Ta’wil, and the Equivocal and Unequivocal Verses; a Critique on “Ahsan al-Hadith” and “Qamus-e-Qur’an”

According to the Qur’an (3:7), the Qur’anic verses are divided into “unequivocal” and “equivocal”. In this article, viewpoints of the authors of the two books, “Tafsir-e-Ahsan al-Hadith” and “Qamus-e-Qur’an” concerning Ta’wil, and unequivocal and equivocal verses are critically reviewed. These viewpoints consist of: definition of unequivocal and equivocal; their relatedness to each other; the way to recognize the unequivocal from the equivocal verses; the right way of treating the equivocal; knowing how to interpret the equivocal verses; what is meant by verses as being “Umm al-Kitab” (the basics of the Book); and the secret of existence of equivocal verses in the Qur’an.