Question
The Holy Prophet (sws) was obliged to interpret and explain the Holy Qur’ān. If this is correct then where do we find the hadiths elaborating the meanings of the following Qur’anic terms: nuṭq, hikmah and dhikr occurring in the in surah al-Najm, al-Naml, al-Ahzāb, al-Baqarah, ‘āl-i ‘Imrān, and al-Jumu‘ah?
Answer
The ḥadīth narratives rarely contain the interpretation and explanation of parts of the Qurānic text. No such ḥadīth has been ascribed to the Holy Prophet (sws) which explains the words you have mentioned above. The word ‘hikmah’ connotes wisdom when used in ahādīth. This is its known literal meaning. Similarly, no prophetic saying has been reported elaborating ‘nutq’ and ‘dhikr’. These words have also been used in their literal meanings in the ḥadīth literature. They do not give any conclusive explanation of the above mentioned words. The question is, why do you want to know the explanation of these words from the ahādīth? These are common words of Arabic language and can be elaborated easily with the help of the context in which they occur. As for the disputes among the scholars of the ummah, they have nothing to do with the complexity of these words. These verses have also been used to evidence the importance of the ḥadīth. For this purpose these words have been given meanings that do not fit in the context at all.
Translated by: Abid Mahmood Hashmi
Answered by: Talib Mohsin
Date: 2015-01-26
