In the subject of rhetoric, we study the topic of literal and figurative meaning; what is the reason for its denial?

The questioner : And this says: We study in the subject of rhetoric the topic of literal and figurative meaning, so what caused a group of scholars to deny it, even though the effect of the word is the same with the listener?

The Shaykh : Reading something like this does not mean that one is satisfied with it. The fact that you read that speech is literal and figurative, and that this is detailed according to the known details, does not indicate satisfaction with it. As for those who forbade figurative meaning, they said: It is the context that determines the meaning. So when the meaning is determined by the context or the circumstances, it proceeds as a literal meaning in that. For example, we all know that the words of the sons of Ya'qub to their father: We all know that they do not want him to go to the village and stand at every wall and ask them, but rather they want to ask whom? The people of the village. So the village is used for its people, as Allah the Exalted said: So Allah described the village with oppression, and likewise destruction; He destroyed it, and the intended meaning is the destruction of its people and the oppression of its people. So those who deny figurative meaning say: It is the context and the circumstances that determine the meaning, and when the meaning is determined, it becomes literal in it. And as I exemplified for you, if any person said: The intention of the sons of Ya'qub in their saying: means go to the walls and ask every wall, this would be considered foolishness and madness. So whenever the meaning is determined, it is the literal meaning.