The Mathani (dual structure) Feature of the Quran

The Mathani (dual structure) Feature of the Quran

“Allah has sent down the most beautiful hadith / statement with consistent dual [mathani] مَثَانِيَۗ (verses)…” (The Quran, al-Zumar [39] 23).

The mathani (singular: mathna) feature, i.e. the dual quality of the Quran, can be explained in two points:

(a) The explanation of one thing with its opposite:

As can be seen, for example, in al-Zumar [39] 22-23, positive and negative phenomena are always presented together in the verses by the method of opposition. Abrar-fujjar (good and bad), earth and heaven, human and jinn, right and wrong, paradise and hell, warning and good news…

(b) The explanation of a verse by other verses according to a dual system:

The Quran is a book that has been ordered and explained by Allah Himself according to the mathani, i.e. the dual system (The Quran, al-Araf [7] 52).
If someone explains the Quran, his explanations are considered to be the explanations of Allah. In this case, they would be a slander against Allah and an addition to the religion. Therefore, Allah Himself declares so that no one can be served except Him (The Quran, Hud [11] 1-2).

In Al Imran [3] 103, for example, we are asked to hold fast to the rope of Allah and not to separate. al-Zukhruf [43] 43, which is the mathani of this verse, explains what this rope is: the Quran (For another example, see: The mathanis of al-Anam [6] 8 are the following verses: Hijr [15] 8; Furqan [25] 22; al-Dhariyat [51] 31-32).

The connections within the Quran were made by Allah Himself. The task of the Quran expert is not to explain the Quran according to his own opinion. His task is to find and convey the connections that Allah has made between the relevant verses.

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Work Cited: Fatih Orum, Kur’an’i Anlama Usulu (The Method of Understanding the Quran), Istanbul 2015, pp. 191-193.