5:15"O people of the Book! Indeed Our Messenger has come to you, to explain to you much of what you have concealed of the Book and pardoning much, indeed there has come to you from Allah a light and a clear book/mubin".
When the Quran describes itself with mubin, it always is in the context of declaring that it is clearly a book from God, not man made. The root is B-Y-N and it means between. The action of the verb is "betweening". This betweening can mean clarifying because one can know better the difference between two things. It also can mean distancing because the betweening makes things become apart. The Quran clearly separates what is human and what is divine, and it is in that sense that it is mubin, not in the sense of "easy to understand".
To wholly grasp the Quran certainly is not an easy task and one must beware of a hasty approach to it, drawing wrong conclusions from isolated verses or sentences taken out of their context. One must take the time, allow the whole of the Quran to be revealed to one's mind before attempting to interpret its message
75:16,20:114"and do not make haste with the Quran before its revelation is made complete to you and say: my Lord, increase me in knowledge".
This is how the Quran is
54:17"facilitated/yassarna for remembrence".
The "taysir" of the Quran doesnt refer to it being made easy but rather facilitated, ie the means to grasp are within reach but require personal effort.
When the Quran says that it contains the explanation of everything 6:38,16:89 like the previous revelations 6:154,7:145, it means it answers all questions pertaining to salvation, as can be seen from the direct context let alone by having a basic grasp of the book's explicitly stated purpose. These important issues have been made easy to grasp and devoid of any possible room for ambiguity. These crucial matters are expressed in the form of concise and straightforward statements
19:97,44:58,11:1"a Book, whose verses are made decisive/uhkimat, then are they made plain, from the Wise, All-aware" 3:7"He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis/mother of the Book".
UMM al Kitab literally translates to MOTHER of the book. In the highly conceptual language of the Arabs, because the mother takes her child to his goal of physical development, the word came to be used in other contexts for that which help in attaining a goal. In this case, the decisive verses help us reaching to the truth. These decisive verses are well obvious and scattered throughout the Quran. Each of these verses on its own, is Umm al Kitab, just as a group of them is Umm al Kitab. The 7 verses of sura Fatiha are Umm al Kitab but this does not negate that other verses in the Quran are Umm al Kitab.
Islamic tenets arent the result of centuries of conjectures and proof texting from ambiguous verses, as is the case with Trinitarianism. Containing "all things" thus means all that pertains to spiritual betterment. The HB similarly says Ps119"all your precepts concerning all things". The obvious intent is that it encompasses all religious matters relevant to the addressees, it is not referring to spiritually irrelevant matters like medicine or cooking recipes.
3:7"He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive (muhkamaat)..and others are allegorical (mutashabihaat); then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. But none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding".
The mutashabihat literally means "look alike". They have a range of understandings that are similar but not entirely the same. They are verses open to several understandings because of the subject treated. All of these similar understandings are correct so long as they agree with the rules of the language and most of all, the muhkamat verses. The muhkamat, contrary to the mutashaabihat, only allow one interpretation. They are firm and decisive verses. It is nothing strange for a communication relating knowledge of higher realities outside the reach of current human perception, to address the people in such manner. Previous scriptures are replete with such verses, and all previous prophets were inspired with that mode of expression that gives way to several interpretations
Hos12:10"And I spoke to the prophets, and I increased their visions; and to the prophets I assumed likenesses".It was part of Allah's plan to include such verses in order to reveal those
"in whose hearts there is perversity..seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation".
It is a device out of many, that God has put in place in this world, so as to expose the perversity of the heart. A blatant example of people failing the test is that of trinitarian christians, typically looking to proof text their doctrines within verses open to a wide variety of interpretations, in disregard of the muhkamat/decisive verses of their own books.
To pass this test, humanity has been explained that "none knows its reality/ta'wil except Allah". Ta'wil doesnt refer to the meaning, but the reality, the ultimate conclusion of the verses. God is saying only He knows their true reality, obviously since they are referring to things beyond the realm of human perception and experience. For instance anyone can understand the meaning of the mutashabihat speaking of the angels, heaven or hell but none knows their true manifestation other than God, since these things are still beyond any experience or human imagination.
It is no coincidence that 3:7 belongs to sura Aele-Imran which relates the story of Mary and Jesus, as well as of Zachariah, all of whom belonged to the House of Imran. As already noted the deification of Jesus by his later followers is one of the most outstanding instances of how people might interpret revelation in a manner that disagrees with the true nature and purpose of the divine message. The realm of the unseen will always retain an aspect that is beyond our grasp. This does not however justify one building doctrines majoritarly based on those passages, while disregarding the unambiguous guiding principles that are easily found throughout the book, even within those speculative passages.
For instance, if Jesus gave life, it was by Allah's permission. He had no independent ability to do so, not anymore than the staff of Moses had the intrinsic capacity to change shape. And if Mary conceived of Jesus in an unusual way, it was, again, by Allah's will. Even while there still remains a "grey area" as to the "how" these things occurred, this does not compromise Allah's unity since they are only possible by His permission, having no intrinsic power
5:17"Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely, Allah-- He is the Messiah, son of Marium. Say: Who then could control anything as against Allah when He wished to destroy the Messiah son of Marium and his mother and all those on the earth? And Allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them; He creates what He pleases; and Allah has power over all things"
But to the ones bent on denying the truth in pursuit of their paradigms, they will still give primary importance to the speculative parts through which the decisive information is reinterpreted, exactly as the Quran depicts them in 3:7. Sura aal imran, following the argumentation against Jesus' divinity, issues an impactful challenge 3:61 that came to be known as al mubahala. Will those whose salvation depends on piecing together obscure passages of their books be willing to come forth and call for God's curse upon the liars? The verse mentions "the liars". Only those present at the imprecation among the husbands, wives and sons, who are making the false claim, will merit God's curse.
The miraculous circumstances of Jesus' birth, his life, and until he was taken by Allah provide a fertile ground for speculation and deviation, as soon as one loses sight of the decisive verses and principles through which one is to interpret those passages.
Historically the context in which the mubahala occured is when Islam had become an undeniable power knocking at the doors of the neighboring empires of the time. The prophet had to preemptively protect the borders of the growing Islamic state either by conquering new territories or by forming alliances with the tribes and nations bordering those kingdoms. Among them the Christians of Najran with whom he expected to find common spiritual grounds. After sending them a letter inviting them to Islam, they came back to Mecca with a delegation to inquire of his message. They were received at his mosque where they were allowed to pray and reside. Then began the theological debate which ended with the challenge of mubahala. The Christians declined it and preferred agreeing on an amount of Jizya in exchange of keeping their religion and forming an alliance of common interest with the Muslim state. Had they been convinced of the truth they were arguing for, they wouldnt have hesitated taking the oath of the mubahala. But since truth did not matter to them, only the luxurious life their position as clergymen conferred them in their society, they preferred not taking any risks. So they bargained the truth against keeping their position of power.
Like the elite of all times who clinged to their ways when a prophet came to them, they knowingly maintained a falsehood in place, corrupting the laymen, because it benefited them. The Quran thus ends the argument with a powerful and pertinent statement
3:62-3"This is indeed the truth of the matter. There is no deity save God. Indeed, it is God Who is the Mighty, the Wise. And if they turn away, God has full knowledge of those who spread corruption".
Again, a powerful illustration of this concept of testing the hearts through the ambiguous verses is in 74:30-31. It speaks of Hell, the place containing all the evil of the past present and future, as being guarded by 19 angels. Hell is not the kingdom of the devil. It is a place sustained by God, guarded by angels and where punishment is inflicted, including to the devil. Although the mention of the guarding angels' numbers was apparently unnecessary, it later states the purpose as being a trial to both believers and disbelievers.
When the disbelievers who were threatened with this abode and who used to boast about their own armies over those of the Believers heard this, they laughed that the prophet proclaimed hell was only guarded by an army numbering nineteen beings. They implied they would have no problems in handling them.
This type of Quranic argumentation exposes those with a materialistic mind frame which cannot posit what is beyond their own experiences. The one approaching the book with an attitude of negativity and rejection will be misguided by it, unable to objectively ponder on it, leaving the intended meaning aside, solely going after the parts in a comprehensive and intricate argument that are open to speculation in order to discredit the deeper sense or corrupt it
2:26"Surely Allah is not ashamed to set forth any parable-- (that of) a gnat or any thing above that (in humbleness); then as for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord, and as for those who disbelieve, they say: What is it that Allah means by this (the gnat or any other illustration) as a parable: He causes many to err by it and many He leads aright by it! but He does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors".
On the other hand when the believers, who have faith that there is a world beyond their own experience and far beyond what they visualize in their ordinary lives heard this reality, they shuddered with fear at the message of the might of Allah and increased in faith.
There are other similar instances of the Quran relating the disbelievers' skepticism of certain apparent impossibilities of the Hereafter. In a context of reminding that the water coming down from the cloud is a process established by God who could turn its sweetness into bitterness as He turned its bitterness into sweetness, He allows the process by which fire is ignited 56:68-74. Besides the obvious message of gratitude, these verses speaking of God being the originator and constant maintainer of the most basic to the the most complex phenomena we know, also convey the message that none should disbelieve in God's ability to reverse, or modify these realities.
To a believer, the fact that Hell will be a place where both trees and fire will mingle 17:60 or that only 19 angels oversee hell is an insight into the nature of the Almighty's unseen kingdom, for his hosts in this realm act on a scale unimaginable for our current existence "and none knows the hosts of your Lord but He Himself".
The Quran is stating in that verse that this phenomenon of relating the unseen, in and of itself is a trial, for it brings forth the opponents' actual malice towards the Quran. At the same time it benefits the believers in the process, those who already have affirmed the possibility of the unseen. When 74:31 speaks of the People of the Book being certain after hearing this parable, it refers to their knowledge of this phenomenon of God separating the good from the evil through this process of trial as well. The HB and NT refer to the manifestation of God's might on the last Day, as well and how they were ordered to await that Day. It also reveals how the believers rejoiced when told this news by their respective prophets.
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