Tafsir of Ya seen 36:6

Surah Ya-Sin (36): Verse 6

{لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًا لَّمْ يُنذَرْ ءَابَاؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَافِلُونَ} (That you may warn a people whose fathers were not warned, so they are heedless.)

This verse has already been explained in the context of the verse: {That you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you} (referring to a previous discussion).

However, there is another interpretation where the particle {مَا} (mā) is affirmative (not negative). This affirmative interpretation has two possibilities:

1. {مَا} is mā masdariyyah (a particle indicating a verbal noun): Meaning, "That you may warn a people the warning of whom their fathers [received]."
2. {مَا} is mā mawṣūlah (a relative pronoun): Meaning, "That you may warn a people whose fathers were warned, yet they are heedless."

If we take {مَا} as negative (as in the primary interpretation), the meaning is clear: If their fathers were not warned, they would naturally be heedless after being neglected.

If we take {مَا} as affirmative, the meaning is: "That you may warn them with the warning their fathers received," implying that even though their fathers were warned, they (the current generation) are heedless.

How can both interpretations—one implying their fathers were not warned, and the other implying they were warned—be valid when they seem contradictory?

Response:

If we adopt the view that {مَا} is negative (meaning "their fathers were not warned"), this does not negate the possibility that some of their earlier ancestors were warned. It only means that the immediate predecessors or the specific group being addressed had not received a warning after a period of deviation.

The verse, if {مَا} is negative ("whose fathers were not warned"), seems to imply that the Prophet (PBUH) was not commanded to warn the Jews, because their fathers were warned (by previous prophets).

Response:

This is not the case.

1. If {مَا} is affirmative (as discussed above), the point is clear.
2. Even if {مَا} is negative, this is resolved by the explanation given for the verse: {But this is the truth from your Lord, that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you}.

The meaning here is that the warning they received was after they had deviated from the path of the previous messenger. Allah usually does not send a new messenger while there are still people among the community who uphold and explain the religion of the previous prophet. When those people pass away, deviation spreads, ignorance prevails, and the covenant becomes distant, then Allah sends another messenger to confirm the religion of the predecessor or establish a new law.

Therefore, {لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًا لَّمْ يُنذَرْ ءَابَاؤُهُمْ} means: "That you may warn a people who were not warned after they had strayed from the path of the preceding messenger." This applies to the Jews and Christians because their immediate fathers were not warned after they had already gone astray.

This serves as evidence that the Prophet (PBUH) was sent with truth to all creation.

The phrase {فَهُمْ غَافِلُونَ} (so they are heedless) indicates that sending a messenger (revelation/warning) is contingent upon heedlessness.

Explanation:

If a people already possess knowledge of what Allah revealed—meaning there are among them those who convey His law and they deliberately oppose it—then destruction is due upon them, and this is not considered punishment before the sending of a messenger. Similarly, whoever opposes matters that do not require the explicit statement of messengers (i.e., fundamental truths known by innate disposition) deserves destruction without a messenger being sent.

This is not an endorsement of the Mu'tazilite doctrine of rational determination of good and evil (al-tahseen wa al-taqbeeh al-'aqli). Rather, the meaning is: If Allah had created knowledge in a people regarding the obligation of certain acts, and they abandoned those obligations, they would not be considered heedless. Thus, their punishment would not be suspended pending the arrival of messengers.

**! 7 < { لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَىٰ أَكْثَرِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ } . > 7

<** (The word has justly been decreed against most of them, so they will not believe.)