1. Surat Ya Sin
Verses 1-12
Unit A
Chapter 3 Lesson 1

2. Ya Sin are the letters in the beginning of this Surah
Ya Sin are the letters in the beginning of this Surah. The knowledge of these letters is only with Allah. Some scholars say that they denote the alphabets, just like when saying “I know my ABC’s” and this means all the alphabets. In almost all instances except one, after mentioning these letters, Allah mentions greatness of the Quran.

3. Allah swears here by the Quran to prove its greatness and importance and calls it “Hakeem”, which not only means full of wisdom, but something which is perfect with no controversy or doubt and a Book which gives verdicts without consideration to anyone.

4. Allah affirms to the Prophet Muhammad that he is indeed one of the messengers. The reason for this reassurance and affirmation is because the Prophet Muhammed was continuously being taunted teased and called names, so much so that it was starting to affect him, and therefore, Allah gave him support through this verse proving the truth of his prophet hood and also reassuring him that he is not alone in treading this Straight Path but that all other messengers before him have tread the same path.

5. The mission of the prophet Muhammed is then made clear and that is to warn those who are heedless. In this particular verse it is mentioned the specific people he was sent to – and those were the Arabs – but as a whole the Prophet Muhammad’s mission was to pass Allah’s message to the whole of humankind and Jinns. In this verse Allah also says that these people (the Arabs) were not sent a prophet for a very long time, and therefore, they have become extremely heedless to anything good. The last of the prophets sent to the Arabs were Prophets Ibrahim and Ismaeel.

6. But these Arabs were very haughty and proud and did not want to listen to anything good or to leave their evil ways. They adamantly rejected the Truth and refused to believe in it. Therefore, Allah says that it has been written against the most part of them that they will not believe, no matter what.

7. Because of their obstinacy Allah has put a yoke (iron collar) on their necks up to their chins so they cannot bow their heads. And a barrier is put before them and a barrier behind them (a barrier between them and the truth) and they have been covered up so they cannot see the light and the Truth. This has been done because they asked for it. They are the ones who refused to listen or believe and therefore, they took this punishment upon themselves

8. Allah then tells the Prophet that it is the same whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe, but its your duty to pass on the message.
Warning here is about hell fire and the punishment waiting in the Hereafter for those who do not believe.
The reason for warning is to prepare a person to what he/she might face if he/she does not believe. If a person is not warned of the consequences of his/her actions the person will not be prepared.

9. Allah then assures the Prophet Muhammad that it is only those who believe who will benefit from your warning and the Reminder, which is the Quran itself. They are the ones who fear Allah although they do not see Him, but they have complete belief that Allah is watching them.
For such people Allah says to give them glad tidings of forgiveness and a noble reward which is Paradise.

10. Allah then says “We shall surely bring the dead back to life”, this could have two meanings – one could mean in this life and the other in the Hereafter.
In this life Allah gives life to the dead heedless heart of the disbelievers when they take in the light of Islam and believe in the truth. In this way their hearts have been restored to life once it was dead.
In the hereafter, Allah will raise all the dead back to life and then each one will be judged justly according to their deeds

11. Allah will not deal unjustly with anyone
Allah will not deal unjustly with anyone. Everyone’s deeds are recorded exactly as they did it, not even a deed, whether good or evil, equal to a mustard seed will escape from Allah’s record. Everything is recorded in a clear book, which will be handed to each person on the Day of Judgement. The ones who get their record book in their right hand will be the lucky ones. As for those who receive the book in their left hand, they will be the ones who will be full of regret

12. Lesson for us
The Prophet Muhammed was sent as a messenger to all humans and Jinns and it is our duty to believe in his message and to believe in the Quran and follow the right guidance by reading, understanding and applying the Quran and Sunnah in our lives

13. We should then pass on this message to others (family, relatives, friends, etc). Our duty is only to pass on the message in the most wise and beautiful way. If someone doesn’t listen that is not our problem, but those who will follow and listen, it is them who will benefit from the Reminder.

14. And if we become heedless to the message brought by the Prophet Muhammed and to the teachings of the Quran, and become haughty and arrogant towards the commands of Allah then we will face the same consequence that those mentioned in this Surah faced, that of having yokes round our necks so we cannot bow our heads. A barrier will be put before us, a barrier behind us and we will be covered up so we will not be able to see anything good or be able to follow the Right Path.

15. We have been warned of the consequences of our actions if we do bad deeds and we have also been given glad tidings of forgiveness and a great reward if we believe and follow the reminder, which is the Quran

16. Everything that we do is recorded in a book with Allah
Everything that we do is recorded in a book with Allah. There is nothing hidden from Allah and nothing escapes Him. He is the All Hearing, the All Seeing. So we should always be careful with what we do. We may fall in sin but we should never stubbornly continue it, but instead ask Allah for forgiveness and mend our ways. We may continue to fall into sin, and we should always feel regret for our evil actions and continuously ask Allah for forgiveness. We should never do a sin or wrong action and stubbornly stay on it or haughtily say we are doing nothing wrong, because then we are putting ourselves in big TROUBLE