Ambiguity and Vagueness in the Qur’ān: A Semantic Investigation Into Significant Examples

Abstract

Ambiguity is one of the essential characteristics of the semantic richness in Qur’ānic language. However, studies of Qur’ānic ambiguity is scarce and limited to the issues of translating the ambiguities of the Qur’ān, without a deep investigation into ambiguity techniques or how the Qur’ān exploits ambiguity to enrich its language. The few studies on Qur’ānic ambiguity also did not interest in the productive relations between ambiguity and other relevant concepts, such as vagueness, in spite of the importance of these relations in grasping the essence of ambiguity. The article aims to fill this gap in Qur’ānic studies through the following steps: (1) presenting a systematic classification of ambiguity in Qur’ānic language. (2) Explaining the relations between ambiguity and vagueness in the Qur’ān. (3) Discovering how Muslim exegetical tradition dealt with the multiple interpretations that stem from ambiguity and vagueness. The article relies on the semantic analysis as a method of examination into selected Qur’ānic instances. The analysis demonstrates that the Qur’ān exploits effectively most of the acknowledged ambiguity kinds to perform either semantic or rhetorical functions.