Surah Ya-Sin

Establishing Belief in the Resurrection.

The object of the discourse is to warn the Quraysh of the consequences of not believing in the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺand of resisting and opposing it with tyranny, ridicule and mockery. The aspect of the warning is dominant and conspicuous although along with repeatedly giving the warnings, arguments also have been given for the correct understanding by the people.

Arguments have been given for three things

1. For Monotheism (Tawhid) from the signs of the universe and from common sense.
2. For the Hereafter from the signs of the universe, from common sense and from man’s own existence itself.
3. For the Prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. This was from the fact that he was facing all kinds of hardships in the preaching of his message without any selfish motive and from this that whatever he was inviting the people to was rational and reasonable, accepting which was in the people’s own interest.

On the strength of these arguments, themes of reprobation, reproof and warning have been presented repeatedly in a highly forceful manner so that hearts are shaken up and those which have any capacity for accepting the truth left in them should not remain unmoved.

Imam Ahmad, Tirmidhi and others have related, albeit through weak chains, that Surah Ya Seen is the heart of the Qur’an. This is similar to describing the Surah the Qur’an) because Surah 1: al-Fatihah (The Opening) contains the sum and substance of the teaching of the whole Qur’an. Surah Ya Seen has been called the throbbing heart of the Qur’an because it presents the message of the Qur’an in a most forceful manner which breaks the inertness and stirs the spirit of man to action. The objective is not only to revive and refresh the whole Islamic creed in the mind of the dying person but also bring before him in particular a complete picture of the Hereafter so that he may know what stages he would have to pass through after crossing the stage of this worldly life.

Connection between the beginning and the ending of the Surah The relationship between the beginning of the Surah and its end is clear.

The beginning of the Surah speaks about disbelievers deserving of the punishment as a result of their stubbornness, and as a result of Allah having sealed their hearts:

“Indeed, the Word (of punishment) has proven true against most of them, so they will not believe.” (36:7) “Verily, We have put on their necks iron collars reaching to the chins, so that their heads are raised up.” (36:8) “And We have put a barrier before them, and a barrier behind them, and We have covered them up, so that they cannot see.” (36:9) The end of the Surah gives an example of one of these stubborn deniers (introduced generally at its beginning), upon whose heart Allah has sealed, and whose vision Allah has blinded, arguing with the Prophet ﷺwith regards to resurrection, “And he puts forth for Us a parable, and forgets his own creation. He says: “Who will give life to these bones after they are rotten and have become dust” (36:78) Allah Almighty mentions in the beginning and towards the end of the Surah how He is the life-giver.

“Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life and record what they have put forth and what they left behind, and all things We have enumerated in a clear register.” (36:12) “Say, “He will give them life who produced them the first time; and He is, of all creation, Knowing.” (36:79)