Is figurative language present in the Qur'an?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you. I am studying rhetoric, and in our prescribed textbook, it is stated that intellectual figurative language (majaz aqli) is abundant in the Qur'an. We know that everything in the Qur'an is literal (haqiqah) and contains no figurative language. I ask you to guide me to the best way to address this issue.
The Shaykh : This is not actually a problem. Many scholars, especially the later ones, affirm that there is figurative language in the Qur'an, in the Sunnah, in the speech of the Arabs, and in our own speech. There is no issue with this; it is one of the matters on which people have disagreed. However, the division of speech into literal and figurative did not occur until after the extinction of the three blessed generations, as established by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his student Ibn al-Qayyim. Whoever wishes to expand on this field should read Ibn al-Qayyim's (may Allah have mercy on him) book "Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq al-Mursalah" and the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah's book "Al-Iman", in which he elaborated on the matter extensively and comprehensively. The Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) also wrote a treatise denying figurative language in the Qur'an, stating that there is no figurative language in the Qur'an because, in their view, the most prominent sign of figurative language is that its negation is valid, and there is nothing in the Qur'an whose negation is valid. However, as I mentioned, the later scholars held the view that figurative language is present in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the speech of the Arabs, and people's speech. The correct view is that there is no figurative language, and that speech is literal, with its meaning determined by context or by the established usage of the language. Please note: speech indicates its meaning either by established usage or by context. If you were to ask any person, "What did Allah intend by His statement regarding the sons of Jacob:[Yusuf 12:82] Did they intend for their father to come to the village and stand over it wall by wall and ask him, or did they intend to ask the people of the village?" they would say, without doubt, that they intended to ask the people of the village. It is inconceivable that they would say this to their father. If someone were to claim that in the statement of the Exalted: , the intended meaning is "the people," we would say that this is not valid because "the people" are present. Therefore, the intended meaning of "the village" in the second verse is the same dwellings. So, what determines the meaning? Context or Arabic usage. It is either this or that. If the determination of meaning is by context, it necessarily follows that there is no figurative language in the Arabic language.
The Shaykh : This is not actually a problem. Many scholars, especially the later ones, affirm that there is figurative language in the Qur'an, in the Sunnah, in the speech of the Arabs, and in our own speech. There is no issue with this; it is one of the matters on which people have disagreed. However, the division of speech into literal and figurative did not occur until after the extinction of the three blessed generations, as established by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his student Ibn al-Qayyim. Whoever wishes to expand on this field should read Ibn al-Qayyim's (may Allah have mercy on him) book "Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq al-Mursalah" and the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah's book "Al-Iman", in which he elaborated on the matter extensively and comprehensively. The Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) also wrote a treatise denying figurative language in the Qur'an, stating that there is no figurative language in the Qur'an because, in their view, the most prominent sign of figurative language is that its negation is valid, and there is nothing in the Qur'an whose negation is valid. However, as I mentioned, the later scholars held the view that figurative language is present in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the speech of the Arabs, and people's speech. The correct view is that there is no figurative language, and that speech is literal, with its meaning determined by context or by the established usage of the language. Please note: speech indicates its meaning either by established usage or by context. If you were to ask any person, "What did Allah intend by His statement regarding the sons of Jacob: