Al-An'am (The Cattle): (153) And that this is My path...

In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: The Reading of وَأَنَّ (And that)

1. Ibn 'Amir's Reading: He read it with a fatḥa (vowel 'a') on the initial alif (أَنَّ) and a sukūn (cessation) on the nūn (وَأَنَّ), pronounced as wa-anna.
   • The original form is وَأَنَّهُ هَذَا صِرَاطِي (And that it is My path), where the hā' (ـه) is the pronoun of the matter/affair. This form is then lightened (reduced).
   • Al-A'sha said (as evidence for the reduction):

     In youths like the swords of India, they have known That doomed is everyone who walks barefoot or wears sandals.

   • Meaning: They have known that he is doomed.

2. Hamzah and Al-Kisā'ī's Reading: They read it with a kasra (vowel 'i') on the alif (أَنَّ) and a shaddah (doubling) on the nūn (وَأَنَّ), pronounced as wa-inna.
   • The implication here is connected to the preceding verse: أَتْلُ مَا حُرِّمَ (Recite what has been forbidden) and وَأَتْلُوا إِنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي (And I recite: Indeed, this is My path), meaning "I say."
   • Alternatively, it is considered a new, independent statement (isti'nāf).

3. Regarding the Fatḥa (Ibn 'Amir's reading): Al-Farrā' explained that the fatḥa on أَنَّ occurs because of the preceding verb أَتْلُ (I recite), meaning: "And I recite to you: إِنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا (Indeed, this is My straight path)."
   • Al-Farrā' added that you could also treat it as being in the genitive case (khafḍ), implying: ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ وَبِأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي (That is what He enjoined upon you, and by the fact that this is My path).

4. Abū 'Alī's View: Whoever reads أَنَّ with a fatḥa is following the analogy of Sībawayh, who linked it to the command فَاتَّبِعُوهُ (So follow it), implying: "Follow it, because this is My straight path." This is like His saying: وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً (And indeed, this, your community, is one community) (Al-Mu'minūn: 52). Sībawayh interpreted this as "Because this is your community."
   • Sībawayh also applied this to وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ (And that the mosques are for Allah) (Al-Jinn: 18), meaning: "And because the mosques are for Allah."

Issue 2: The Reading of صِرَاطِي (My path)

The Reciters unanimously agreed on the sukūn (cessation) of the yā' in صِرَاطِي, except for Ibn 'Amir, who pronounced it with a fatḥa (vowel 'a') on the yā'.

• Ibn Kathīr and Ibn 'Amir read سِرَاطِي (with a sīn).
• Hamzah read it between a ṣād and a zāy (a sound between 's' and 'z').
• The rest read it with a pure ṣād. All of these are valid linguistic variations (lughāt).

Al-Sāhib of Al-Kashshāf mentioned: Al-A'mash read وَهَذَا صِرَاطِي (with the ṣād). In the Mus'haf of 'Abdullāh, it is written as وَهَذَا صِرَاطُ رَبِّكُمْ (And this is the path of your Lord). In the Mus'haf of Abī, it is وَهَذَا صِرَاطُ رَبِّكَ (And this is the path of your Lord).

Issue 3: The Meaning of the Path

After Allah, the Exalted, clarified in the preceding two verses the injunctions He commanded, He summarized them at the end with a comprehensive summary that encompasses what was mentioned and the entirety of the Shari'ah, saying: وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا (And that this is My straight path).

• This includes everything the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained of the religion of Islam, which is the upright methodology and the straight path. Therefore, follow its entirety and its details, and do not deviate from it, lest you fall into misguidance.
• It is narrated from Ibn Mas'ūd, from the Prophet (peace be upon him), that he drew a line, then said: "This is the path of righteousness." Then he drew lines to his right and left, saying: "These are paths, and on every path there is a devil calling to it." Then he recited this verse: وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ (And that this is My straight path, so follow it).
• It is narrated from Ibn 'Abbās that these verses are established (muḥkamāt); nothing from any scripture has abrogated them. Whoever acts upon them enters Paradise, and whoever abandons them enters the Fire.

Then He said: ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ (That is what He enjoined upon you), meaning by the Book, لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (so that you may become righteous/fearful), meaning you fear sins and deviations.

Issue 4: The Unity of Truth

This verse indicates that everything that is true is singular (one), but it does not necessitate that everything that is singular must be true.

• If the Truth is one, then everything else is falsehood.
• Since falsehoods are many things, it must be concluded that every multitude is falsehood. However, it is not necessary that every falsehood is a multitude, based on the premise established in the first proposition.

ثُمَّ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ تَمَامًا عَلَى الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ وَتَفْصِيلًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لَعَلَّهُمْ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Then We gave Moses the Scripture, complete for those who did good, and an explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy, that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord.