believe you. 3. Sometimes you need to say something which is super important. And people need to appreciate that straight away. Sometimes you need to show the message. And the way you can do that straight away is to take an oath. 4. Another reason is when you are angry. Oaths have many different functions.

Two interesting things: 1.

Firstly, it was part of the Arab culture at that time, and even after, to be very honest, upright people. They felt that their dignity was attached to their honesty. Such that if you said something, and you didn’t do it, you got no respect anymore and you had no self-respect anymore. How times have changed. People will easily lie and they feel that their integrity is based on what people think of them even if they have to lie ‫هللا المستعان‬. So the Arabs at that time were honest people in that if they gave their word, they would do it. And there is a saying in English as well that was coined, that I’d rather have an Arab on his word than a contract. That was actually a saying in the Western world. ‫ وهللا أعل ُم‬whether it is still true or not, but the point is that Arabs were known for their honesty. Despite that, Allah takes an oath. Even though, in that time, if you said something, you meant it. And on top of that, if you did take an oath, then what you were saying was super important.

2. The second interesting thing is that the man who is saying those words is already known as as ‫ الصادق اۡلمين‬by people. The prophet ‫ﷺ‬, even before he becomes a prophet, he is already labelled as an upstanding, truthful, trustworthy person. If a trustworthy person is going to take an oath, then what does that have to say about what he is going to say? There is no way this could be a lie. He is already a truthful person and he’s taken an oath on top of that.

Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless 15 In the Qur’an you find that al-Qasm (the taking an oath) has a different function to what we’ve discussed. And that is, Allah will take an oath by something in order to make it serve as an evidence for a particular matter. As if to say that this is true because of this. For example, in Surat al-‘Asr, it begins with an oath. What does Allah swear by? Time. To say what? What is the message that Allah I swearing to? Man is truly in loss. A statement. Jawab al-qasm. Man is truly in loss. What is the evidence for that? Time. Why? Because time has seen what man does over and over again. Every time nations rise up, they become tyrannical, oppressive, arrogant. This is the usual trend. And what is their fate? In the hellfire. This is what the Qur’an stories tells us, isn’t it? Many nations came, they achieved great things, but their greatness made them corrupt and so they ended up in the hellfire. Who has seen all of this happening over and over again? Time itself. So wa al‘Asr is as if to say that time is evidence that people keep messing up.

But Allah speaks about the Qur’an in a particular way – Al-Qur’an al-Hakeem. That the Qur’an is an evidence in terms of its hakeem nature. What does hakeem mean? Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said it can mean 3 things: 1.

The first is that the Qur’an is Haakim. It is authoritative. It gives laws. Meaning, if anyone reads the Qur’an they see that so many laws are coming down, and it speaks so authoritatively. The only person who can speak so authoritatively and give so many laws is Allah. Especially, this is the interesting thing, especially when those laws cause people to become angry. So the Qur’an comes down with laws, for example, don’t do shirk with Allah. Don’t worship idols. Laat and ‘Uzza are not worthy of worship. Worship only Allah. Don’t be unjust to the orphans. These are laws. Authoritative. What happens when the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬says this in society? He gets in trouble. And in Surat Ta-Ha, Allah mentions, Ta-Ha, We didn’t send this Qur’an down to make you miserable. Meaning, you have tasted misery after the Qur’an started coming down. Why? Because your world got turned upside down. You were the apple of people’s eyes in Makkah. People loved you. ‫ الصادق اۡلمين‬Then the moment you started reciting Qur’an to them, you became a man who frustrated them. A man who disappointed them. A man who made them angry. A man who started to say that all the things they hold dear and sacred is rubbish. And you kept on saying it, over and over again for 10 years. Why would you do that? Except, you are not doing it yourself, someone is telling you to do it. Allah is the one who is telling you to say these things. So the fact that Al-Qur’an is Hakeem, one of the meanings is that it is authoritative in what it speaks about and how it speaks about it.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

With that in mind, Allah swears and oath by what? By the Qur’an. As if to say, I swear by the Qur’an, this Qur’an is an evidence for something. What is it an evidence of? That will come in the next ayaat.

16 Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless 2. The second meaning of Hakeem, Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said, is that it is muhkam or muhkim, which means that it is so well organized and tightly bound. The Arabs would say ahkama shay means rabtahu. If someone has done ahkam on something it means he tied it up very tightly. What this means about the Qur’an is that what it presents all comes together beautifully as if it was tied up together. That’s another meaning of Qur’an being hakeem. And this is one of the other things that we want to show in this surah. That if you study it, you see that this links to that, which all comes together very beautifully. 3. It is zu al-hikmah. It is full of wisdom. Meaning, that it is so wise. If you really were to listen to what the Qur’an is saying, you would say that is so wise. Who speaks like that? One of the examples of this is where Allah mentions, 1

.‫يم‬ ِ ‫ْال َك ِر‬

‫ك‬ َ ِّ‫ك بِ َرب‬ َ ‫اْلن َسانُ َما َغ َّر‬ ِ ْ ‫يَا أَيُّهَا‬

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

Man, what has deluded you from your generous master? Allah asked a question and He placed inside it the answer as well. How? Because Allah mentioned, what has deluded you from your generous master? Meaning, the generosity of your master has deluded you of him. Because people, when they are showered with blessings and their life is good, they forget about Allah. Amazing. In one verse, Allah ‫سبحانه‬ ‫ وتعالى‬said so much. So the Qur’an is so wise in what it says. With that in mind, putting it all together, Allah swears by the Qur’an and these things that the Qur’an is, that you truly are of those that have been sent. Meaning, that if anyone looks at the Qur’an, he thinks to himself that the Qur’an has so much wisdom, is so authoritative, is so well-structured, that it is impossible for a human being to come up with it. It is impossible. It is beyond human endeavour. That is how the Qur’an becomes an evidence that this man is not making it up. And this man has actually been sent. The Qur’an is an evidence in that way. There is too much wisdom. And it is too authoritative. And it is too well-structured for it to be something that someone could have just made up. If you think about it, the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬would just recite the Qur’an once. And as soon as he recited it, it was captured, that is Qur’an. If somebody wants to say something profound, he needs to prepare and he needs to think and he needs to revise and he may need to edit. When you say something, it is not like when you write something. Some people, when you read an email from a person, or a text message, and the only thing you know about this person is what they have said through their email or text message, you develop a certain perception about that person. Then, when you see him in real life, and he speaks, you may perceive a difference. People speak and write in 2 different ways. Which way would allow you to be more accurate and profound than when you are writing? Which one allows you to think more and ponder what you are 1

Al Infitar [82:6]

Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless 17 going to say? When you write something, you can delete, use the thesaurus, edit. The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬ just says it once, that part of Qur’an can never be changed now. How can he do that? No man can do that. It must be the case that he is not doing it, he is conveying it. It is the words of Allah ‫سبحانه وتعالى‬. So the Qur’an in this way becomes an evidence that this man is from those that have been sent.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

My Reflections

18 Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless

٣ ‫ِين‬ َ ‫ك لَم َِن ۡٱلم ُۡر َسل‬ َ ‫إِ َّن‬ •3. Most surely you are one of the messengers This ayah is very emphatic. It means that it is being very clear and direct in what it is saying. And this is shown by the word use of inna in innaka. Inna serves to emphasize something, it is one of the harf of tawkeed (particles to give emphasis) and it also has the meaning of izalatu as-shakk (to remove doubt). Contrary to what a person says or thinks, indeed he is a messenger. And Allah speaks directly to the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬himself. The second point of emphasis is the laam in la-min al-mursaleen. This laam is the laam of tawkeed. It is like adding the word truly into the translation.

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

Truly, you are from al-mursaleen, those that have been sent. In this ayah, Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬will show us that one of the things that Qur’an proves is this fact. He is not just anybody, he is from those that have been sent. And this is said in a very emphatic way. And what we learn from this is that Allah told this to the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, not just to destroy the claims of the mukhrikoon, but also to console his aching heart. We know from the Qur’an the Prophet ‫’ﷺ‬s heart used to ache and pain because the people used to reject him. 2

َ‫ك أَ َّال يَ ُكونُوا ُم ْؤ ِمنِين‬ َ ‫ك بَا ِخع نَّ ْف َس‬ َ َّ‫لَ َعل‬

Perhaps, [O Muhammad], you would kill yourself with grief that they will not be believers. This is the way the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬would feel. This is a beautiful lesson because it shows us the balanced view of disbelievers. The balanced view a believer should have of disbelievers. One extreme, a person sees others that have disbelieved, and they say, kuffar, go to hell. I don’t care. In fact, it’s good you go to hell. Who cares. The other extreme is, kuffar, we don’t know if they are going to hell. Who is to say? We don’t know. Allah paths lead to god. This is the other extreme. In the middle is the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. He sees them, he knows they are messed up, he sees they are misguided, but he wants them to be guided. This is the way of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and this should be our view as well. Though we know the destiny of the kuffar, knowing that only makes us more compassionate to want them to be guided. There are 2 points here. Why did Allah choose to say to the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, instead of saying you are a Rasool (messenger), that you are mursal. Not a messenger, but someone who has been sent? 2. Why did Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬choose to say you are from those that have been sent instead of saying you are one who has been sent? The word mursaleen is plural, it is not singular. 1.

2

Ash-Shu’ara 26:3

Passage 1 | The Qur’an and the Heedless 19



Perhaps it is to console the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. He is going through a very difficult time, especially in the 10th year of prophecy, and he is being told you are from those that have been sent. Meaning, other people have come here and done this as well. They have had to endure similar things too. And just knowing that reassures you. For example, when we have to do a tough exam, and are told someone else went through this is reassuring. You are not alone, you are part of a team. A team of the messengers of Allah. They also were sent. And you are one of those who were sent.



Mursal is like saying, you have been sent. So the question comes to mind, who has sent you? Who sent him? Allah sent him. This is one of the benefits of saying mursal instead of rasool, because it creates a question in the mind, which is almost rhetorical, Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬sent him.

There is one lesson we can learn from this. If the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬is being reassured by Allah and one of the ways of reassuring him is telling him that you are part of a bigger team, then in the same way, us today, when we try to do challenging things in life, especially those things which will please Allah ‫سبحانه وتعالى‬, we should realize that we can do those things better if we do them together. If we do it together there is greater strength. And one of the benefits of being together is that there is an element of reassurance. When you feel down, somebody else can pat your back and say don’t worry, we can do this. The person may genuinely think he cannot manage anymore, he has come to the end of his tether. But then someone else assures him that he can do it, and he ends up doing it. Because of the support of others. If the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬is being consoled by Allah, and is being told he is part of a team, and knowing you are part of a team can reassure and help him, then how much more for those less than the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬who are far weaker and in need of more help than the Prophet ‫?ﷺ‬

My Reflections

Detailed Study of Surah Ya-seen – Ustadh Asim Khan

What is the wisdom behind this?