A Comparative Study of the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī Regarding Ambiguous Verses in the Qur’an

According to Mullā Ṣadrā and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī, Qur’anic verses enjoy both exoteric and esoteric meanings. When dealing with ambiguous verses, one must focus on their exoteric meanings and not to ignore them. In the view of both philosophers, the understanding of ambiguous or metaphorical verses is relative and depends on individuals’ virtues and level of knowledge. They believe that knowledgeable people know the different meanings of ambiguous verses and, in fact, do not see any ambiguity there. However, based on the theory of specific oneness, Mullā Ṣadrā contends that all levels of being, from the highest to the lowest, enjoy existential hierarchy. Therefore, he maintains that, without needing to interpret ambiguous verses or the idea of incarnation regarding the essence of the Almighty, one can maintain the exoteric meaning of the verses based on the philosophical-gnostic principles of the specific oneness of being and interpret the meanings of ambiguous verses based on their surface meanings. In this way, the word “ambiguous” is semantically expanded. Nevertheless, ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī believes in referring ambiguities to clear definitions and interprets ambiguous verses based on clear ones. He acknowledges the possibility of interpretation of all Qur’anic verses, whether ambiguous and straight forward, and states that all ambiguous verses can be clarified by referring to unambiguous ones. In this study, the author sides with Mullā Ṣadrā’s view in comparison to ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s because he finds it of a more solid and principled basis.