Discover the meaning of the term Al-ẓahr (ظاهر) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 4 min readIt is the name for speech whose intended meaning appears to the listener by the very wording; it may admit interpretation and specification.
What is intended appears to the listener from the very speech, as the word of the Most High: 'Allah has permitted trade,' and His word: 'so marry those that please you'; its opposite is al-khafi (the hidden), which is what is intended only by inquiry, as the word of the Most High: 'and He forbade usury.'
'Zahir'. In the terminology of usul al-fiqh: every speech whose intended meaning appears to the listener by the very wording, as His word, the Most High: 'Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury'; for every Arab, on hearing this noble verse, understands the lawfulness of trade and the unlawfulness of usury without reflection; the zahir may admit interpretation and specification.
An active participle from al-zuhur, one of whose meanings is clarity and disclosure; one says: 'the thing appeared (zhara)': it emerged after concealment; hence 'an opinion appeared clear to me': when you know what you did not know. Alone: the term whose linguistic meaning is disclosed and made plain to the listener of the people of the tongue by mere hearing, without contextual clue and without reflection, such as the word of the Most High: 'Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury.'
Between two garments, 'zhahara muzaharatan wa zhaharan': he matched them and wore one over the other. : So-and-so: he assisted him. : His wife, 'zhahara-ha': he said to her: 'you are to me as my mother's back,' that is, you are unlawful to me; in the mighty Book: 'those among you who zihar their wives (declaring them as their mothers' backs): they are not their mothers; their mothers are only those who gave birth to them; indeed they utter a detestable statement and a falsehood; Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving' (al-Mujadila, 2). Az-zahir: the opposite of al-batin (the inward). In the noble Quran: 'and leave what is apparent of sin and its inward; those who earn sin will be recompensed for what they used to commit' (al-An'am, 120). : One of the names of Allah, the Most High.
That bearing two meanings, one more manifest than the other.
What indicates a meaning preponderantly, such that the intended appears to the listener from the very wording, and may admit interpretation and specification.
It is the name for speech whose intended meaning appears by its very wording; it may admit specification and interpretation; its opposite is al-khafi (the hidden).
﴿وَذَرُوا۟ ظَـٰهِرَ ٱلْإِثْمِ وَبَاطِنَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْسِبُونَ ٱلْإِثْمَ سَيُجْزَوْنَ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَقْتَرِفُونَ﴾
« And leave what is apparent of sin and what is concealed thereof. Indeed, those who earn [blame for] sin will be recompensed for that which they used to commit. »
Surah الأنعام : 120
﴿أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَآئِمٌ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ نَفْسٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ ۗ وَجَعَلُوا۟ لِلَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ ۚ أَمْ تُنَبِّـُٔونَهُۥ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَم بِظَـٰهِرٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ ۗ بَلْ زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مَكْرُهُمْ وَصُدُّوا۟ عَنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۗ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُۥ مِنْ هَادٍۢ﴾
« Then is He who is a maintainer of every soul, [knowing] what it has earned, [like any other]? But to Allah they have attributed partners. Say, "Name them. Or do you inform Him of that which He knows not upon the earth or of what is apparent of speech?" Rather, their [own] plan has been made attractive to those who disbelieve, and they have been averted from the way. And whomever Allah leaves astray - there will be for him no guide. »
Surah الرعد : 33
﴿سَيَقُولُونَ ثَلَـٰثَةٌۭ رَّابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ خَمْسَةٌۭ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ رَجْمًۢا بِٱلْغَيْبِ ۖ وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌۭ وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ ۚ قُل رَّبِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌۭ ۗ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَآءًۭ ظَـٰهِرًۭا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِم مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدًۭا﴾
« They will say there were three, the fourth of them being their dog; and they will say there were five, the sixth of them being their dog - guessing at the unseen; and they will say there were seven, and the eighth of them was their dog. Say, [O Muhammad], "My Lord is most knowing of their number. None knows them except a few. So do not argue about them except with an obvious argument and do not inquire about them among [the speculators] from anyone." »
Surah الكهف : 22
﴿يَعْلَمُونَ ظَـٰهِرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ هُمْ غَـٰفِلُونَ﴾
« They know what is apparent of the worldly life, but they, of the Hereafter, are unaware. »
Surah الروم : 7
﴿وَأَنزَلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَـٰهَرُوهُم مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مِن صَيَاصِيهِمْ وَقَذَفَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ ٱلرُّعْبَ فَرِيقًۭا تَقْتُلُونَ وَتَأْسِرُونَ فَرِيقًۭا﴾
« And He brought down those who supported them among the People of the Scripture from their fortresses and cast terror into their hearts [so that] a party you killed, and you took captive a party. »
Surah الأحزاب : 26
﴿يَـٰقَوْمِ لَكُمُ ٱلْمُلْكُ ٱلْيَوْمَ ظَـٰهِرِينَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَمَن يَنصُرُنَا مِنۢ بَأْسِ ٱللَّهِ إِن جَآءَنَا ۚ قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ مَآ أُرِيكُمْ إِلَّا مَآ أَرَىٰ وَمَآ أَهْدِيكُمْ إِلَّا سَبِيلَ ٱلرَّشَادِ﴾
« O my people, sovereignty is yours today, [your being] dominant in the land. But who would protect us from the punishment of Allah if it came to us?" Pharaoh said, "I do not show you except what I see, and I do not guide you except to the way of right conduct." »
Surah غافر : 29
This term appears in 10 verses of the Quran.