The Wisdom Behind Religious Secrets (mutashābih)

Taken from the tweets of Sheikh Hassan bin Farhān al-Māliki, click here

When the Prophet ﷺ conceals wrongdoers and says, "What is the matter with people?", this is a secret. Likewise, when those who tried to assassinate him, he kept their identities secret. The wisdom behind these secrets resembles the wisdom behind the existence of the allegorical (mutashābih) verses in the Noble Quran. Indeed, many allegorical verses contain secrets that only those firmly rooted in knowledge can attain.

and before we ask ‘what is the wisdom behind the secrets of the Hadith?’, the question should be about the wisdom behind the secrets of the Quran.

That is, why do allegorical or ambiguous verses exist?

Why is the Quran not entirely clear to everyone, just like constitutions and laws?

Why does the Quran have the decisive (muhkam) and the allegorical (mutashābih) verses?

What is the benefit of the allegorical?

Why did the Prophet not uncover the ambiguous parts of the Quran and explain them to people so they would not go astray from misunderstanding the verses? The Prophet knew the secrets of this allegory, so why did he leave it without explanation?

Think about it!

An attempt to solve the questions of secrets!

Allah has wisdom in the allegorical verses of the Noble Quran and among this wisdom is:

Through contemplating the decisive verses, many of the allegories can be resolved. However, the arrogant do not do this, because there is deviation in their hearts. They go to the allegorical verses out of a desire to interpret them according to their own wishes or to lead others astray with them. This in itself is one of the purposes of the allegory, to separate the arrogant from the humble. The humble person begins with the clear (the decisive), and the decisive is sufficient for his salvation. But the arrogant person wants to control.

Yes, the arrogant person is controlling by nature; he wants to control the text, find problems in it, challenge the decisive with the allegorical, and satisfy his arrogance and conceit by raising objections against the text.

In the allegory, there are secrets for those who deserve them,

and they are not broadcast to just anyone. You must possess certain qualities for them to be revealed to you, such as being God-fearing:

وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَۖ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱللَّهُۗ

"And fear Allah, and Allah teaches you."

The allegorical cannot all be resolved at once, but rather unfolds in every era, and hence the wonders of the Quran never end.

The Quran is not like constitutions, because if it were, there might be thousands or millions of copies of Mushafs, since it contains all sciences, histories, and everything:

تِبۡيَٰنٗا لِّكُلِّ شَيۡءٖ

"As a clarification for all things."

And if there were millions of copies, creation would be incapable of handling it.

It addresses many groups, and it is not possible for people to gather all sciences together. Rather, its sciences unfold over time, according to aspirations, purity of intention, contemplation, and so on.

So when Allah says:

مَّا فَرَّطۡنَا فِي ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ مِن شَيۡءٖۚ

"We have not neglected anything in the Book"

perhaps most of this lies within the allegorical. And the arrogant person, because he is arrogant, wants to obtain all knowledge quickly, or else he will disbelieve!

The allegory is an opportunity for the humble believers.

After firmly establishing the decisive matters, they will enjoy the secrets of the Quran little by little, they will find this in the allegory, and recognise the secret of its miraculous nature.

The allegory has more than one interpretation: it is allegorical in itself, meaning parts of it resemble other parts (such as the verses regarding the hypocrites, for instance); or its meaning is obscure, and does not appear easily.

For example, the believer (the non-arrogant one can recognize the hypocrites who "aimed at that which they could not attain" by gathering all the verses on hypocrisy, arranging them chronologically, and determining their characteristics.

As for the arrogant person, he suffices himself by saying, "Hypocrisy was in Madinah, not in Makkah”, so there is not a single hypocrite among the Emigrants (Muhājirūn) or those released at the conquest (Tulaqā')." This rule deprives him of the secrets of the Quran.

Because by this, he rejects more than one verse in the Book of Allah, in the Makkan surahs. This rule set for him by Ibn Taymiyyah is dearer to him than the entire Quran and such a person deserves it. I mean, he deserves to be deprived of knowledge and guidance because he turns away from the verses of Allah due to a rule set by a certain man.

The Quran is too defiant for anyone to steer it with a rule or a dogma.

Arrogant people are hasty; they want general rules and to be done with it without effort. And Allah does not love spoiled servants who like Allah to rush the comprehension of everything for them.

Allah does not accept threats, He fears no one. So whoever stipulates absolute clarity in everything will find nothing except misguidance. Through the allegory, those who threaten Him are sorted out from the humble.

The allegory is an ocean of secrets and most of the allegory is fundamentally apparent and clear, but it requires you to rid yourself of the "rules of disbelief" laid down by some scholars.

Satanic rules of disbelief are any rule formulated by a scholar that leads you to disbelieve in parts of the Noble Quran, such as the rule "Hypocrisy was in Madinah, not in Makkah" a rule of disbelief par excellence!

Because by believing in it, you will disbelieve in His, the Almighty's, saying in the Makkan Surah al-Muddaththir:

وَلِيَقُوْلَ الَّذِيْنَ فِيْ قُلُوْبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌ وَّالْكٰفِرُوْنَ مَاذَاۤ اَرَادَ اللّٰهُ بِهٰذَا مَثَلًا ؕ

"And that those in whose hearts is disease and the disbelievers will say, 'What did Allah intend by this as an example?'"

And you will disbelieve in His, the Almighty's, saying in the Makkan Surah al-Ankabut:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَّقُوْلُ اٰمَنَّا بِاللّٰهِ فَاِذَاۤ اُوْذِيَ فِي اللّٰهِ جَعَلَ فِتْنَةَ النَّاسِ كَعَذَابِ اللّٰهِ ؕ وَلَئِنْ جَآءَ نَصْرٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّكَ لَيَقُوْلُنَّ اِنَّا كُنَّا مَعَكُمْ ؕ اَوَلَيْسَ اللّٰهُ بِاَعْلَمَ بِمَا فِيْ صُدُوْرِ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ

"And of the people is he who says, 'We believe in Allah,' but when he is persecuted for the sake of Allah, he considers the trial of the people as the punishment of Allah. But if victory comes from your Lord, they will surely say, 'Indeed, we were with you.' Is not Allah most knowing of what is within the breasts of the worlds?

وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْمُنٰفِقِيْنَ

And Allah will surely make evident those who believe, and He will surely make evident the hypocrites."

This was before migration!

Most followers of rules of disbelief like this one and the other rule ("All the Companions are just (‘udūl)") disbelieve in hundreds of verses of the Noble Quran, whether they wish to or not.

Satanic rules of disbelief possess a sweetness in their hearts that surpasses the sweetness of the Quranic verses opposing them. In fact, they detest those verses and say, "If only Allah had remained silent!"

They say this in their hearts, not with their tongues, and this is apparent in their strained efforts to refute those verses and invalidate their meaning, so that they do not ruin the rules of disbelief for them. Satan has made that alluring to them. These rules of disbelief drive their adherents to lie about Allah by claiming that He praised everyone who saw the Prophet and accompanied him and promised them the best reward (al-husnā)!

This is a great lie against Allah and it is well known. If the one who contemplates was to return to the context of the verses regarding that, he would realize that those promised the best reward are an exception to the rule. But the arrogant person does not like to ruin the rules of disbelief, and he finds it tiresome. The arrogant person who does not believe in the verses of the Quran and believes in the rules of disbelief does so because Allah has made Satan his master, commanding him and forbidding him, and he responds.

This is his punishment from Allah.

Yes, Allah assigns the devils as guardians over these people:

اِنَّا جَعَلْنَا الشَّيٰطِيْنَ اَوْلِيَآءَ لِلَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ

"Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not believe."

So you must believe to protect yourself.

And Satan commands his allies to establish "disbelieving" rules that preempt belief in Allah and His verses, and then they lie about the Quran, claiming that it supports them, thus combining both disbeliefs with peace of mind!

For example, the verse:

وَكُلًّا وَّعَدَ اللّٰهُ الْحُسْنٰي

"And to all Allah has promised the best [reward],"

which they bear witness to for everyone who saw [the Prophet] or accompanied him, and they obligate Allah to do so, it is clear, yet they have made it allegorical, resembling their dogmas.

I mean, its context indicates that these people are few, and that it does not apply to everyone who saw and everyone who accompanied. Rather, this verse indicates the exact opposite of their dogmas.

Come, let us look at the context in Surat al-Hadid.

The verse was preceded by verses including His, the Almighty's, saying:

وَمَا لَكُمْ لَا تُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِاللّٰهِ ۚ وَالرَّسُوْلُ يَدْعُوْكُمْ لِتُؤْمِنُوْا بِرَبِّكُمْ وَقَدْ اَخَذَ مِيْثَاقَكُمْ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِيْنَ

"And why do you not believe in Allah while the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord and He has taken your covenant, if you should [truly] be believers?" (8)

Then He said:

وَمَا لَكُمْ اَلَّا تُنْفِقُوْا فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ وَلِلّٰهِ مِيْرَاثُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْاَرْضِ ؕ لَا يَسْتَوِيْ مِنْكُمْ مَّنْ اَنْفَقَ مِنْ قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقٰتَلَ ؕ اُولٰٓئِكَ اَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِّنَ الَّذِيْنَ اَنْفَقُوْا مِنْۢ بَعْدُ وَقٰتَلُوْا ؕ وَكُلًّا وَّعَدَ اللّٰهُ الْحُسْنٰي ؕ وَاللّٰهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُوْنَ خَبِيْرٌ

"And why do you not spend in the cause of Allah while to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth? Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquest and fought [and those who did so after]. Those are greater in degree than those who spent afterwards and fought. But to all Allah has promised the best [reward]. And Allah, with what you do, is Acquainted." (10)

Is the meaning clear?

Allah conveys a reality as the baseline: "And why do you not believe in Allah while the Messenger invites you?" and "And why do you not spend in the cause of Allah?" This is the rule.

Then He conveys a report that whoever among them spent and "from" (min) is for “partiality” (tab‘īd) before the conquest or after it, he is promised the best reward. The meaning is clear that those promised the best reward are a small fraction of the whole.

Yet the adherents of the rules of disbelief wanted to extract from Allah an admission that He has promised the best reward to all the Companions! Even though companionship (suhbah) is not mentioned at all. Thus is disbelief!

For disbelief is covering up, and they covered up the original rule conveyed by the Quran, then established a disbelieving rule giving glad tidings of Paradise to all the Companions, and argued for it using the Quran!

Then Satan incited them to take the disbelieving rule as a boundary between Islam and disbelief. Whoever believes in the disbelieving rule opposing the Quran is a believer, and whoever disbelieves in it is a disbeliever!

Thus, disbelief began demanding Islam to produce Islam!

It began tracking it everywhere with its whip and voice, accusing it of disbelief and demanding it to have faith! And here the circle of misguidance was completed.

Thus, most of what many imagine to be allegorical is actually clear, but they are the ones who made it allegorical, tested the servants of Allah with it, and made disbelief the firmest handhold of faith! Do you see?

Yet there are undoubtedly allegories in the Quran, and they are set for many forms of wisdom, and their secrets are for those who deserve them. As for the one who destroyed the decisive verses and made them allegorical, how will he ever perceive the original allegory?

Those in whose hearts is deviation among Muslims are in a worse state than those in whose hearts was deviation among the early hypocrites, because they make the decisive into an allegory and they deviate thereby!