they take the representation to be the very thing represented, leaving them bewildered and doubtful. This is what is called ambiguous in revelation.

This does not happen to scholars or the general public, who are, in truth, the two classes of people: they are healthy, and suitable nourishment agrees with healthy bodies. The others, however, are sick, and the sick are the minority.

For this reason, Allah Most High says:

“As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow what is ambiguous in it, seeking discord and seeking its interpretation.”

[Āl 'Imrān: 7]

These are the practitioners of disputation and speculative theology.

The gravest harm this group has inflicted upon revelation is that they have interpreted many passages which they supposed were not to be understood in their apparent sense. They said: “This interpretation is what is intended; or else it was presented in an ambiguous form as a trial and a test for His servants.” We seek refuge in Allah from entertaining such a view of Him. Rather, we say that Allah’s mighty Book is miraculous precisely in its clarity and lucid expression.

How far removed, then, from the purpose of revelation is someone who declares an unambiguous passage ambiguous, interprets it according to his own claim, and tells everyone: “You are obliged to believe this interpretation”! This is what they have said about the verse concerning rising over the Throne and other passages whose apparent meanings they have declared ambiguous.

In short, when most of the interpretations that their proponents claim to be the intended meaning of revelation are examined,