Friday Notes From The Quran Mutashabiha

---

 Non Muslims can skip this. It is too technical.
My apologies for not writing last week's Friday Notes From The Quran. Today I want to discuss the very famous and well known arabic word mutashabiha and its derivatives as they appear in the Quran.
As I have said before it is very educational to study each and every occurence of every word that is found in the verses of the Quran. Of course if there are tens or hundreds of occurences   of a certain word then it can be quite tedious to study all of them. But it will be very useful. Examples of words that occur hundreds of times include mu'min, the name Moses (247 times??) and many other words. 
Shubiha, mutashabiha etc appears 12 times in the Quran and in NINE verses only. It is repeated TWICE in THREE verses (I have highlighted those three verses in yellow). Because it only occurs 12 times in NINE verses I decided to reproduce all NINE of the verses here.  (You are welcome).



In Surahs 2:70,  2:118, 4:157, 13:16, 6:99, 6:141, 2:25, 39:23 and 3:7.

 
1. Yousuf Ali Surah 2:70    They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us what she is: To us are all heifers alike (تشابه tashabaha).  We wish indeed for guidance, if Allah wills.

2. Yousuf Ali Surah 2:118    Say those without knowledge: "Why speaketh not Allah unto us? Or why cometh not unto us a Sign?" So said the people before them words of similar import. Their hearts are alike ( تشابهت. tashabahat)  We have indeed made clear the Signs unto any people who hold firmly to Faith.

3. Yousuf Ali Surah 4;157     That they said, "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear  ( شبه shubiha)  to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.

4. Yousof Ali Surah 13:16  "..so that the creation seemed to them similar (فتشابه fatashabaha)? . .  "

5. Yousof Ali Surah 6:99    It is He Who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops), out of which We produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths clusters of dates hanging low and near: and gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates,  similar and not similar (مشتبها وغير متشابه mush-tabihan wa ghayra muta-shabih) when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with the fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe    

6. Yousuf Ali Surah 6:141     It is He Who produceth gardens, with trellises and without, and dates, and tilth with produce of all kinds, and olives and pomegranates, similar and not similar (متشابها وغير متشابه muta-shabiha wa ghayra muta-shabih): eat of their fruit in their season, but render the dues that are proper on the day that the harvest is gathered. But waste not by excess: for Allah loveth not the wasters.

7. Yousuf Ali    Surah 2:25  But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is Gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say: "Why, this is what we were fed with before," for they are given things in similitude  ( متشابها  mutashabiha ); and they have therein companions pure; and they abide therein.

8. Yousuf Ali    Surah 39:23  Allah has revealed the most beautiful hadith in the form of a Book, consistent with itself,  repeating ( متشابها  mutashabihan): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah's praises. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides therewith whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide.

9.  Yousuf Ali    Surah 3:7  He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses fundamental; they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical (متشابهات. mutashabihat) But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical ( تشابه, tashabaha).

I am referring the English translation by Abdullah Yousof Ali. Please note that in TEN occurences of this word, Abdullah Yousof Ali translates them as alike, alike, made to appear, similar, similar, similar, similar, similar, similitude, repeating.
In Surah 3:7 the words mutashabihat / tashabaha are translated as allegorical.
Definitions from Oxford Languages
allegorical :  similar, symbolic Ok that is all.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

---