• Example of a wording whose manner must be clarified: “Establish the prayer” (Qur’an 2:43), for how the prayer is to be performed is unknown without further explanation.
• Example of a wording whose amount must be clarified: “And give the zakah” (Qur’an 2:43), namely the threshold that triggers liability and the proportion to be paid.
The Clarified Text (al-mubayyan)
A clarified text is one from which a definite meaning is understood—either directly from the wording itself or after an explanatory proof.
- The first category is what is self-evident from the wording, such as His saying, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” (Qur’an 48:29) and “Do not go near fornication” (Qur’an 17:32), or ordinary nouns like sky, earth, and mountain. The two verses explicitly state their rulings, and the three nouns are intelligible by virtue of their original lexical meaning.
- The second category is what becomes intelligible only after clarification, like His saying, “Establish the prayer and give the zakah” (Qur’an 2:43). Both ‘establishing the prayer’ and ‘giving the zakah’ were initially ambiguous, but once the Lawgiver explained them, their detailed rulings became perfectly clear.
Acting on an Ambiguous Text
It is incumbent upon every legally accountable person to resolve to act upon an ambiguous text as soon as its clarification reaches him, and to search for that clarification whenever practice is required. The Prophet ﷺ has explained to his nation every element of the religion; he left nothing obscure—whether by his words, his deeds, or by both together.
Everything that appears ambiguous in the Noble Qur’an has been clarified and interpreted by the purified Sunnah, so that the very mention of such terms now points unambiguously to their detailed rulings. Praise be to Allah.
Thus prayer, zakah, fasting, pilgrimage, jihad, sale, marriage, and similar terms were once vague and undefined. After their rulings and particulars were made known, they became fully explained and interpreted, no longer in need of further elucidation.