Chapter 3: Surat Aal-'Imran (The House 'Imran), verse 7-9
Translation:
It is He who has revealed to you the Book. Some of its verses are precise in meaning - they are the foundation of the Book - and others ambiguous. Those whose hearts are infected with disbelief observe the ambiguous part, so as to create dissension by seeking to explain it. But no one knows its meaning except God. Those who are well-grounded in knowledge say: 'We believe in it: it is all from our Lord. But only the wise take heed. Lord, do not cause our hearts to go astray after You have guided us. Grant us mercy through Your own grace; You are the munificent Giver. Lord, You will surely gather all mankind upon a day that will indubitably come. God will not break His promise.' (7 - 9)
Commentary:
There are
two kinds of subjects dealt with in the Qur’an, one pertaining to the known
human world like historical events, signs from the universe, commandments for
worldly life, the other pertains to the unseen matters which are not
comprehensible by man in this life, for instance, God’s attributes, the states
of heaven and hell, etc. For the first type of matter the Qur’an says that
they are clear revelations, precise in meaning, that is, they are couched in
direct style. For the second type of matter deal with/refer to the unknown world
(for man) so they cannot be expressed in human language, that is why these are
couched in allegorical style. For instance, if we say, ‘man’s hand’, this
will be an example of direct style, but if we say, ‘God’s hand,’ this will
be an example of allegorical style. Those who do not understand this difference
fall into the error of determining the meaning of allegorical verses just as
they do in the case of the verses expressed in direct style. This amounts to
crossing one’s bounds. Such an attempt will only lead man astray, he will
never reach his destination. Because only a ‘human hand’ can be precisely
understood, a ‘divine hand’ cannot be precisely understood with our present
brains capacity/limitation.
The
correct/proper academic and intellectual stand regarding allegorical part of the
Qur’an is for man to acknowledge his limitations. One should be content to
have an abstract understanding for the things he cannot grasp precisely by his
senses. When, due to man’s limitations as regards the sensory perception, man
cannot have a total understanding of those realities, the realistic approach is
not to make any attempt at determining the precise meaning in these matters.
Instead, man should pray to God to keep him away from being entangled in such
fruitless discussions. He should pray to God to grant him such wisdom as to
enable him to recognize his place and be content to bring faith in brief (he
should not insist on knowing the details) regarding those realities. A day is
soon to come when these realities will appear in full views but it is not
possible for man as long as he is under trial.