There are no "Metaphors" In the Qur'an
Question :
Some book of Arabic Rhetoric mention that there are metaphors in the Qur'an, and this causes some skepticism among them. Examples include Allah's saying:
"He must set free a neck (believing slave) and a compensation (blood, money, i.e., Diya)"
So they call this a metaphor because it is a slave that is being set free, but it mentions a neck with the meaning of slave. So is it. correct to call this a metaphor? And Allah's saying:
"Saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts"
But they said it with their tongues, while "mouth" is mentioned to refer to that. And Allah's saying:
"Have We not opened your breast for you (O Muhammad )"?
What was opened was the heart, and the chest is mentioned metaphorically to refer to that. Allah also said:
"They thrust their fingers in their ears".
They say that they only put the tip of their finger in the ear, not all of the finger, while finger alone was mentioned. There are many other examples of this problem. Is it correct to say that there are metaphors in the Qur'an, and what is the evidence for it, and are there metaphors in Hadiths as well.
Based on the definition of metaphor as defined by Arabic Rhetoricians, it is not correct to say that there are metaphors in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, nor in the Arabic language itself. This is because every phrase in the Qur'an, the Sunnah or in the Arabic language has a real meaning.
Abu Al-'Abbas bin Taymiyyah expounded on this issue in Kitab Al-Iman, and Shaykh Abdur-Rahman bin Qasim recorded that in Majmu' Al-Fatawa. Ibn Al-Qayyim also discussed the issue in some detail in As-Sawa'iq Al-Mursalah.
Source:
The Permanent Committee under the Presidency of Shaykh Ibn Baz
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 7 Pages 79-80-81
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