Surah As-Saaffat: Those in Line to Confront Deniers of Tawheed

TEHRAN (IQNA) – There are different groups of people who deny the existence of God or His oneness. God has sent punishments to some of them and given some others the opportunity to repent while explaining what fate awaits them if they don’t.

Surah As-Saaffat is the 37^th chapter of the Holy Quran and with 182 verses is in the 23^rd Juz of the Holy Book. It is Makki and the 58^th Surah revealed to the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

Saaffat means those who are in a line. It is said to refer to angels or believers who are in a line to say prayers. The word Saaffat comes in the first verses and hence the name of the Surah.

The overall theme of this chapter of the Holy Quran is explaining Tawheed (monotheism) and rejecting the views of disbelievers about God.

It offers reasons to prove the oneness of God, warning the deniers and giving good news to the believers. It talks about what will be the fate of both groups.

A part of Surah As-Saaffat is about the stories of some messengers of God, including Noah (AS), Abraham (AS), Ishaq (Isaac), Moses (AS), Harun (AS), Lot (AS), Ilyas (Elijah) and Yusus (AS).

The verses that are about Prophet Abraham (AS) talk about his life in more details, including about a mission given to Abraham (AS) to sacrifice his son, with God referring to it as an evident test. 

Another issue mentioned in this Surah is Al Yaseen. There are differing views about what Al Yaseen refers to. Some say it refers to Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS), namely the family of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), which means the Prophet (PBUH) has been titled Yaseen. Some others, though, say it should be read “El-Yasin”, which refers to Prophet Ilyas (AS).