Mutashaabihaatun- Ambiguous Parts of the Quran

The most knowledgeable among the Prophet’s companion, Abdullah ibn Abbas (r.a), said “One must believe in the ambiguous but one need not act in accordance with them.”[1] What is required by Allah ﷻ from a believer i.e. what he needs to act upon is not included in the ambiguous or ayah (verses) of the Quran. The major concern for him required for his success lies in acting upon the clear ayah (verses) of Quran. The only thing we need to do is to believe in the ambiguous parts as is, without wasting time in attempting to find its final meaning.

The Quran contains ambiguous ayah (verses) as well as clear ayah (verses) but the latter are the core and consist of larger part of the Quran than the former. Allah ﷻ takes an oath by the Quran and claims that He made the Quran clear to understand: (Al Quran 43:02) By the Scripture that makes things clear - The purpose of the Quran is to deliver a message of guidance that is clear and easy to accept and follow, not to make human mind accept unclear dogmas that results in confusion about our faith. In fact Allah ﷻ Himself mentions in the Quran that majority verses of this book are clear and very few are ambiguous so that we do not waste our time in discovering the final meaning of those parts because their final meaning only rests in the knowledge of Allah ﷻ: "It is He Who has revealed the Book to you. In it are verses absolutely clear and lucid, and these are the core of the Book. Others are unclear. Those in whose hearts there is perversity, always go about the part which is unclear, seeking mischief and seeking to arrive at its meaning arbitrarily, although none knows their true meaning except Allah. On the contrary, those firmly rooted in knowledge say: 'We believe in it; it is all from our Lord alone.' No one derives true admonition from anything except the men of understanding."[2]

Hence as one recites the Quran and attempts to understand its meaning, it becomes evident that clear verses are easy to understand and major concern for a believer’s success because he has to act on them so he busies himself with it. For instance the following verses related to prohibitions & commandments are clear without ambiguity on which we are required to act: "Your Lord has commanded that you should worship none but Him, and that you be kind to your parents…..Give relatives their due right, and the needy, and travellers- do not squander your wealth wastefully…but if, while seeking some bounty that you expect from your Lord, you turn them (relatives, needy, travellers) down, then at least speak some word of comfort to them…Do not be tight-fisted, nor so open-handed (with your wealth) that you end up blamed and overwhelmed with regret…Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide sustenance to them and to you, too. Killing them is a great sin indeed…And do not go anywhere near adultery: it is an outrage, and an evil path…Do not take life, which God has made sacred, except by right: if anyone is killed wrongfully, We have given authority to the defender of his rights, but he should not be excessive in taking life…Do not go near the orphan’s property, except with the best [intentions], until he reaches the age of maturity. Honour your pledges: you will be questioned about your pledges…."[3] (..and the list goes on)

No one can argue that above set of ayah (verses), require a metaphorical explanations. They are absolutely clear to anyone, even who does not know Arabic! Now as for the unclear verses of the Quran they are matters for which any one with a sound mind and comprehension especially those who have knowledge of Islam, would not spend time arguing nor concern with it too much because just by reading one realizes that their final meaning could not be known. Such as matters of the day of judgment, how will they be or what date or day or month or year it will take place. Matter of understanding the final meaning of the disjointed letters that are usually found in the beginning of many Surahs (chapters): Alif Laam Mim, Alif Laam Raa, Taa Haa, Yaa Sin, Nuun etc. No one knows their final meaning, even though scholars share many meanings that come to their knowledge and all could be true. Or matters such as the number of angels carrying the throne of Allah ﷻ or the parable of 19 angels guarding hell, mentioned in the following verses: "…and, on that Day, eight of them will bear the throne of your Lord above them."[4] "….there are nineteen in charge of it (hell)…none other than angels appointed by Us to guard Hellfire…and so that those ˹hypocrites˺ with sickness in their hearts and the disbelievers will argue, “What does Allah mean by such a number?”[5] Such matters are part of Imaan (Faith) in Islam and not related to anything that we are required to act upon, hence as long as we believe and say “We believe in it; it is all from our Lord alone.” we are not concerned with arriving at its final meaning, therefore we are safe.

References:

[1] Al Muqaddimah - Ibn Khaldun - An exposition of ambiguity in the Qur'an and the Sunnah and of the resulting dogmatic schools among both the orthodox and the innovators - Translated by Franz Rosenthal.

[2] Al Quran 3:07

[3] Al Quran 17:23–37

[4] Al Quran 69:17

[5] Al Quran 74:30

[Courtesy of Zaid Shah | Rizqan Kareem | Most Excellent Sustenance]