The Heart of the Qur'an: Commentary on Surah Yasin with Diagrams and Illustrations

The Heart of the Qur’ān. A commentary on Surah Yāsīn with Diagrams & Illustrations

First published in England by

The Islamic Foundation, Markfield Conference Centre,

Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire, LE67 9SY, United Kingdom

Website: www.islamic-foundation.com

Email: [email protected]

Quran House, PO Box 30611, Nairobi, Kenya

P.M.B 3193, Kano, Nigeria

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© Asim Khan 2020/1441 AH. All Rights Reserved

2nd impression, 2020. 3rd impression, 2021.

Picture Credits: Syria Map: Wikipedia, Devar, Plants: Pixabay.com, Ship Sailing Vessel: Pixabay.com, Cyclone Iceland: Pixabay.com, Cow: Wikipedia Commons.

The right of Asim Khan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988.

Cataloguing in-Publication Data is available from the British Library

ISBN Paperback: 978-0-86037-743-6

ISBN Ebook: 978-0-86037-748-1

Cover Design and Chapter Dividers: Mukhtar Sanders, Inspiral Design

Typesetting and Internal Design: © Moghal Graphics, www.moghalgraphics.co.uk

Printed by: IMAK, Turkey

Foreword by Dr. Haitham al-Haddād

Preface

Overview of Yāsīn

Thematic Breakdown

Time of Revelation

Section 1: The Qur’ān and the Heedless

Section 2: The People of the Town

Section 3: Spiritual Lessons in Physical Signs

Section 4: The Stubborn and the Blind

Section 5: The Blind of the Day of Judgement

Section 6: The Qur’ān and the Arrogant

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Whoever has not thanked people, has not thanked Allāh, said the Prophet Muhammad . This book is the result of the collaboration of many people. I am honoured to have studied the commentary of this Qur’ānic chapter with my mentor and esteemed teacher Shaykh Dr Haitham al-Haddād. I also thank my friends Ahmed Hammuda, Ali Shah and Aqeel Ashiq for their overwhelming support in helping me research and compile the building blocks of this work. Thank you to my wife Sobia Akram for your continued love and support. More gratitude than can be expressed goes to my mother and father who raised me well, loved me and taught me to aim high.

My four beautiful daughters. I hope you will read these words one day and find that they help you to confront whatever world you find yourself in.

Foreword by Dr. Haitham al-Haddād

All praise is due to Allāh, and may peace and salutations be upon his Final Messenger . The Qur’ān is the source of light for humanity. It contains 114 chapters that deal with all aspects of life. Allāh tells us in the Qur’ān:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَكُم بُرْهَانٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ نُورًا مُّبِينًا

Mankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light1

Unless we spend our lives reading the Qur’ān, deeply studying its meanings, putting it into practice, and calling upon the rest of humanity to do the same, we will never fully expose ourselves to this vital light and its all-encompassing guidance and benefits.

This book, suitably titled 'The Heart of the Qur'ān', and written by Sheikh Asim Khan, delves into the profound meanings, virtues, and guidance of Surah Yāsīn. It attempts to provide readers with an insight into the treasures of this great chapter of the Qur’ān. Surah Yāsīn is a chapter that is familiar to many; it is oft-read and frequently memorized due to the Hadith of Ma’qil ibn Yasaar in which it is referred to as being the ‘Heart of the Qur’ān’.

This discourse contains key features that are unique. It presents both a collection of the classical interpretations of each of the Surah’s 83 verses and a deep, well-researched analysis of those interpretations. Readers are thus provided with access to the works of the earliest scholars, which are elucidated in contemporary language and style. This unique study is, therefore, orthodox in its approach but modern in its style and presentation. It is a study that aims to present the reader with a multitude of lessons extracted from these authentic interpretations, whilst highlighting the facets and subtleties of the miraculous and beautiful Qur’ān.

The reader is taken on a captivating journey that explores diverse topics, including creed, politics, spirituality, and sociology, in a smooth and coherent manner.

Unlike many books of Tafsir that have been translated into English from their native Arabic, this piece of work was written by an English-speaking author who lives in the West. Additionally, Sheikh Asim Khan has taught the explanation of this chapter numerous times and has published the initial study in the form of articles on the website ‘Islam21c’. Thus, it has benefitted from comments and feedback given by the many who have attended his lessons or read his articles. This has transformed the study from being merely an academic one to one that is the result of prolonged engagement with the book of Allāh throughout the author’s life.

Such facts, and many others, make me proud to write this foreword and give me a lot of hope that this Ummah is returning back to its source of honour and might: the word of its Creator. Soon, we will see it back in the worthy place that Allāh chose for it.

I ask Allāh to grant the distinguished author, Sheikh Asim Khan, more tawfīq. May Allāh bless his family, students, and friends who supported him throughout his journey with ‘The Heart of the Qur'ān’.

___________________

1 Qur’ān 4:174

Preface

The one who contemplates over the great Qur’ān will notice that Allāh repeatedly describes it as being a ‘light’, unmistakable, clear in articulation, and beautiful in its instructions. He, the Most High, says:

فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالنُّورِ الَّذِي أَنزَلْنَا ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

So have faith in Allāh and His Messenger and in the Light We have sent down2

Light, as we know it, not only touches the surface of a leaf, but seeps beneath it to affect the entire plant through photosynthesis. This then nourishes the leaf, invigorating it and filling it with life. A plant will shrivel and harden without water. The tremor caused by water droplets hitting the hard, barren earth stimulates the emergence of lush green vegetation, and fruit, sweet in its essence and beneficial to humanity.

He who brings about such vibrant life from barren earth is the One who gives life to dead, hardened hearts. His words are the Qur’ān, sent down from the heavens, upon fertile hearts that tremble in its reception and are guided by its shining light. Amazingly, this very similitude comparing the Qur’ān to fertile lush rain and its impact on dry barren earth is used often in the Qur’ān itself:

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَسَلَكَهُ يَنَابِيعَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُ بِهِ زَرْعًا مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَانُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ حُطَامًا ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَذِكْرَىٰ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ

Do you not see that Allāh sends down water from the sky and threads it through the earth to emerge as springs and then by it brings forth crops of varying colours, which then wither, and you see them turning yellow and then He makes them into broken stubble? There is a reminder in that for people of intelligence.3

According