Continuation of the benefits of the verse: “It is He who has revealed to you the Book. In it are clear verses, which are the mother of the Book…”

And that speech is the speech of Allah. We raised an issue regarding this, which is: Allah said: and He said: and we answered that, did we not? Good. And among the benefits of this noble verse is that this Qur'an is divided into clear (muhkam) and ambiguous (mutashabih), based on His saying: We mentioned that this division is problematic because Allah mentioned in another verse that the entire Qur'an is ambiguous, and in a second verse that it is entirely clear, and we mentioned the reconciliation, did we not? Good. And among the benefits of this noble verse is the obligation to refer to the clear verses in the face of the ambiguous ones, based on His saying: meaning its reference point. And this, I mean referring to the clear when the ambiguous is present, is not specific to the Qur'an but also applies to the Sunnah. If one finds ambiguous hadiths and clear, definitive hadiths, it is obligatory to refer the ambiguous to the clear so that all becomes clear, whether the ambiguity is in the meanings of the words or in the establishment of the report. The latter is specific to the Sunnah, because there is no ambiguity in the Qur'an regarding its establishment. Or the ambiguity may be in the statements of the scholars, meaning that most scholars are on a view that is ambiguous to you regarding the evidence. In that case, the truth is generally with the one who is more trustworthy and closer to the Book and the Sunnah, whether by knowledge, trustworthiness, or number. And among the benefits of this noble verse is the wisdom of Allah the Exalted in dividing the Qur'an into two parts. The aspect of the wisdom is that through this, the trial and test are achieved. The believer is not misled by this division, while the one with deviation in his heart is misled. This is just as Allah tests His servants with commands and prohibitions; He also tests them with evidence, making this clear and that ambiguous so that the believer is distinguished from the non-believer. If the Qur'an were entirely clear, the trial would not occur. If it were entirely ambiguous, the clarification would not occur. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, made the Qur'an a clarification, and made it clear and ambiguous for the purpose of testing and trial. Did you understand now? Good. And among the benefits of this noble verse is that one sign of deviation is for a person to follow the ambiguous parts of the Qur'an. Whether he follows them regarding his own understanding, forming ideas in his mind and bringing up ambiguous verses for himself, or whether it is regarding presenting the Qur'an to others. For example, he says to people: “What do you say about such and such?” and he brings up the ambiguous verses without resolving them. For this reason, it is a great danger to bring up ambiguous verses, whether to students or the general public, without explaining the resolution of their issue. Because if you do this, you plunge them into confusion and doubt, and you become like one who throws a person into a sea from which he cannot escape, without saving him. This happens with some of the pretentious students of knowledge who bring up the ambiguous verses and then stop. They stop and do not explain to people the nature of this ambiguity, thereby plunging people into confusion without realizing it. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that these people who follow the ambiguous parts sometimes seek to cause fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and to block people from their religion and to remove trust from their hearts regarding the Qur'an, based on His saying: And sometimes they want, by presenting this ambiguous material, to distort them to the meaning they desire. This is because if they wanted to distort the clear verses, they would not be accepted, would they? But they bring up the ambiguous ones so they can distort them to what they want, because if it is ambiguous, the person they are addressing will be confused by the matter and will accept the distortion they bring. And by this, the issue that may arise for a person when he says: is resolved. Because seeking ta'wil (figurative interpretation) in the intended sense is a required matter and is not the affair of those with deviation, but rather the affair of those with faith. However, those with deviation bring up these ambiguous parts in order to distort them to what they want, because it is not clear and definitive to be opposed by people, but it is ambiguous, so they achieve the distortion they desire.