The virtues of Soorat Ya-Seen

 

Are there any saheeh ahaadeeth which speak of the virtues of reading Soorat Ya-Seen? Some people say that Ya-Seen is for that for which it is read?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

Soorat Ya-Seen is one of the Makkan soorahs of the Qur’aan,
containing eighty-three verses, with frequent pauses and short phrases which
has a strong effect on the believing soul. Its main subject matter is the
same as other Makkan soorahs; it speaks of Tawheed al-uloohiyyah and Tawheed
al-ruboobiyyah (the Oneness of Allaah and of His Lordship) and the
punishment for those who disbelieve in that. The issue that is focused on in
this soorah is the issue of the Resurrection. 

Secondly: 

There are a number of ahaadeeth which speak of the virtues of
this soorah, most of which are, however, false and fabricated, and some of
which are slightly weak (da’eef). We have not found any saheeh hadeeth which
speaks specifically of the virtues of Soorat Ya-Seen. 

Among the reports which have been narrated concerning its
virtues but classed as da’eef by the scholars of hadeeth include the
following, which we are only quoting here to warn about them: 

“Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qur’aan is
Ya-Seen; whoever reads it, it is as if he has read the Qur’aan ten times.”

“Whoever reads Soorat Ya-Seen in one night will be forgiven
in the morning.”

“Whoever continues to read it every night then dies, will die
as a shaheed (martyr).”

“Whoever enters the graveyard and reads Soorat Ya-Seen, their
(punishment) will be reduced that day, and he will have hasanaat (reward)
equal to the number of people in the graveyard.” 

See: al-Mawdoo’aat by Ibn al-Jawzi (2/313);
al-Fawaa’id al-Majmoo’ah by al-Shawkaani (979, 942). See also the essay
Hadeeth Qalb al-Qur’aan Ya-Seen fi’l-Mizaan wa Jumlat mimma ruwiya fi
Fadaa’iliha by Shaykh Muhammad ‘Amr ‘Abd al-Lateef, may Allaah preserve
him. 

See also question no. 654 and
6460. 

Thirdly: 

Some people narrate a hadeeth which says “Ya-Seen is for that
for which it is read,” meaning that reading Soorat Ya-Seen may cause needs
to be met and may make things easier, according to the intention of the
reader when he reads it. 

We must note that it is incorrect to attribute these words to
the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
or to any of the scholars among the Sahaabah, Taabi’een or imams. No such
words have been narrated from any of them, rather they pointed out that this
is false. 

Al-Sakhaawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said of this
hadeeth: 

There is no basis for this version. End quote. Al-Maqaasid
al-Hasanah (741). Al-Qadi Zakariya said in Haashiyat al-Baydaawi:
it is mawdoo’ (fabricated), as it says in Kashf al-Khafa’ (2/2215). 

Something similar appears in al-Shadharah fi’l-Ahaadeeth
al-Mushtaharah by Ibn Tuloon al-Saalihi (2/1158) and in al-Asraar
al-Marfoo’ah by al-Qaari (619), and elsewhere. See the essay by Shaykh
Muhammad ‘Amr referred to above, Hadeeth Qalb al-Qur’aan Ya-Seen …,
p. 80. 

It is not permissible for anyone to attribute this hadeeth to
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or to speak of
it in people’s gatherings. Whoever claims that experience shows this hadeeth
to be true should be told: Experience also shows that for many of those who
read Ya-Seen to have their needs met, Allaah did not meet their needs, so
why should we accept your experience and not the experience of others?  

What Imam Ibn Katheer quoted in Tafseer al-Qur’aan
il-‘Azeem (3/742) from some of the scholars, that one of the qualities
of this soorah is that “it is never recited in the event of some difficult
matter but Allaah makes it easy” is ijtihaad on their part, for which there
is no evidence from the Qur’aan or Sunnah, or from the words of the Sahaabah
or Taabi’een. Such ijtihaad cannot be attributed to Allaah or His Messenger,
rather it can only be attributed to the one who said it, who may be right or
wrong. It is not permissible to attribute to the Book of Allaah or the
Sunnah of His Messenger anything but that which we are certain is part of
it. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say (O Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم): (But) the things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are
Al‑Fawaahish (great evil sins and every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse)
whether committed openly or secretly, sins (of all kinds), unrighteous
oppression, joining partners (in worship) with Allaah for which He has given
no authority, and saying things about Allaah of which you have no knowledge”

[al-A’raaf 7:33] 

We should point out here that many of those whose needs are
met when they call upon Allaah (du’aa’) or recite such verses, have their
needs met because of the humility and need for Allaah that they feel in
their hearts, and their sincere turning to Him, not because of the du’aa’
that they recited or the du’aa’ that they offered beside a grave, and so
on. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:

The reason why the needs of some of those who offered haraam
du’aa’s are  met is that one of them may be in desperate need, such that
even if a mushrik were in that state, praying beside an idol, he would
receive a response, because of his sincere turning to Allaah, even though
saying du’aa’ beside the idol is shirk, even if his need is met by means of
the one that he is taking as a mediator with Allaah, whether it is the
occupant of the grave or someone else, still  he will be punished for that
and will be thrown into Hell, if Allaah does not forgive him. 

Then he said: Hence many people get it wrong, because they
hear about some prominent righteous people did an act of worship or recited
a certain du’aa’ and they found that that act or worship or du’aa’ had an
effect, so they took that as evidence that this act of worship or du’aa’ is
something good to do, and they regard that action as a Sunnah, as if a
Prophet had done it. This is a mistake for the reasons we have mentioned
above, especially since the effects of that action only came as the result
of sincerity in the person’s heart when he did it, then his followers do it
without sincerity, so they are harmed by it, because this action is not
prescribed, so they do not attain the reward for following, and they do not
have the same sincerity as the first one did, who may be forgiven because of
his sincerity and sound intention. 

End quote from Iqtida’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem (2/698,
700) 

And Allaah knows best.