Uniqueness of the Qur'an

The Qur'an makes use of the verb "looking," and no other word more suitable could be available for the expression of the desired sense. But to avert the possibility of any doubt, the Qur'an explains in other place:

﴾Vision perceives Him not, and He perceives all vision﴿¹.

The second verse makes the reader distinguish between two different meanings conveyed by the same word. In order to avoid any possibility of ambiguity in its exalted themes, the Qur'an asks us to check the mutashabihat against the mahkamat:

﴾He sent down upon thee the Book, wherein are verses firm (ayat mahkamat) that are the essence of the Book﴿².

Thereby, the Qur'an means that there are certain verses whose firmness cannot be denied and other meanings cannot be derived from them, except their real ones. Such verses are the 'mother' of the Book (umm al-kitab). In the same way as a mother is the refuge to her child, or a cosmopolitan city (umm al-qura) is the center of small cities, al-ayat al-muhkamat are also regarded as the axes of the mutashabihat. Al-ayat al-mutashabihat are, of course, to be cogitated upon and understood, but they are to be pondered upon with the help of al-ayat al-muhkamat. Any inference drawn without the help of the mother-verses would not be correct and reliable.

* Al-Tawhid, Uniqueness of The Quran, "Evidence in Favour of the Authority of Reason", by Murtada Mutahhari.. Translated from the Persian by Mahliqa Qara'i, Vol I No. 1-3 (Muharram - Rajab 1404 AH). 

^{1- 6:104
2- 3:6}