An Investigation into Similar Verses in the Holy Qur’an: A Focus on Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi’s Viewpoints

The Holy Quran has unique merits and characteristics that distinguish it from other books. Utilizing and understanding the high teachings of this heavenly book, which has been revealed for the guidance of humanity, depends on a number of factors, each playing a major role in understanding this holy book. Among these factors is familiarity with its firm and similar verses, as the Quran divides its verses into these two categories in verse 7 of Surah Al-Imran. This division has been the subject of attention by interpreters and Quranic scholars throughout different eras. Understanding the reasons, goals, and aspects of this division plays an important role in depicting the path of belief and a correct understanding of the valuable content of this heavenly book. This research provides a descriptive and analytical approach based on the works of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi and Ibn Taymiyyah's views to investigate this issue. According to Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, the beginnings of surahs and verses having sublime meanings are examples of similar verses; he believes that their existence is due to their superior content, natural similarity, and incidental similarity. Ibn Taymiyyah also considers verses about attributes as similar verses and finds them meaningful in terms of their apparent meaning. He divides the approaches to dealing with religious language into three categories: those who ignore it (Ahle Tijhil), those who interpret it (Ahle Ta'wil), and those who imagine it (Ahle Takhyil).