People of Ya-Sin
Encyclopedia
People of Ya-Sin is the phrase used by Muslim
s to refer to an ancient community
who are mentioned in the Qur'an
as the People of the City or the Companions of the City. The location and people of this city has been the subject of much scholarly debate in Islam
.
, God
sent two prophet
s to this particular community . When the people of the city refused to hear their words, God
sent a third prophet
to strengthen them. The prophets told the people: "Truly we have been sent on a mission to you" . The community mocked the message of the prophets and said" "You are only men like ourselves; and (the Lord) Most Gracious sends no sort of revelation. You do nothing but lie!" . The prophets, in reply, rebuked the community, saying: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent on a mission to you. And our duty is only to proclaim the clear Message."
The Qur'an
goes onto say that the prophets were threatened with stoning
and torture
, but they refused to give in and continued to warn the people to end their sinful ways. Then, from the farthest part of the city, there came running a man who exhorted the people to believe the message and told them: "O my people! Follow those who have been sent! Follow those who ask of you no fee, and who are rightly guided." The following verses, which describe the man's entrance in to "the garden", assumed to mean Heaven
, has been interpreted by some scholars to mean that the believing man was martyred for his faith.
commentators
on the Qur'an
popularly identified the "People of the City" with the city of Antioch
. Those scholars who identified the city with Antioch, however, were divided over the date of the event. One group believed that this event took place after Jesus
and explained that the Qur'an
's use of the word "messenger" in this context refers not to three prophet
s but to three of Jesus
's disciples who were sent to Antioch
to proclaim the message. Those of this view further explained that the name of the martyr
was Habib
. The disciples believed to have been sent were Peter
, John
and others. Other commentators who while still believed that the city refers to Antioch
explained that this is the narrative of a far older incident and that the three "messengers" mentioned were indeed prophet
s, namely Saduq, Masduq and Shalum.
But another school of classical scholars, among them Ibn Kathir
, rejected the identification with Antioch altogether. These commentators explained that the described town could not have been Antioch
as Antioch was never destroyed, with no historical records recording such an incident. The other main reason that these scholars gave for rejecting this particular identification is that the term "messengers" almost always refers to prophet
s in the Qur'an
and never does it refer to the disciples of a prophet
. Most modern scholars, including Abdullah Yusuf Ali
, rejected the identification with Antioch
and stated that this identification was made with no real proof. Many scholars who rejected the identification did, however, link the narrative of the story with the preaching of Paul and Barnabas
as described in Acts of the Apostles
.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s to refer to an ancient community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
who are mentioned in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
as the People of the City or the Companions of the City. The location and people of this city has been the subject of much scholarly debate in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
In the Qur'an
According to the Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
sent two prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s to this particular community . When the people of the city refused to hear their words, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
sent a third prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
to strengthen them. The prophets told the people: "Truly we have been sent on a mission to you" . The community mocked the message of the prophets and said" "You are only men like ourselves; and (the Lord) Most Gracious sends no sort of revelation. You do nothing but lie!" . The prophets, in reply, rebuked the community, saying: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent on a mission to you. And our duty is only to proclaim the clear Message."
The Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
goes onto say that the prophets were threatened with stoning
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, but they refused to give in and continued to warn the people to end their sinful ways. Then, from the farthest part of the city, there came running a man who exhorted the people to believe the message and told them: "O my people! Follow those who have been sent! Follow those who ask of you no fee, and who are rightly guided." The following verses, which describe the man's entrance in to "the garden", assumed to mean Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, has been interpreted by some scholars to mean that the believing man was martyred for his faith.
Accounts in exegesis
ClassicalIslamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
commentators
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
on the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
popularly identified the "People of the City" with the city of Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
. Those scholars who identified the city with Antioch, however, were divided over the date of the event. One group believed that this event took place after Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and explained that the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
's use of the word "messenger" in this context refers not to three prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s but to three of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
's disciples who were sent to Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
to proclaim the message. Those of this view further explained that the name of the martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
was Habib
Habib the Carpenter
Habib the Carpenter, or Habib Al-Najjar, was, according to the belief of some Muslims, a Muslim martyr who lived in Antioch at the time of Jesus. In Muslim tradition, Habib believed the message of Christ's disciples but was subsequently martyred for his faith. There is shrine in Antioch, below...
. The disciples believed to have been sent were Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, John
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
and others. Other commentators who while still believed that the city refers to Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
explained that this is the narrative of a far older incident and that the three "messengers" mentioned were indeed prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s, namely Saduq, Masduq and Shalum.
But another school of classical scholars, among them Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...
, rejected the identification with Antioch altogether. These commentators explained that the described town could not have been Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
as Antioch was never destroyed, with no historical records recording such an incident. The other main reason that these scholars gave for rejecting this particular identification is that the term "messengers" almost always refers to prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
and never does it refer to the disciples of a prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
. Most modern scholars, including Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, FRSL was an Indian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an is one of the most widely-known and used in the English-speaking world....
, rejected the identification with Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
and stated that this identification was made with no real proof. Many scholars who rejected the identification did, however, link the narrative of the story with the preaching of Paul and Barnabas
Barnabas
Barnabas , born Joseph, was an Early Christian, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. In terms of culture and background, he was a Hellenised Jew, specifically a Levite. Named an apostle in , he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts...
as described in Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
.