He shook, and how did he shake? By the trembling of his body. The man is vague and not specified, and the attribute about which he was informed is also not specified.

The Shaykh : He shook, and how did he shake? By the trembling of his body. The man is vague and not specified, and the attribute about which he was informed is also not specified.
The important point is not the identity of the man, nor the specific attribute about which he was informed. The important point is the effect this hadith had on him. When he heard it, he shook. He did not shake out of reverence for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but out of disapproval of this, disapproval of it, meaning denial of this attribute. He did not accept it. This is a great and difficult matter, because what is obligatory for a person when something is established regarding Allah and His Messenger? It is obligatory for him to affirm it, believe in it, and not deny it, even if he has not heard it, and even if he imagines it to be a great matter. He must accept it and submit, and his path must be the path of those firmly grounded in knowledge.
Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What divided them? In one narration it is and in another narration . As for "ma faraq" and "ma faraqu," according to the narration with the damma, "ma" is interrogative, and "farqu" means fear. That is, what fear do these people have regarding affirming the attributes that were recited to them and conveyed to them? Why are they afraid? Why do they not affirm them for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) as Allah affirmed them for Himself, or as His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed them for Him? This applies directly to the people of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes), to the people of ta'til and tahrif (distortion of a text's meaning) who deny the meaning of the Hand, for example. They say, "We do not affirm a Hand, because this is tashbih (likening Allah to creation)." It is said: Glory to Allah the Great, what frightens you from affirming it? Allah the Exalted has affirmed it for Himself. What frightens you from affirming mercy, when Allah has affirmed it for Himself? What frightens you from affirming the Face, when Allah has affirmed it for Himself? And so on. What frightens you? Tashbih (likening Allah to creation)? Read His saying, the Exalted: And say: We believe in affirming this attribute without tashbih (likening Allah to creation), and in that case, there is no fear. So "ma farqu" means "what fear." As in His saying, the Exalted: What is the meaning of "yafraquun"? They are afraid.
Now, as for the narration "farraqa" or "faraqa," "faraqa" means "he divided," as in His saying, the Exalted: meaning: We divided it. So "faraqa" and "farraqa" mean the same thing. According to this narration, "farraqa"—may Allah have mercy on you—and "faraqa" would be a past tense verb, right? A past tense verb. And "ma" can be interpreted as a negation or as an interrogative. If it is a negation, the meaning is that these people did not distinguish between the truth and falsehood, meaning: they did not distinguish between the truth and falsehood, so they made this part of the ambiguous and denied it, not carrying it to the clear. It is also possible that "ma" is interrogative, meaning: what divided them, or what made them believe in the clear and perish at the ambiguous?
The summary is that there are three narrations of this word: "faraqa," "farraqa," and "farqu." According to the narration "farqu," "ma" is the subject, and "farqu" is the predicate of the subject, meaning: what is their fear, or what frightens them if they affirm for Allah what He affirmed for Himself. And according to the narrations "faraqa" and "farraqa," "faraqa" and "farraqa" are past tense verbs, and "ma" can be interrogative or negative. In any case, it indicates the blame of these people, it indicates their blame, that Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) blamed them for this state they are in. He said: "Riqqa" means softness and acceptance. meaning the clear part of the Qur'an. at the ambiguous part, meaning the ambiguous part of the Qur'an. So what is the clear and what is the ambiguous? The clear is that whose meaning is clarified and made evident; this is what we call clear. And the ambiguous is that whose meaning is hidden, not known by everyone, not known by people. And we will return to the ambiguous, if Allah wills. So what is the meaning of the clear?
The student: Its meaning is clarified.

The Shaykh : Its meaning is clarified. And the ambiguous?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Its meaning is hidden. And this is when combining the clear and the ambiguous. When combining the clear and the ambiguous, the clear becomes that whose meaning is clarified, and the ambiguous becomes that whose meaning is hidden. So as for when the clear is mentioned alone, or the ambiguous is mentioned alone, when the clear is mentioned alone or the ambiguous is mentioned alone, then the clear means the precise one in which there is no defect, no lying in its reports, and no injustice in its rulings. Understand this. If the clear is mentioned alone and the ambiguous is not mentioned with it, what is meant by the clear? The precise one in which there is no defect, no lying in the reports, and no what? Injustice in the rulings, as He said, the Exalted: And Allah the Exalted mentioned the precision (ihkam) in the Qur'an without the ambiguous in several verses, such as His saying, the Exalted: Is that so, 'Abd al-Rahman? And as in His saying, the Exalted: So Allah described the entire Qur'an as clear (muhkam). With this meaning, it is clear (muhkam), meaning precise, in which there is no defect, no lying in the reports, and no injustice in the rulings.
And when the ambiguous is mentioned without the clear, the meaning becomes that some of it resembles some of it in its excellence and perfection. If Allah mentions the ambiguous only and does not mention the clear with it, the intended meaning is that some of it resembles some of it in perfection and excellence, and some of it confirms some of it, and it does not contradict. An example is His saying, the Exalted: meaning it resembles some of it in perfection and excellence and confirms some of it and does not contradict . And this is like His saying, the Exalted, regarding the fruits of the people of Paradise, regarding the fruit of Paradise, He says: meaning it resembles some of it in perfection and excellence, even if it differs in some aspects.
So the Qur'an was described once as clear (muhkam) without being coupled with the ambiguous, and once as ambiguous without being coupled with clear (muhkam), and once as clear (muhkam) coupled with the ambiguous, right? Now, the first one, the clear (muhkam) without being coupled with the ambiguous, what is it, Mustafa?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Now, and the ambiguous is that whose meaning is hidden, yes. So this is the clear and the ambiguous.
And ambiguity is of two types: a type whose ambiguity is relative, and a type whose ambiguity is absolute. A type whose ambiguity is absolute, and the second type is whose ambiguity is relative. What is the difference between absolute and relative? The absolute is that which is ambiguous for everyone, everyone does not know it, it is hidden from them. And the relative is that which is hidden from some people and not from others, some people are not confused by it, and some people are confused by it. Did you understand?
Now, based on this, on the division of the ambiguous into absolutely ambiguous and relatively ambiguous, on this is based the stopping (waqf) in His saying, the Exalted: So according to the stopping , the intended meaning of the ambiguous is the absolute ambiguity that no one knows, yes, no one knows its interpretation. And according to the connection , this is the relative ambiguity.
The Salaf have two statements regarding this verse. One statement is stopping at His saying: and this is what the majority of the Salaf are upon, it is what the majority of the Salaf are upon, they stop at His saying: Like what? The scholars said, like
The student: ...

The Shaykh : No, it is not like the attributes of Allah, it is like the modality (kayfiyyah) of the attributes of Allah, and the realities of the attributes of Allah, and the realities of what Allah informed about regarding the bliss of Paradise and the punishment of the Fire. We do not grasp these realities, no one grasps them, or do you? Do you grasp now the taste of the fruit in Paradise, the dates and pomegranates? You do not grasp this, nor do you grasp its reality. For this reason, Ibn 'Abbas said: . Now, We know that "hamim" water means hot water, but we do not imagine the heat of the water of the Fire, and may Allah protect us, we do not imagine this heat, this heat has no counterpart in this world, because , so this is of the ambiguous, what? The absolute, which no one knows except Allah.
As for the reading of , the intended meaning of *mutashabih* (ambiguous) is relative ambiguity. This is known by those firmly grounded in knowledge, while it remains ambiguous to others. For this reason, it is narrated from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) that he said: He did not say this as praise of himself or self-praise, but he said it to let people know that there is nothing in the Book of Allah whose meaning is unknown. So the meaning is that all the meanings of the Qur'an are clear, but some of the Qur'an is ambiguous to some people and clear to others. And this is correct, isn't it? Yes, even the scholars firmly grounded in knowledge sometimes differ on the meaning of the Qur'an, isn't that so? And this indicates that it is hidden from some of them, because the correct opinion, without doubt, is the opinion of one of them if the opinions are contradictory. But if the opinions differ in a way of variety, there is no contradiction between them. However, sometimes the opinions of the exegetes differ in a contradictory way, meaning some are the opposite of others and cannot be reconciled. In that case, without doubt, the truth is with one of them if the verse does not allow for both meanings. If it allows for both meanings, as mentioned before, then it applies to both. And the conclusion, yes?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : According to the opinion that *mutashabih* is that whose reality is not known, it is what only Allah knows. The stance of those firmly grounded in knowledge toward it is that they believe in it, not the clear and manifest, nor the hidden; they believe in it. As for the reading of connection , it is also clear and evident that those firmly grounded in knowledge believe in it, know its meaning, and say, "We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord, so there is no contradiction in it." This is because the people of deviation bring forth the *mutashabih* in order to mislead people and cause them to fall into doubt. An example of this is in verses that appear to contradict each other. The people of deviation bring these ambiguous verses, and what is the result? To cause fitnah (trial/discord), to turn people away from the path of Allah, and to cast doubt on the Qur'an. For example, Allah the Exalted said: Do they acknowledge or deny? They acknowledge. And in another verse: Do they acknowledge or deny? They deny. One of the critics comes and says, "Come, people, look, the Qur'an is contradictory, isn't it?" Perhaps it confuses the general public. But those firmly grounded in knowledge say, "We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord, so there is no contradiction in it. And if it had been from other than Allah, they would have found much inconsistency in it." It does not contradict. So people on the Day of Resurrection have different states, and the Day of Resurrection is not a single moment; perhaps at one hour they acknowledge and at another hour they deny, according to what they think will benefit them.
One person also comes and says, "Come, the Qur'an says Correct?"
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : And it says How is this? The deviants say this and bring up these things, isn't that so? Okay, what do we say? Those firmly grounded in knowledge say, "We know the aspect of this statement. All of it is from our Lord, so there is no contradiction in it." How is that? They say, "What good thing that befalls you is from Allah, and what bad thing that befalls you is from yourself," meaning that you are the cause of it, due to His saying, the Exalted: . As for , this is in response to the statement of the polytheists that you, O Muhammad, have no role in their being struck by calamities. Where do the calamities come from? From Allah. You have no role in it. And this is like His saying, the Exalted: It is not from me; the drought and other things that befall you are not from me. Is that clear? And so the people of deviation follow what is ambiguous in the Qur'an. They tell you: "Allah says to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) , and in another verse He says: It is ambiguous, isn't it? The people of deviation follow this, and the people of truth, those firmly grounded in knowledge, say, "All of it is from our Lord, and we believe in it," and they interpret each one in a way that does not contradict the other. This is guidance of success. And guidance of success is in the hand of whom? In the hand of Allah. This is guidance of indication.
One with deviation also comes and says, "Allah says: So He affirmed that He has hands, correct? But He says: So He affirmed that there is nothing like Him. How can He affirm a hand in one verse and say in another that there is nothing like Him? This is a contradiction. And so when they followed the ambiguous, what did they say? They said: "Allah does not have a hand." So they denied the hand based on this doubt that arose for them. Is that clear? And those firmly grounded in knowledge say, "Absolutely, this does not contradict. All of it is from our Lord, and if it had been from other than Allah, they would have found much inconsistency in it." And we say: Allah has hands, but they do not resemble the hands of the created beings. Just as some created beings do not resemble others despite their agreement in name, or not? We say to this man who brought up this doubt to us, "Come, man, do you have a cat? He has a cat, and we know he has a cat in the house, so he will say, 'Yes.' Okay, does your cat have a hand? He will say, 'Yes.' Is your cat's hand like your hand? He will say, 'No.' So we say: If this differs, even though they are created beings and some differ from others while they are all created, what do you say about the great difference between the Creator and the created?" And so we say this regarding the rest of the ambiguous verses. Yes?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : And the ant has a hand, and the camel has a hand, yes.
The important thing, in any case, is that the verse allows for both meanings, without doubt. It allows for both meanings: that the intended meaning of *mutashabih* is absolute ambiguity, in which case the pause is on what? On Allah, and no one knows its interpretation except Allah. And that the intended meaning of *mutashabih* is relative ambiguity, which is hidden from some but not others, in which case the pause is on what? It is on those firmly grounded in knowledge, and it is connected.
And know that some of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them), among the precise ones, think that there is in the Qur'an what cannot be reached in meaning, meaning it would be of the category of absolute ambiguity. Then they apply the verses of attributes to that, and say: "They are of the *mutashabih*, and no one knows their interpretation except Allah." And in that, they have erred with a great error, because it is not reasonable that Allah says: a Book so that they may reflect on its verses, except the verses of attributes? Huh? Except the verses of attributes, are they excluded or not excluded?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : They are not excluded. And the verses of attributes are numerous in the Qur'an, more than the verses of rulings, and they are greater, more noble, and more obligatory than the verses of rulings. So if we say that the meaning of the verses of attributes is not known, it means that half of the Qur'an and the most important part of the Qur'an would have its meaning hidden, and the meaning of "so that they may reflect on its verses" would be limited to the verses of rulings only. And this is something that no sane person who considers what he is saying can say. Rather, we say: The entire Qur'an is understood in meaning; there is nothing in it whose meaning is not understood, absolutely. There is nothing in it whose meaning is not understood. But the error is in the understanding. Understanding may fall short of grasping the meaning, so one does not grasp it; is this possible or not? And one may understand it with a wrong meaning, and this is possible. But to say: The entire Ummah, from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to the last person of this Ummah, does not understand the meaning of the Qur'an, this is something that no sane person who considers what he is saying can say. According to their opinion, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and all the Companions would be reading these verses of attributes and not understanding their meaning. For them, they would be like the letters of the alphabet, like alif, ba, ta, tha, and so on. This is not reasonable. And so the correct opinion, without doubt, is that there is nothing in the Qur'an whose meaning is absolutely ambiguous for all people. As for their realities, yes, their realities are ambiguous for all people, because these realities are not grasped except by being informed of them or by a person reaching them himself, so he grasps them on the Day of Resurrection, for example. Yes.
The student : What is the meaning of the verse: .

The Shaykh : *Ihkam* means precision, and then this is for the arrangement of memory, meaning I made it precise and detailed; this is the meaning. It may occur to one that *ahkamt* means I summarized, because he said: , but the meaning is that it was made precise with detail. Yes.
The student : ... are only limited to ...

The Shaykh : Yes, the realities are the absolute ones, the absolute realities.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, yes, if we interpret *tashabuh* as absolute ambiguity, we pause.
The student : ... Is *ta'wil* interpretation?

The Shaykh : No, no, *ta'wil* is used for two meanings: *ta'wil* meaning the reality of a thing and what it leads to, as in His saying, the Exalted: And as in the saying of Yusuf when they prostrated to him, what did he say? They say this is *ta'wil*, meaning this reality that ... it is not its interpretation.