Tajdin, Mustapha. “Is the Metaphorical Text (Naql Mujāzī) Among the Shariʿah Terminologies?” Year 8, Issue 30 (Fall 1423 AH/ 2002 CE), Pp. 61-78.

Abstract

Mustapha Tajdin’s article discusses the opinions of uṣūlī scholars and linguists on the use of the Arabic language, analyzing certain terms in which they claim that the text of the Qur’an changes from the originally posited meaning (al-maʿnā al-waḍʿī) to the customary meaning (al-maʿnā al-ʿurfī), such as with the terms prayer (salat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj). According to Tajdin, this led to a principle for ta’wīl (hermeneutic interpretation) and tafsīr (exegesis) of the sacred text, which is that any ta’wīl or tafsīr should take into consideration how the Arabs during the time of Qur’anic revelation used the Arabic language in their speech. Such a principle prevented the understanding of the language from being coopted and thus manipulated or distorted by groups or schools of thought with a particular bias, wherein there results a multiplicity of meanings and, consequentially, disputation among such groups or schools of thought.