What does the term mean here?
What is meant is the place of the mutashābih in Shahrur’s reading of the Revelation: it is connected to interpretation, but this connection is qualified by the existence of verses that elaborate some mutashābih verses. Therefore, the available evidence does not justify generalizing interpretability to the entirety of the mutashābih.
What is attributed to Shahrur
In his presentation of the Seven Oft-Repeated, he cites the verse: “{ God has sent down the finest discourse: a Book, consistent and oft-repeated } (al-Zumar 23).” He then states: “These verses admit of confirmation and denial. Only a portion of them is open to interpretation through verses that elaborate them.”
He explains that the “verses elaborating the mutashābih” are verses in which some of the mutashābih verses found in the Qur’an have been elaborated, and adds that the Seven Oft-Repeated have no elaboration. He also mentions, in the context of the verses of the Qur’an, a portion that “has no elaboration because it cannot be interpreted,” exemplified by the story of Adam’s creation and the beginning and end of the universe; the available evidence is insufficient to determine conclusively that this portion belongs, categorically, to the mutashābih.
In the brief evidence connected to the Mother of the Book and its elaboration, the following distinction is attributed to him: independent reasoning applies to the verses of messengerhood/the Mother of the Book/the muḥkamāt, and interpretation to the verses of prophethood/the mutashābihāt.
The atlas’s explanation
The qualification stated in the text indicates that the relation between the mutashābih and interpretation is not an invitation to unrestricted interpretation of every verse described as mutashābih; interpretation, in this context, is tied to “verses that elaborate them.” The text also mentions, in the context of the verses of the Qur’an, a domain that has no elaboration and cannot be interpreted, but the available evidence does not establish its categorical relation to the mutashābih.
To follow the textual loci: al-Zumar 23 and Fussilat 3. For the terminological entry: the mutashābih.
Synthetic conclusion
These elements make it possible to trace the verses that elaborate the mutashābih where the text explicitly states that they elaborate some mutashābih verses. As for the verses that the text says have no elaboration or cannot be interpreted, the available evidence is insufficient to include them within the mutashābih. This is a distinction within the limits of what the available texts establish, not a new definition of the mutashābih.
Open question and source limitations
This corpus does not specify a comprehensive, detailed criterion for determining the verses included among the “some mutashābih verses” that have elaboration. Nor does it settle how to apply this distinction to each individual verse.