Ambiguity (mutashabih) is not restricted to the verses on the divine attributes alone. In Sahih al-Bukhari it is reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to ʿAishah: “O ʿAishah, when you see those who pursue what is ambiguous of it, they are the ones Allah has named, so beware of them.” This warning is general.

One of the most renowned incidents in this regard is the case of Sabigh ibn ʿAsal with ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab. When news reached ʿUmar that Sabigh was asking about the ambiguous passages of the Qur’an, ʿUmar confronted him and questioned him about the verse, “By those that scatter [dust] dispersing” (Q 51:1). He then asked, “What is your name?” Sabigh replied, “ʿAbdullāh Sabigh.” ʿUmar said, “And I am ʿAbdullāh ʿUmar,” and struck him with severe blows.

Whenever someone pressed Ibn ʿAbbās with a question of this sort, he would say, “How much you need to be dealt with as ʿUmar dealt with Sabigh.” They took this stance because they perceived that the questioner’s aim was to stir up tribulation, not to seek guidance and clarification, in keeping with the Prophet’s words, “When you see those who follow what is ambiguous of it…,” and with Allah’s statement, “As for those in whose hearts is deviance, they follow what is ambiguous of it, seeking tribulation” (Q 3:7).

Accordingly, they punished such people for their corrupt intent, just as they did with anyone who sets one Qur’anic verse against another—a practice the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade when he said: “Do not pit the Book of Allah against itself.”