Ta’wil in the parlance of the Elders (Salaf) means two things: one, to explicate a passage and determine its meaning, whether such meaning agrees with the stated words of the passage or goes against them; second, is to realize what the words say. If they command something, their ta’wil is to perform the act which they command; but if they tell of something, their ta’wil is the happening of the thing told. However, in the language of later writers ta’wil is to depart from the more apparent meaning of the words and adopt a less apparent meaning for some reason associated with them.
Ta’wil in the parlance of the later writers, jurists, theologians, traditionists, Sufis, and others is to leave the more apparent meaning on the basis of some reason associated with that passage. This is the ta’wil which is referred to in works on the principles of jurisprudence or on legal controversies. When someone says that this hadith or that text is subject to ta’wil, or should be interpreted to mean this and not that, others may charge him with doing ta’wil and ask him to state his reasons for doing it. The one who is doing ta’wil has to satisfy two conditions: first, he has to show that the words may also mean what he is suggesting, and second, he must state a reason for having to depart from the more apparent meaning in favor of his own meaning. This is also the sense in which ta’wil is used in the discussions on divine attributes.
In the parlance of the Elders, however, to ‘wil means two things. One is to explicate (tafsir) a passage and elucidate its meaning, whether or not that meaning agrees with the words of the passage. On this understanding, ta’wil would mean very much the same as tafsir, would be a synonym for it. This is, and God knows better, what Mujahid implies when he says that the scholars know the ta’wil of this or that verse, or when Muhammad Ibn Jarir At-Tabari60 writes in his commentary, “Opinions regarding the ta’wil of this word (of God) are as follows…,” or that “the scholars of ta’wil have different opinions regarding this verse.” To be sure, what he means by ta’wil here is the same as tafsir. explication.
The second sense in which the Elders use ta’wil, and which we should count as the third sense of to ‘wil, is to refer to the thing itself which is intended by the words. If the words contain a command, ta’wil is carrying out the thing commanded; and if the words contain information, ta’wil is the occurrence of the thing informed.
Ta’wil in this third sense is a part of the language of the Quran, for example the words of Jacob to his son, Joseph, “Thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the interpretations (ta’wil) of stories and events (ahadith), and perfect His favor to you” (12:6); and the words of Joseph to his parents when the members of his larger family entered Egypt and he provided a home for them, “`Enter Egypt (all) in safety if it pleases God.’ And he raised his parents high on the throne (of dignity) and they fell down in prostration before him. He said: `Father, this is the fulfillment (ta ‘wil) of my vision of old; God has made it come true”‘ (12:99-100). The ahadith in Jacob’s statement refer to visions in sleep and their ta’wil means the things they point to, as is clear from Joseph’s words, “`This is the ta’wil; of my vision of old.”‘ The one versed in ta’wil is the one who foretells them.
In another place God said, “If you differ on anything among yourselves, refer it to God and His Messenger, if you do believe in God and the Last Day. That is best and most commendable as ta’wil” (4:59); that is, it will lead to the best and most desirable end. Here ta’wil means the end of their actions of referring the matter to the Quran and the Sunnah. On the other hand, ta’wil in the verses quoted earlier from the surah Joseph is the interpretation (ta’wil) of visions. Similarly, ta’wil in the surahs, the Heights, Jonah, and the Family of `Imran means the interpretation of the Quran.
To sum up, ta’wil is that to which the words are directed, or to which they refer, or to which they point; and obviously the thing to which the words point, or refer or lead (mustaqqar) or which they suggest or are shown to suggest is the reality of the thing itself which is what they mean. This is borne. out by the way Elders have explained the word mustaqqar in the verse, “Every news has its mustaqqar” (6:67), that is, its reality. In case the words convey an information, they will point or refer to the thing informed, but when they do not point or refer to anything, they will be void.
On the other hand, if the words contain an imperative they will lead to and end up with the thing commanded, provided it is not already accomplished. However, if the information is about something promised or warned, it will lead to the thing awaited. This is supported by the hadith which says that the Prophet (pbuh) recited the verse, “Tell them: He has all the power to send calamities on you from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance -each from the other” (6:65), and then said this will happen, as its ta’wil, namely the thing it amounts to, has not happened yet.60a Abdullah Ibn Masud is reported to have said, “five things have already passed: the wars, the feuds, the smoke, the (splitting of the) moon, and the (revenge against the) Romans (by the Persians).”
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Author: Ibn Taymiyyah
Islamic Topic: Ta’wil,
Source: Book: [Fatawd 13:288-94] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”