Ambiguity in the Quran

Since the Quran is supposed to be a "book of guidance and clarity"; what's the point of the verses that are Mutashābihāt (متشابهات), or ambiguous? This criticism can be addressed by shedding light on the following:

1. Benefits of the presence of ambiguities, which are possible to contemplate on.
2. Benefits of the presence of ambiguities, which are not possible to contemplate on.

1. Contemplative Ambiguities ~

First and foremost, the presence of ambiguities encourages the scholars to look and search deeper to uncover the hidden details and find the precise meanings underlying the ambiguous verses, since motivation to pursue this knowledge is a great act of piety, because it's to avoid ideological fanaticism that the disbelievers have fell into:

Whereby when there is a need, there is an expected drive to generate ideas and thoughts, while in the case of contentment, sluggishness and ineptitude creeps in.

Secondly, showing the excellence of the knowledgeable one over the ignorant one whose knowledge urges him to seek more knowledge to attain and keep the excellence level high. Noble souls look to pursue further knowledge and attain it, and if the entire Quran had been Muhkam (محكم), or entirely clear to everyone, with no need for interpretation or to search to uncover its meanings, then everyone would have been equal in the virtue of understanding it. The Quran and the excellence of the knowledgeable one over others wouldn't have been apparent.

Thirdly, the affirmation and display of the miraculous nature of the Quran; the more ambiguous the verse, the greater the opportunity to uncover its eloquence, preciseness, the consistency of its meanings, and the purity of its words.

Fourthly, trying to uncover the correct meaning of the ambiguous verses entails enduring difficulty in reaching the intended goal. The more the difficulty increases, the greater the reward we receive:

Fifthly, because the Quran includes clear and unclear verses, the scholars required learning the methods of interpretation and to determine which interpretations were stronger than others; all this required them to pursue various sciences such as linguistics and lexicology and the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. Without the ambiguities, people would not need to pursue all of these sciences.

Sixthly, the presence of the ambiguities makes the Muslim more humble as it makes him see that someone knows what he does not. This makes him seek more knowledge and admit to and be wary of his limitations:

Seventhly, the Quran's inclusion of both the clear and unclear passages drives the reader, or listener for that fact, to seek intellectual evidence, which would then enable him to get rid of the darkness of blind following and attain the light of inference by evidences. However, if the Quran was all clear, then one would not be in need to hold fast to the intellectual evidences and would stay content in blind following.

Eighthly, if the Quran had been completely clear to everyone then there would have been only one Madhhab, and all other schools of Fiqh would have been done away with. Through utilizing the ambiguities, the other schools of thought are affirmed as well. Followers of each school of thought seek to find support for their views in the Quran in order to strengthen their opinions and make their views preferable. All the followers look attentively towards it and make every effort in pondering about it. When they do this well and with effort, the clear verses form a basis of interpretation for the unclear ones. This way, the falsehood is expunged and the truth is reached.

Ninthly, facilitation of memorizing the Quran and preserving it; all the aspects that the Quran includes requiring uncovering shows that there are many meanings in addition to what we can understand from the original text, but if these secondary meanings are expressed by words, then the Quran would be in large and wide bookbinders that would be very difficult to memorize and preserve.

Finally, the reader who ponders over the accuracy and greatness of words of the Quran realizes its magnificence that urges him to continue reading further and encourages him to memorize and learn it by heart.

2. Non-Contemplative Ambiguities ~

Firstly, the revealing the unclear verses, as well as their subsequent inclusion into the Quran, is a trial for Allah's servants. The believer does not find any doubt in it nor does he mistrust it; he should to refer it to the clear verses and the Hadiths if the meaning is not clear enough for him. By such great belief and faith in Allah, his reward would be greater, and his station would be elevated in the sight of Allah. On the other hand, the Hypocrites doubt and the Quran does not increase them except in loss as their hearts have deviated. Due to their heresy, they follow the unclear passages to confuse people and attract them to their innovations:

Secondly, the ambiguities are a mercy of Allah for the weak human beings who do not have the capacity to know everything. If the mountain, when Allah appeared to it, fell flat and Moses fell unconscious, then how is it possible that Allah appears to the human beings by His revelation and the truth of His attributes? Similarly, Allah hides the Hour of Resurrection as a mercy for the people so that they do not become lazy of being prepared for it and do not become over fearful or panic if they knew exactly how close it was from them. For this reason, Allah veils His slaves' moment of death, as well, to make them live a comfortable life, in this aspect.

Finally, establishing the evidence for human beings' incapacity and ignorance. No matter how great their preparation is and how vast their knowledge is, the fact is that He is the Only One who encompasses all things in knowledge and all His creatures encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. By this, the slave of Allah submits and shows reverence to Him.