What does Al-mtshabh mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-mtshabh

Discover the meaning of the term Al-mtshabh (متشابه) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition Al-mtshabh

Al-mtshabh according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

What is hidden by the wording itself and whose understanding is not to be hoped for at all, such as the isolated letters at the suras' openings.

Al-mtshabh according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

With the masters of principles: what one has no way of knowing, so that seeking its meaning falls away. Its ruling: the duty of abstention (tawaqquf) in this world, while believing in the reality of the intended meaning though ignorant which it is; we say 'in this world' because one will be informed of its meaning in the hereafter, where there is no trial. This rule, namely the duty of abstention, is the doctrine of the generality of the Companions and Successors, and of most of the ancients among our school and the companions of al-Shafi'i. Most of the later hold that the 'firmly established in knowledge' knows the interpretation of the mutashabih.

Al-mtshabh according to Mu'jam al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyya

In language: derived from resemblance; God's saying: 'in it are verses decisive: they are the mother of the Book, and others ambiguous (mutashabihat).'

Al-mtshabh according to Maqalid al-'Ulum (As-Suyuti)

The resembling one open to interpretation.

Al-mtshabh according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

The obscure requiring thought and contemplation.

Al-mtshabh according to At-Ta'rifat al-Fiqhiyya (Al-Barkati)

The opposite of the muhkam: what whose intended meaning is not hoped to be known, so great is its hiddenness.

Related terms: Al-mtshabh