10:57 Yunus (Jonas)

يقول تعالى ـ مرغبًا للخلق في الإقبال على هذا الكتاب الكريم، بذكر أوصافه الحسنة الضرورية للعباد فقال‏:‏ ‏{‏يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُمْ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ تعظكم، وتنذركم عن الأعمال الموجبة لسخط الله، المقتضية لعقابه وتحذركم عنها ببيان آثارها ومفاسدها‏.‏ ‏{‏وَشِفَاءٌ لِمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ‏}‏ وهو هذا القرآن، شفاء لما في الصدور من أمراض الشهوات الصادة عن الانقياد للشرع وأمراض الشبهات، القادحة في العلم اليقيني، فإن ما فيه من المواعظ والترغيب والترهيب، والوعد والوعيد، مما يوجب للعبد الرغبة والرهبة‏.‏ وإذا وجدت فيه الرغبة في الخير، والرهبة من الشر، ونمتا على تكرر ما يرد إليها من معاني القرآن، أوجب ذلك تقديم مراد الله على مراد النفس، وصار ما يرضي الله أحب إلى العبد من شهوة نفسه‏.‏ وكذلك ما فيه من البراهين والأدلة التي صرفها الله غاية التصريف، وبينها أحسن بيان، مما يزيل الشبه القادحة في الحق، ويصل به القلب إلى أعلى درجات اليقين‏.‏ وإذا صح القلب من مرضه، ورفل بأثواب العافية، تبعته الجوارح كلها، فإنها تصلح بصلاحه، وتفسد بفساده‏.‏ ‏{‏وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏}‏ فالهدى هو العلم بالحق والعمل به‏.‏ والرحمة هي ما يحصل من الخير والإحسان، والثواب العاجل والآجل، لمن اهتدى به، فالهدى أجل الوسائل، والرحمة أكمل المقاصد والرغائب، ولكن لا يهتدي به، ولا يكون رحمة إلا في حق المؤمنين‏.‏ وإذا حصل الهدى، وحلت الرحمة الناشئة عنه، حصلت السعادة والفلاح، والربح والنجاح، والفرح والسرور‏.

يقول تعالى ممتنا على خلقه بما أنزله من القرآن العظيم على رسوله الكريم "يا أيها الناس قد جاءتكم موعظة من ربكم" أي زاجر عن الفواحش "وشفاء لما في الصدور" أي من الشبه والشكوك وهو إزالة ما فيها من رجس ودنس وهدى ورحمة أي يحصل به الهداية والرحمة من الله تعالى; وإنما ذلك للمؤمنين به والمصدقين الموقنين بما فيه كقوله تعالى "وننزل من القرآن ما هو شفاء ورحمة للمؤمنين ولا يزيد الظالمين إلا خسارا" وقوله "قل هو للذين آمنوا هدى وشفاء" الآية.

None can make Anything Lawful or Unlawful except Allah or Those Whom Allah has allowed to do so

Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam and others said: "This Ayah was revealed to criticize the idolators for what they used to make lawful and unlawful. Like the Bahirah, Sa'ibah and Wasilah." As Allah said:

وَجَعَلُواْ لِلَّهِ مِمَّا ذَرَأَ مِنَ الْحَرْثِ وَالاٌّنْعَامِ نَصِيباً

(And they assign to Allah a share of the tilth and cattle which He has created.)6:136 Imam Ahmad recorded a narration from Malik bin Nadlah who said, "I came to Allah's Messenger while in filthy clothes. He said,

«هَلْ لَكَ مَالٌ؟»

(Do you have wealth) I answered, `Yes.' He said,

«مِنْ أَيِّ الْمَالِ؟»

(what kind of wealth) I answered, `All kinds; camels, slaves, horses, sheep.' So he said,

«إِذَا آَتَاكَ اللَّهُ مَالًا فَلْيُرَ عَلَيْك»

(If Allah gives you wealth, then let it be seen on you.) Then he said,

«هَلْ تُنْتَجُ إِبْلُكَ صِحَاحًا آذَانُهَا، فَتَعْمِدَ إِلَى مُوسًى فَتَقْطَعَ آذَانَهَا، فَتَقُولُ: هَذِهِ بُحْرٌ، وَتَشُقُّ جُلُودَهَا وَتَقُولُ: هَذِهِ صُرُمٌ، وَتُحَرِّمُهَا عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى أَهْلِك»

؟ (It is not that your camels are born with healthy ears, you take a knife and cut them, then say, "This is a Bahr," tear its skin, then say, `This is a Sarm," and prohibit them for yourself and your family) I replied, `Yes.' He said,

«فَإِنَّ مَا آتَاكَ اللهُ لَكَ حِلٌّ، سَاعِدُ اللهِ أَشَدُّ مِنْ سَاعِدِكَ، وَمُوسَى الله أَحَدُ مِنْ مُوسَاك»

(What Allah has given you is lawful. Allah's Forearm is stronger than your forearm, and Allah's knife is sharper then your knife.)" And he mentioned the Hadith in its complete form, and the chain for this Hadith is a strong, good chain. Allah criticized those who make lawful what Allah has made unlawful or vice verse. This is because they are based on mere desires and false opinions that are not supported with evidence or proof. Allah then warned them with a promise of the Day of Resurrection. He asked:

وَمَا ظَنُّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ

(And what think those who invent a lie against Allah, on the Day of Resurrection) What do they think will happen to them when they return to Us on the Day of Resurrection Ibn Jarir said that Allah's statement:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى النَّاسِ

(Truly, Allah is full of bounty to mankind,) indicated that the bounty is in postponing their punishment in this world. I (Ibn Kathir) say, the meaning could be that the Grace for people is in the good benefits that He made permissible for them in this world or in their religion. He also has not prohibited them except what is harmful to them in their world and the Hereafter.

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لاَ يَشْكُرُونَ

(but most of them are ungrateful.) So they prohibited what Allah has bestowed upon them and made it hard and narrow upon themselves. They made some things lawful and others unlawful. The idolators committed these actions when they set laws for themselves. And so did the People of the Book when they invented innovations in their religion.

O people that is inhabitants of Mecca there has come to you an admonition from your Lord a Book which contains mention of that which is permissible for you and that which is enjoined on you and this Book is the Qur’ān; and a healing a cure for what is in the breasts of corrupt beliefs and uncertainties and a guidance from error and a mercy for those who believe in it.

Commentary

Previous verses described how astray the disbelievers and polytheists had gone and what punishments had become due against them in the Hereafter.

Shown to them in the first two verses was the way out of their living in error and also the source through which they would find deliverance from the punishment of the Hereafter. And that source is Qur'an, the Book of Allah, and His Messenger, Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ .

Both are great blessings for humanity, far superior to the entire blessings of the heavens and the earth. Following the injunctions of the Qur'an and the way of the Holy Prophet ﷺ go on to make human beings human in the real sense - and when this human person becomes the perfect man in the real sense, the whole world corrects and reorders itself like a paradise on earth.

The first (57) of the five verses cited above mentions four attributes of the Holy Qur'an:

1. ADVICE as in مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ (an advice from your Lord).

The real meaning of the word: مَّوْعِظَةٌ (maw` izah) and: موعظ ، (wa` z) is to delineate such things as would make one's heart soft and receptive. As a result, it would incline towards Allah Ta` ala. The barrier of heedlessness acquired from excessive indulgence in worldly life will stand removed. Ultimately, this advice would result in the flowering of a personal concern for what would happen in Akhirah, the life ahead. The Holy Qur'an, from the beginning to the end, is an eloquent preacher of this very good counsel. See anywhere, you will find promise with warning, reward with punishment, and prosperity and success in Dunya and Akhirah with a corresponding fate due to error and straying. Appearing recurrently in varying shades and blending, it generates a powerful appeal which has the ability to make a heart stone-hard turn soft and pliable like water all ready to absorb the message. Of course, on top of everything, there is the miraculous diction of the Holy Qur'an that, by itself, has a class of its own in the matter of reversal of hearts.

The complement of: مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ (from your Lord) with (advice) has elevated the status of Qur'anic advice to a much higher level. It is telling us that this advice is not coming from a helpless human being that does not hold the keys to anyone's profit and loss or reward and punishment, nor has any credibility of his own. Instead, the advice is from the merciful Lord whose Word admits of no error, and whose promise and warning too are free of any apprehension of some weakness or excuse.

2. CURE as in: شِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ‌ (a cure for what is in your hearts).

The word: شِفَاءٌ (shifa' ) means the removal of disease and: صدُورِ‌ (sudur) is the plural form of: صدر (sadr) which means the chest, and it signifies the heart.

The sense is that the Holy Qur'an is a successful remedy of the diseases of the heart. It corrects and cures it as a prescription of legendary elixir would. The famous Hasan al-Basri (رح) said, ` from this attribute of the Qur'an, we learn that it is a cure for the diseases of the heart specifically, and not that of physical diseases. (Ruh al-Ma` ani)

But, other scholars have said that the Holy Qur'an is a cure for every disease, whether spiritual or physical. However, spiritual diseases are far more harmful for men and women than physical diseases. Then, the treatment of such diseases too is not in everyone's control. Therefore, at this place, only spiritual diseases that relate to the heart have been mentioned. From this it does not necessarily follow that it is not a cure for physical diseases.

Hadith reports and countless experiments of the religious scholars of the Muslim community are witnesses to the fact that the way the Holy Qur'an is a great elixir for diseases of the heart, very similarly, it is the best of treatments for physical diseases also.

As narrated by Sayyidna Abu Said al-Khudri ؓ someone came to Holy Prophet ﷺ and complained that he felt he had a chest problem. He said, ` recite the Qur'an, for Allah Ta` ala says: شِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ‌ that is, ` the Qur'an is a cure for all such diseases as are found insides chests.' (Ruh al-Ma` ani from Ibn Marduwayh)

Similarly, according to the narration of Sayyidna Wathilah ibn Asqa' ؓ someone came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and said that he had a throat problem. He told him the same thing - ` recite the Qur'an'.

Scholars of the Muslim community have compiled the properties and efficacies of the Qur'anic verses in regular books by extracting these partly from narratives of Hadith and the sayings of the Sahabah, and partly from their own experiments and experience. Imam al-Ghazali's work on ` Qur'anic Properties' is well known in this area. Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi's (رح) "A'mal-i-Qur'anii, an abridgement of this work, has been popular among readers of Urdu for over fifty years. Then, there are so many observations and experiments in this field which prove that different verses of the Holy Qur'an have been a total cure for physical diseases as well. Denying all of them is not possible. However, this much can be conceded that the real purpose of the revelation of the Holy Qur'an is to remove the diseases of the heart and soul while, as a corollary, it is also the most effective treatment of even physical diseases.

This also tells us that those who recite the Holy Qur'an only to treat physical diseases or to seek nothing but the fulfillment of worldly needs are low in sense and high in waywardness. Such people never bother to correct spiritual diseases, nor do they pay any heed to the need of doing things in accordance with the instructions given by the Qur'an. For such people, Iqbal said:

ترا حاصل زیٰس اش جزین نیست کہ ازھم خواندنش آسان بمیری

Your gain from Ya Sin is but that:

By reciting it, death becomes easy.

Though, he is suggesting, had you pondered over its meaning and message, realities and insights, you would have gained much more of its benefits and blessings.

Some research-oriented commentators who have gone deeper into the meanings of the Qur'an have said that the first attribute of the Qur'an, that is, مَّوْعِظَةٌ (maw'izah: advice, good counsel) relates to man's obvious, outward or physically-accomplished deeds known as the Shari` ah. The Holy Qur'an is the best source of the correction and betterment of such deeds. Then, the second attribute: شِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ‌ (a cure for what is in your hearts) relates to man's hidden, inward or heart-oriented deeds known as Tariqah and Tasawwuf.

3. GUIDANCE as in: وَهُدًى (and guidance).

The word: هُدًى (huda) means guidance or the showing of or leading onto the way. The Holy Qur'an invites human beings to the way of truth and faith. It invites them to ponder over the great signs Allah Ta'ala has placed in the near and far ranges of the world, even inside their own person, [ staggering would certainly be the interior distances of the universe within us ] and recognize the creator and master of everything.