Exploring the terminology of Muhkam and Mutashabih: A semantic analysis within Quranic

Souad Kourime

doi:10.33102/uij.649

Authors

Souad Kourime Taibah University, Janadah Bin Umayyah Road, Tayba, Madinah 42353, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8701-5664

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33102/uij.649

Keywords:

Muḥkam, Mutashābih, Semantic analysis, Qur’ān, Lexicon

Abstract

This paper examines the concepts of "Muḥkam" and "Mutashābih" in the Qur’ān, which have been the subject of extensive scholarly research and analysis. It reviews numerous works dedicated to understanding these concepts, and notes that the differing perspectives and approaches of scholars have led to confusion and disagreement among various schools and sects. To gain a better understanding of these concepts and their terminology in the context of the Qur’ān, the paper first uses semantic analysis to clarify their definition and explores their root meanings as well as their derivatives. The paper then examines the Quranic verses that use the terms "Muḥkam" and "Mutashābih," and conducts a comparative semantic analysis highlighting the different interpretations of these terms among various Islamic schools and sects. The paper also argues that the terms should be understood in relation to the Qur’ān's broader message and context, and demonstrates that a closer examination of the Quranic text itself can help resolve some of the confusion surrounding these concepts. The comprehensive terminology this paper provides can be particularly useful for scholars engaged in ongoing research and analysis of the Quranic text, especially in the areas of interpretation, theology, and principles of jurisprudence.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Al-Bukhari, Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail. (1987). Al-Jamiʿ al-Saḥīh (M. D. al-Bagha, Ed.; 3rd ed.). Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir - Al-Yamama.

Al-Fayrūzabadi, Majd al-Din Muhammad ibn Yaqūb. (n.d.). Al-Qamūs al-Muhīt. Beirut: Dar al-Jil.

Al-Hākim Al-Nisābūri, Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. (1990). Al-Mustadrak ʿala al-Saḥīḥayn (M. A. Q. Ata, Ed.; 1st ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya.

Al-Hamadāni, Abdul Jabbar ibn Ahmed. (1969). Mutashābih al-Qur'an (A. M. Zarzour, Ed.). Cairo: Dar al-Turath.

Al-Imadi, Abu al-Saʿūd Muhammad ibn Muhammad. (n.d.). Irshād al-ʿAql al-Salīm ila Mazāyā al-Qur'ān al-Karīm. Beirut: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi.

Al-Jassās, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali al-Rāzi. (1405 AH). Ahkām al-Qur'ān (M. S. Qamhawi, Ed.). Beirut: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi.

Al-Jawzi, Abdul Rahman ibn Ali ibn Muhammad. (1404 AH). Zad al-Masīr fi ʿIlm al-Tafsir (3rd ed.). Beirut: Al-Maktab Al-Islami.

Al-Qurtubi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad. (1372 AH). Al-Jamiʿ li-Ahkām al-Qur'ān (A. A. Al-Bardouni, Ed.; 2nd ed.). Cairo: Dar Al-Sha'b.

Al-Raghib al-Isfahani, Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Muhammad. (1998). Al-Mufradāt fī Ghareeb al-Qur’ān (M. K. 'itani, Ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifah.

Al-Shatibi, Abu Isḥāq. (1999). Al-Muwāfaqāt fī Usūl al-Sharee'ah (4th ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Ma'arifah.

Al-Shaybāni, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Amr ibn al-Ḍaḥāk. (1991). Al-Aḥād wa al-Mathāni (B. F. A. al-Jawabreh, Ed.; 1st ed.). Riyadh: Dar al-Raya.

Al-Tabari, Abu Jaʿfar Muhammad ibn Jarir. (1984). Jamiʿ al-Bayān fī Taʾwīl Ayyi al-Qur’ān. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.

Farhat, Ahmed Hassan. (1986). Maʿāni al-Muḥkam wa al-Mutashābih fī al-Qur'ān al-Kareem. Majallat al-Sharīʿah wa al-Dirāsāt al-Islamiyyah, 3(5), 140-208.

Ibn Ali, Ahmad Abu al-Fadl Shihāb al-Din. (1997). Al-ʿUjāb fī Bayān al-Asbāb (A. H. M. al-Anis, Ed.; 1st ed.). Dammam: Dar Ibn al-Jawzi.

Ibn Atiyah al-Andalusi, Abu Muhammad Abdul Haq ibn Ghaleb. (1975-1991). Al-Muharrar al-Wajīz fī Tafsir al-Kitāb al-Azīz (Al-Majlis al-Ilmi in Fes & Al-Majlis al-Ilmi in Meknes, Eds.). Mohammedia: Fedala Press.

Ibn Fares. (n.d.). Muʿjam Maqāyīs al-Lughah (A. S. Harun, Ed.; 1st ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Jeel.

Ibn Hanbal al-Shaybāni, Abu Abdullah Ahmad. (1989). Musnad al-Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal. Cairo: Qurtuba Institution.

Ibn Kathir, Abu al-Fidaʾ Ismaʿil ibn ʿAmr. (1401 AH). Tafsir al-Qur'ān al-ʿAẓim. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.

Ibn Manẓūr, Muhammad ibn Mukarram. (n.d.). Lisān al-Arab (1st ed.). Beirut: Dar Sader.

Ibn Taymiyyah, Taqi al-Din Ahmed ibn Abdul Halim. (2005). Majmūʿ al-Fatawa (3rd ed.). Al-Mansoura: Dar al-Wafaʾ lil-Tibaʿah wal-Nashr wal-Tawziʿ.

Nasafi, Abu al-Barakat 'Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Mahmud. (1415 AH). Tafsir al-Nasafi (S. A. Dawoodi, Ed.). Damascus - Beirut: Dar al-Qalam - Dar al-Shamiyah.

Suyuti, Jalal al-Din. (1415 AH). Al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qur'ān (K. M. al-Arabi, Ed.; 1st ed.). Cairo: Dar al-Faruq al-Haditha.

Zumrud, Fareedah. (2001). Mafhūm al-Taʾwīl fī al-Qur’ān al-Karīm wa al-Hadīth al-Sharīf (1st ed., Al-Rasa'il al-Jami'iyyah Series 2). Fes: Maʿhad al-Dirāsat al-Mustalaḥiyyah.