What Ibn Khaldun1 Says About The Mutashabihat Insection16ofIbnKhaldun’s‘Al-Muqaddima’hesaysthefollowing:::: Section Sixteen :::: Concerns removing the lid from the Mutashabih of the Kitab and the Sunna , and the doctrinesresultingfromthatamongsttheSunnisandtheInnovators KnowthatAllah–GlorybetoHim–senttousourProphetMuhammad–mayAllahblessandgrant himpeace–callingtosalvationandtheachievementofbliss.HerevealedtohimtheNobleQur’aninthe clearArabictonguewhileaddressingusinittocarryouttheburdensthatwillleadustothat[bliss]. AndinlightofthisaddressandamongstitsinescapablecharacteristicswasthementionofHisattributes andHisnames–GlorybetoHim–inordertoacquaintuswithHisessence,alongwithmentionofthesoul thatclingstous,andthementionoftheangelswhoareintermediariesbetweenHismessengersandus. HementionedtoustheDayofResurrectionandHiswarningswithoutspecifyingtousthe[appointed] timeinanyofit.HealsoestablishedinthisNobleQur’anlettersofthealphabetseveredatthebeginnings ofsomeofitschapters( suwar ),fromwhichthereisnowaytounderstandtheirintent. Henamedallofthesecategoriesfromthebook Mutashabih ,andHecondemnedfollowingthem.He said, “HeistheonewhorevealedtoyoutheBook.Fromitareversesthatareclear(muhkamat).Theyare thefoundationoftheBookwhileothersareallegorical(mutashabihat).Soasforthoseinwhoseheartsis perversion,theyfollowwhatisambiguousofit,whileseekingdiscordandseekingitsmeaning.Andnone knowitsmeaningexceptAllah.Andthosefirmlygroundedinknowledgesay:‘Webelieveinit.Allisfrom ourLord.’Andnonetakeadmonitionexceptthosepossessinginnercore.”{Ali-‘Imran:6 } The scholars of the Salaf amongst the Sahaba andtheTabi’unconstruedthisversetomeanthatthe clearverses( al-muhkamat )arethosethatareclarifiedandhavefirmlyestablishedrulings( al-mubayyanat al-thabitatal-ahkami). Forthisreason,theFuqahasaidintheirtechnicaldefinition,“TheMuhkamiswhatisclearinmeaning.” Asforthe Mutashabihat,theyhaveanumberofwaysofthattheyexpressit. LAMPPOSTPRODUCTIONS–www.lamppostproductions.com1 –AbdullahbinHamidAli It has been said that they are:::: ‘those[verses]thatrequirereflectionandanexplanation (tafsir) that validatestheirmeaningsduetotheircontradictionofanotherverseorreason.’Sotheirindicationsare subtle and confusing. And in accordance with this [definition], Ibn ‘Abbas said, “The mutashabih is believedinandnotactedupon.” Mujahidand‘Ikrimasaid, “Everythingotherthantheverses dealingwithlegaljudgments(al-ahkam) andthenarratives(al-qasas)are mutashabih .”AndQadiAbuBakr[Al-Baqillani]andImamAl-Haramayn [Al-Juwayni]areinagreementwithit. Thawri,Sha’bi,andagroupofthescholarsoftheSalafsaid,“The mutashabih iswhathasnowayof beingknown,likethesignsofthehour,thearrivalofthechastisements,andthelettersofthealphabetat thebeginnings ofthe surahs .”AndHisstatementintheverse “These arethefoundationoftheBook” means:‘mostofitandthemajorityofit’[isthefoundation]whilethe mutashabih istheleastofit,whileit canbereferredbacktothe muhkam . ThenHecondemnedthosewhofollowthe mutashabih throughfigurativeinterpretation (ta’wil) orby construingthemaccordingtomeaningsthatarenotunderstoodfromtheminthetongueoftheArabswith which we were addressed. And He called them ‘The People of Perversion’ (Ahl al-Zaygh), thatis,[the people] inclining ( mayl) away from the truth from the unbelievers, the heretics (zanadiqa), and the ignorantamongsttheinnovators,and[Hesaid]thatthatactionoftheirsisthepursuitofdiscord(fitna), such as idolatry (shirk) or [to cause] confusion (lubs) to the believers, or seeking to interpret them accordingtowhattheyfancy,sothatthey(i.e.thebelievers)wouldemulatethemintheirinnovation. ThenHe–GlorybetoHim–reportedthatHemonopolizestheir[true]meaning(ta’wiliha)andthat noneknowsitexceptHim.Hesaid, “AndnoneknowsitsmeaningexceptAllah.”Thenhecommendedthe learnedforbelievinginthemonly.Hesaid, “Andthosefirmlygroundedinknowledgesay:Webelievein it.” Therefore,[theclauseconcerning]theSalafandthosefirmlygrounded istakenasanewlyintroduced clause(uၧ:W) .Andtheyconsidereditstrongerthanthe[understandingtakenfromdeclaring‘and’tobe a]conjunctionofcontinuation(xgo3),sincefaithintheindiscernibleismoreeloquentinpraise;whileby [understanding‘and’ittobe]aconjunctionofcontinuation,itwouldmeanbelievingin the discernible , since they would know the meaning (ta’wil) in that case. So, it would not be something indiscernible (ghayb).AndHisstatement “AllisfromourLord”supportsthat[understanding]. Whatalsoindicatesthattheirmeaningisunknowntomortalsisthefactthatinlinguisticexpressions, onlythemeaningsthattheArabsdesignatedforthemcanbeunderstoodfromthem.Sowhenitproves impossibletoattributethereporttotheonethereportisabout,weareignorantofwhatisindicatedbythe commentatthattime.IfitcomestousfromAllah, weentrustits knowledgetoHim,and we do not preoccupyourselveswithanindicationthatwedesire.Sothere’snowayforusto[achieve]that. ‘Aishasaid,“WhenyouseethosewhodisputeabouttheQur’an,theyarethosewhoAllahmeant.So bewareofthem!”ThisistheapproachoftheSalaf (Madhhabal-Salaf) regardingtheallegoricalverses (al- ayatal-mutashabihat). AndexpressionssimilartothathavecomeintheSunnaaswell.Thewaythatthey LAMPPOSTPRODUCTIONS–www.lamppostproductions.com2 –AbdullahbinHamidAli aretobeconstrued-accordingtothem-isthesamewaythatthe[normal] verses areconstrued,sincethe source [of both types of verses] is one. Now, after the various types of mutashabihat have been acknowledgedinaccordwithwhatwe’vestated,let us now return to the peoples’ difference of opinion aboutthem. AsforwhatreferstowhattheymentionedconcerningtheHouranditssigns,thetimesappointedfor thechastisements,thenumberofthe Zabaniya (AngelsofHell),etc.,noneofthis–andAllahknowsbest– isfromthe mutashabih ,becausenoobscureexpressionorotherhasappearedinit.Rather,theyarethe timesdesignatedtooccurrences-theknowledgeofwhichAllahhasappropriatedsolelytoHimselfthrough HisexplicitdeclarationinHisbookandonthetongueofHismessenger.Hesaid, “Verily,theknowledge ofitisonlywithAllah .”AndI’mastonishedathewhoconsidereditamongstthe mutashabih . As for the severed letters at the beginning of the surahs , their literal indication (haqiqatuha) is [a referenceto]thelettersofthealphabet.Anditisn’tfarfetchedthattheybetheintent.Zamakhsharisaid, “Inthemisanallusiontotheutmostlimitofinimitability(al-‘ijaz),sincetheQur’anthathasbeenrevealed iscomposedofthem(i.e.letters).Whilemortalsareequal[inunderstanding]withrespecttothem,while disparity is found in what they indicate after being put together. If there was a departure from this approach, which takes into account the literal meaning (al-haqiqa), it could only be through a sound transmission(naqlsahih)asintheirstatementregarding‘TaHa’(g),‘Verily,itisasummonsfromone who is pure (R4f) and a guide (N4)’, and the like of that. But, the sound transmission [of this interpretation of the two letters] is non-existent (muta’adhdhir).” So the mutashabih occurs from this regardwithrespecttothem. Asforrevelation (wahy) ,theangels,thesoul,andtheJinn,theirambiguityisduetothesubtletyoftheir literalindications,sincetheyareunacknowledged[inthelanguageofthePre-IslamicArabs].Soambiguity withrespecttothemhasappearedasaresultofthat. Andsomepeoplehaveincludedamongthemallthatiswithintheirmeaningsuchasthecircumstances relatedtotheResurrection,Paradise,Hell,theAnti-Christ (Dajjal), theCrises( al-fitan), theSigns,aswell aswhathappenscontrarytofamiliarcustoms.And such [anunderstanding]isn’tfarfetched,onlythatthe overwhelming majority does not concur with them in that, especially the Mutakallimin2 (Speculative- Theologians).Theydeterminedthemtobeastheyconstruedthemintheirbooks,whereasnothingremains partofthe mutashabih exceptforthequalities(sifat )bywhichAllahdescribedHimselfinHisbookandon the tongue of His messenger of whose apparent meaning gives the impression of imperfection or impotence. People after the Salaf - whose approach we have already acknowledged - have differed about the apparentmeaningsofthese[texts].Theydisputedwithoneanother,andinnovationsfoundtheirwayinto thepointsofcreed.Soletusguidetoapresentationoftheirviewswhilepreferringthecorrectoneofthem totheincorrectone. So we say – while my success comes only by Allah::::KnowthatAllah–GlorybetoHim–described HimselfinHisbookasbeingKnowing (‘Alim), Capable (Qadir), Willful (Murid), Living (Hayy), Hearing LAMPPOSTPRODUCTIONS–www.lamppostproductions.com3 –AbdullahbinHamidAli (Sami’), Seeing (Basir), Speaking (Mutakallim), Majestic (Jalil), Noble (Karim), Generous (Jawad), A GrantorofBlessings (Mun’im), Mighty (‘Aziz), andMagnificent (‘Azim). Likewise,HeestablishedforHis self the two hands (al-yadayn), the two eyes (al-‘aynayn) , the face (al-wajh), the foot (al-qadam), the tongue 3andotherqualitiesofthelike. Someofthemnecessitate truedivinity suchasknowledge,power,will,andlife,whichisaconditionfor allofthem.Someofthemare attributesofperfection suchashearing,sight,andspeech.Andsomeofthem give the impression of imperfection such as establishment (istiwa) 4, descending (nuzul) 5, and coming (maji)6.Othersareliketheface,thehands,andtheeyes allof whicharethecharacteristicsofcreated things. 7 Then the Lawgiver (i.e. the Messenger) reported that we will see our Lord on the Day of Resurrectionlike[wesee]themoononitsfullestnightwhilenoneofuswillcrowdoneanother[trying]to seeHim-ashasbeenconfirmedinthe Sahih[of Bukhari]. AsfortheSalaf-the Sahabaandthe Tabi’un-theyconfirmedforHimtheattributesofdivinityand perfection, and they consigned [solely] to Him [the knowledge of] what gives the impression of imperfectionwhileremainingsilentabouttheirindications. 8Sothepeopleafterthemdiffered. Then the Mu’tazila 9 came and acknowledged these attributes as mere