The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 118
118 Essence of Islam-III no meaning. A person who believes in God must believe in His attributes also, and for such belief he must believe in the Prophets. For instance, God's attribute of speech can only be appreciated by proof of His word and it is only Prophets who furnish proof of His word. The Holy Qur'an comprises two types of verses. One type is Muhkamāt [fundamental and explicit], for in- stance the verse: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِاللهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُوا بَيْنَ اللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَ يَقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍ ، وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُوا بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ سَبِيلًا . أولئِكَ هُمُ الْكَفِرُونَ حَقًّا وَاعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَفِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا 100 That is: 'There are those who do not want to believe in both Allah and His Messengers and seek to make a dis- tinction between Allah and His Messengers and say: We believe in God, but not in His Messengers; and seek to separate Allah from His Messengers. There are others who believe in Allah but not the Prophets, or they be- lieve in some Prophets but not in others and desire to adopt a position between the two; these indeed are the confirmed disbelievers. We have prepared a humiliating punishment for such disbelievers. '. The second type of verses are Mutashabihāt [allegori- cal] which have very subtle meanings. Their true mean- ing is revealed only to those who are firmly grounded in knowledge. Those whose hearts are afflicted with hy- pocrisy do not care to follow what is Muhkamāt [fun- damental] and seek to follow only that which is allegorical. The Word of God is full of Muhkamāt [fun- damental] verses, whose meaning is clear, and the ne- 100 Al-Nisā', 4:151-152 [Publisher]