Tafsir of Surah Ya-Sin - Verse 6

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Virtues of Surah Ya Sin

Al-Hafiz Abu Ya`la recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَنْ قَرَأَ يس فِي لَيْلَةٍ أَصْبَحَ مَغْفُورًا لَهُ، وَمَنْ قَرَأَ حم الَّتِي يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا الدُّخَانُ أَصْبَحَ مَغْفُورًا لَه»

(Whoever recites Ya Sin in the night, will wake up forgiven, and whoever recites Ha Mim in which Ad-Dukhan (the Smoke) is mentioned, will wake up forgiven.) Its chain of narration is good (Jayyid) . Ibn Hibban recorded in his Sahih that Jundub bin `Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَنْ قَرَأَ يس فِي لَيْلَةٍ ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ غُفِرَ لَه»

(Whoever recites Ya Sin in the night, seeking the Face of Allah, will be forgiven.)

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Messenger was sent as a Warner

We have already discussed the individual letters at the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah.

وَالْقُرْءَانِ الْحَكِيمِ

(By the Qur'an, full of wisdom) means, Al-Muhkam (perfect) which falsehood cannot come to from before it or behind it.

إِنَّكَ

(Truly, you) means, O Muhammad,

لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَعَلَى صِرَطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

(are one of the Messengers, on the straight path.) means, following a straight methodology and religion, and an upright Law.

تَنزِيلَ الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ

(Sent down by the Almighty, the Most Merciful.) means, this path which you have brought is a revelation from the Lord of might Who is Most Merciful to His believing servants. This is like the Ayah:

وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ رُوحاً مِّنْ أَمْرِنَا مَا كُنتَ تَدْرِى مَا الْكِتَـبُ وَلاَ الإِيمَـنُ وَلَـكِن جَعَلْنَـهُ نُوراً نَّهْدِى بِهِ مَن نَّشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِى إِلَى صِرَطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ - صِرَطِ اللَّهِ الَّذِى لَهُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ أَلاَ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَصِيرُ الاٍّمُورُ

(And verily, you are indeed guiding (mankind) to the straight path. The path of Allah to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. Verily, to Allah all matters return.) (42:52-53).

لِتُنذِرَ قَوْماً مَّآ أُنذِرَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَـفِلُونَ

(In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless.) This refers to the Arabs, for no warner had come to them before him. The fact that they alone are mentioned does not mean that others are excluded, just as mentioning some individuals does not mean that all others are excluded. We have already mentioned the Ayat and Mutawatir Hadiths which state that the mission of the Prophet is universal, when we discussed the meaning of the Ayah:

قُلْ يَأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا

(Say: "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah.") (7:158).

لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَى أَكْثَرِهِمْ

(Indeed the Word has proved true against most of them,) Ibn Jarir said, "The punishment has become inevitable for most of them, because Allah has decreed in the Mother of the Book (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz) that they will not believe.

فَهُمْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(so they will not believe. ) in Allah, or in His Messengers.

The word: آباء (fathers) in verse 6: لِتُنذِرَ‌ قَوْمًا مَّا أُنذِرَ‌ آبَاؤُهُمْ (so that you may warn a people whose fathers were not warned) means the Arabs. The sense is that no warner, that is, a prophet, has come to their ancestors since a long time, the reference being to the ones nearer among them.

Since the coming of their patriarch, Sayyidna Ibrahim علیہ السلام and with him, Sayyidna Isma'il (علیہ السلام) no prophet had appeared among the Arabs for several centuries, even though, the work of calling people to the true faith with warnings and glad tidings kept going on as mentioned in the verse of the Qur'an:' وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ‌ (and there was no community without a warner having passed among them - 35:24) also confirms the same truth - that Divine mercy has never kept any nation or community deprived of the essential call and warning at any time and in any region. But, it is obvious that teachings of prophets when communicated by their deputies do not bring about the same effect as it is witnessed when the prophets do it in person. Therefore, in the present verse, it was said about the Arabs that no warner came to them. As fall out of this situation, there was no regular system of education in Arabia where people could learn and teach which was why they came to be called: أُمِّيِّينَ (ummiyyun: the unlettered ones).

The Quran itself is the proof of Muhammad being the Prophet of God. The Quran calls mankind towards the right path, i.e. the path of righteousness. None of its contents clash with reason and nature. Even fifteen hundred years after the Quran was first revealed, nothing has been detected in it which can be called as irrational or unnatural. This distinct characteristic of the Quran is the greatest proof of its being the book of God. ‘So that you may warn a people.’ Here, ‘people’ refers to the Children of Isma‘il. Every prophet is raised primarily to address his contemporaries. Accordingly, the first addressees of the Prophet Muhammad were his own tribesmen. But although the institution of prophethood ended with him, the Prophethood of Muhammad shall continue until Doomsday—the difference being that, with the Children of Isma‘il, he personally and directly fulfilled his mission, while in respect of all other nations after him, the task of giving the call and fulfilling the mission shall have to be performed by his followers.