Explanation of the author's statement: "For it is the straight path"
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The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We begin today's lesson with: "For it is the straight path". "For it": The pronoun refers to what the messengers brought, or it can refer to the path of the people of the Sunnah and the community, meaning following it and not deviating from it. What the messengers brought and what the people of the Sunnah and the community walked upon is the straight path. "Sirat" is on the pattern of *fa'al* meaning *mafrud* (a passive participle), like *farash* meaning *mufarash* (spread out) and *ghiras* meaning *maghrus* (planted); so it means a passive noun.
And "sirat" is only said for a wide, straight path. It is derived from *zarat*. Do you know *zarat*? *Zarat* means to swallow a mouthful quickly. Because if the path is wide, there is no narrowness in it where people stumble. If it is straight, there is no twisting to the right or left that causes delay.
So they say in defining "sirat": Every wide path that has no ascent, no descent, and no crookedness is a sirat.
So the path that the messengers brought is the straight path, meaning the wide path that if all creation gathered in it, it would accommodate them. It is a straight path with no crookedness or deviation, no ascent or descent. It is a straight path with no deviation to the right or left.[Al-An'am 6:153] And accordingly, "al-mustaqim" (the straight) is a descriptive attribute according to our interpretation of "sirat" as the wide path that has no crookedness, no ascent, and no descent, because this is what is straight. Or it can be said that it is a restrictive attribute, because some of the sirat may not be straight, as Allah the Exalted said: [As-Saffat 37:23-24] And this is the straight path.
The author said: "The path of those upon whom Allah has bestowed His favor".
And "sirat" is only said for a wide, straight path. It is derived from *zarat*. Do you know *zarat*? *Zarat* means to swallow a mouthful quickly. Because if the path is wide, there is no narrowness in it where people stumble. If it is straight, there is no twisting to the right or left that causes delay.
So they say in defining "sirat": Every wide path that has no ascent, no descent, and no crookedness is a sirat.
So the path that the messengers brought is the straight path, meaning the wide path that if all creation gathered in it, it would accommodate them. It is a straight path with no crookedness or deviation, no ascent or descent. It is a straight path with no deviation to the right or left.
And, [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way
وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِand guide them to the path of Hellfire (24) And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned."
فَاهْدُوهُمْ إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْجَحِيمِ وَقِفُوهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ مَسْؤُولُونَThe author said: "The path of those upon whom Allah has bestowed His favor".