Mutashaabihaat

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Mutashaabihaat

Extract from Chapter 3 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

7. Huwa allathee anzala AAalayka alkitaba minhu ayatun muhkamatun hunna ommu alkitabi waokharu mutashabihatun faamma allatheena fee quloobihim zayghun fayattabiAAoona ma tashabaha minhu ibtighaa alfitnati waibtighaa ta/weelihi wama yaAAlamu ta/weelahu illa Allahu waalrrasikhoona fee alAAilmi yaqooloona amanna bihi kullun min AAindi rabbina wama yaththakkaru illa oloo al-albabi

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7. It is He Who has sent down the Book upon you. Therein are Verses that are unambiguous and authoritative – these form the essence of the Book – and therein are other Verses, the interpretation of which is not clear to mankind⁵. Those then with dishonesty in their minds, zealously pursue what is not clear thereof, seeking mischief and seeking its interpretation; but no one knows its interpretation but Allah. And persons, deeply versed in knowledge, say, "We believe in it; it is all from our Lord." And none but those endowed with insight receive admonition.⁶

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5. Mutashaabihaat are Verses, in other words, that are not clearly understood by the human mind. One example is the oft-repeated divine statement that the wicked shall be punished by putting them into Hell-fire. If any person is put into a burning fire in this world, that person is sure to die in a matter of minutes. But the Hell-fire in the Hereafter would be such as wouldn't make persons put in it to die, although they would very much wish to die. The human mind is unable to grasp the concept of such a fire. The Verses that present such concepts which are incomprehensible to the human mind, in this world, are Mutashaabihaat. Muhkamaat, on the other hand, are Verses that are well-explained in the Qur'aan itself, and therefore capable of being well-understood by the human mind, in this world. Muhkamaat, moreover, contain clearly worded divine commands and admonition that are required to be obeyed and acted upon by mankind to get salvation from certain doom.

6. The first Verse of this Qur'aanic Chapter, containing only Arabic letters corresponding to the English letters A L M, is another example of mutashaabihaat. No one knows the interpretation of those letters there, except Allah. The question then arises as to what is the divine purpose of placing such Verses in the Qur'aan, the meanings of which are not clear to the human mind! The purpose obviously is to provide for a test of a believer's faith in the divine authorship of the Qur'aan. As the Verse itself indicates, a true believer shall unquestioningly accept such Verses to be from Allah. But a deviated mind will seek mischief therein.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 24^th November 2017.