What is the difference between the clear and the ambiguous?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And the third question is how do we determine whether a verse is ambiguous or clear? Thank you.
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Shaykh, the questioner asked a moment ago about determining the ambiguous and the clear in the Qur'an?
The Shaykh:
The scholars have defined this by saying that the clear is that which does not need another text for its interpretation; it is clear in itself and its meaning is known to those addressed. As for the ambiguous, its meaning does not appear except by referring it back to the clear. He, Exalted and Majestic is He, said:[Ali 'Imran 3:7] But as for those in whose hearts is perversity, they follow that which is ambiguous therein, seeking discord and seeking its interpretation.
This includes the general and the specific, the absolute and the qualified, and the abrogating and the abrogated. So one must know these matters. If a text needs another piece of evidence to explain it, clarify it, or qualify it, or if it is abrogated, it is not permissible for you to act upon it until you are certain of these matters.
And the third question is how do we determine whether a verse is ambiguous or clear? Thank you.
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Shaykh, the questioner asked a moment ago about determining the ambiguous and the clear in the Qur'an?
The Shaykh:
The scholars have defined this by saying that the clear is that which does not need another text for its interpretation; it is clear in itself and its meaning is known to those addressed. As for the ambiguous, its meaning does not appear except by referring it back to the clear. He, Exalted and Majestic is He, said:
It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific
هُوَ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُّحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌThis includes the general and the specific, the absolute and the qualified, and the abrogating and the abrogated. So one must know these matters. If a text needs another piece of evidence to explain it, clarify it, or qualify it, or if it is abrogated, it is not permissible for you to act upon it until you are certain of these matters.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 1757 - ما الفرق بين المحكم والمتشابه؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.