"He is the One who has revealed to you the Book. A number of its verses are Muhkamat (of established meaning) - and those are the principal verses of the Book - and others, Mutashabihat (whose definite meanings are unknown). Now those who have crookedness in their hearts go after such part of it as is mutashabih seeking (to create) discord and searching for its interpretation while no one knows its interpretation except Allah. And those well-grounded in knowledge say: "We believe therein; all is from our Lord." And only the men of understanding do observe the advice."[7] (3:7)

Moving from the affirmation of the principle of Allah's Oneness, the text now answers some doubts raised against it. As stated briefly a little earlier, this verse was revealed in a specific background. Once a group of Christians came to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and started talking about religion. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him refuted their doctrine of Trinity in details and proved the Oneness of Allah with reference to the eternal existence, the perfect power, the all-encompassing knowledge" and the most unique creativity of Allah Almighty who had to be One and indivisible. The Christians had to accept these premises and once Tauhid was proved, the converse, that is, the belief in Trinity was also proved untenable. The Christians then expressed their doubts about some words of the Holy Qur'an in which Sayyidna 'Isa (A.S). Jesus Christ has been called 'Ruhullah' (the Spirit of Allah) or 'Kalimatullah' (the Word of Allah), which according to them led to prove that Sayyidna Isa had a share in the divinity of Allah.

Through this verse, Allah Almighty has put an end to these doubts by saying that such expressions are in the category of Mutashabihat where the outward meaning is not intended; they are, rather, a secret between Allah and His Messenger, the reality of which cannot become manifest to others for whom it is not even appropriate to go about determining the possible meanings of these words. One has to have faith in them by believing that whatever Allah Almighty has elected to mean through them is the truth. It is not permissible to dig deeper and mount further researches in this direction.

Meaning Of Muhkam And Mutashaabih

Allah Almighty has, by mentioning 'Muhkamaat' and 'Mutashaabihaat' right there in the beginning, pointed out towards a general principle which, if understood, could eradicate many doubts and disputes. The principle is that the Holy Qur'an has two kinds of verses; one is known as the Muhkamat (of established meaning) and the other as the Mutashabihat (whose definite meanings are unknown).

Muhkamat is the name of verses the meaning of which is open and clear to one who knows the rules of Arabic grammar fairly well. But when the meanings and explanations of particular verses are not clear to such'a person, then, such verses are called the Mutashabihat. (Mazhari, v.2)

Allah Almighty has called the first kind of verses, that is, the Muhkamat - : 'Umm al-Kitab' (which has been translated literally as 'mother verses') meaning thereby that such verses are the very root and essence of all teachings, and the meanings and explanations of which are free of doubt or ambiguity.

Since the exact intention of the second kind of verses, that is, the Mutashabihat, remains ambiguous and uncertain, therefore, the correct method of their interpretation would be to harmonize them with the first kind, that is, the Muhkamat. Then, the rule is that any inter­pretation of the Mutashabihat which goes against the first kind should be rejected absolutely and only that interpretation should be given credence which is not against the verses of established meaning: (Muhkamaat). For example, the Holy Qur'an has clarified the position of Sayyidna 'Isa (A.S) ( Jesus Christ) by saying (he is nothing but a servant upon whom We have bestowed Our blessing - 43:59), or as elsewhere in the Qur'an, by (the example of 'Isa before Allah is like that of Adam whom He created from clay - 3:59).

These and several other verses like them show it clearly that Sayyidna 'Isa Masih (A.S), is a chosen servant of Allah created by Him. Therefore, the claim of Christians investing him with godhood and sonship is not correct.

Now, if someone closes his eyes towards all these verses which have an established meaning and unnecessarily coils with the expressions, (the Word of Allah) and (a spirit from Him) and their likes from the category of Mutashabihat (verses whose definite meanings cannot be ascertained) and starts deducing from them meanings which are against the Muhkamat of Qur'an and other consistent statements, then, that would be a simple case of going astray and being obstinate.
The real meanings of Mutashabihat are known to Allah alone. It is He who, in His mercy and favour, informs anyone He chooses of whatever part of the unknown He wills. Therefore, it is not correct to try and impose a certain meaning based on one's personal opinion.

The purpose of the statement, 'now those who have crookedness in their hearts...' is that people who are gentle in nature do not go about investigating much about Mutashabihat. Instead, they accept these verses and simply believe in them taking these as the true Word of Allah. They realise that He, due to some wise considera­tion of His, did not reveal to us their meaning. This approach is, indeed, the safest and the most cautious. But, quite contrary to this, there still are people with crookedness in their hearts. They, with eyes closed, go on investigating and deliberating on Mutashabihat to justify meanings that suit their fancies so that they can lead people astray. For such people, stern warnings have appeared in the Qur'aan and Hadeeth.

Sayyidah 'A'ishah Radhi-Allahu Anha: Allah be pleased with her says that the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him said: 'When you see people busy investigating into the Mutashabihat, stay away from them because these are the same people Allah has talked about (in the Qur'an).' (Bukhari, v.2)

In another hadeeth, he said: 'I have three apprehensions about my people (ummah): (1) That they become wealthy and start to envy each other resulting in rifts and bloodshed; (2) that the Book of Allah is tri­fled with (that is, even the uninitiated and ignorant claim its perfect understanding through translations) and that which is not supposed to be understood (Mutashaabihaat) becomes the very object of deliberations and investigations although Allah alone is the One who knows their meaning; (3) that they allow their knowledge, once it has increased, go to waste by forsaking efforts to increase it further.' (Ibn Kathir with reference to Tabarani)

Who are the ones 'well grounded' in knowledge as identified towards the end of the verse? Muslims scholars have offered different explanations in this connection. The weightier position is that the reference here is to ahl al-sunnah wa al-jama'ah, the main body of Muslims who give credence only to that interpretation and explanation of the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah which has been authentically reported from the blessed Companions, the righteous generations following them and upon which there is the consensus of the Muslim community, and who believe that the Muhkamat (verses of established meaning) of Qur'an are its axis and centre, and who, humbly confessing their limitations of knowledge and insight, leave to Allah the real meanings of Mutashabihat which are beyond their comprehension and conceptualization. They are never proud of their knowledge, howsoever perfect it may be, nor of the strength of their faith. Instead of that, they constantly pray to Allah seeking steadfastness from Him, and His grace and mercy. They do not have mischief-prone temperaments which would instigate them to follow Mutashaabihaat alone as the object of their intellectual pursuit. They take both, the Muhkamaat and the Mutashaabihaat, to be the truth because they firmly believe that both kinds of verses have emanated from one single source. But, the need to find out the meanings of the Muhkamat was, of course, useful and essential for us. This Allaah Almighty has not kept secret. The meanings of such verses have been made very open and clear. Since Allah Almighty has elected not to disclose the meanings of Mutashabihat to us due to some wise consideration of His, it is simply not necessary for us to find it out. That we believe in them as they are is quite sufficient. (Abridged from Mazhari) [Ma'ariful Qu'ran]

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 19th October 2011

0 Comments