The Different Meanings of al-Thann in the Qur’an

The following question was posed to sheikh ‘Abdullah al-‘Awaaji, a professor of Tafsir at the Islamic University of al-Madinah:

روى ابن جرير وابن كثير عن مجاهد أنه قال : كل ظن في القرآن يقين . ماذا نفهم من هذا القول مع أن كلمة الظن وردت في القرآن بمعان أخر؟

Both ibn Jarir and ibn Kathir relate a narration from Mujahid in which he said, “Every instance of the word al-Thann [literally: thought, doubt, assumption, conjecture] in the Qur’an means Yaqeen [certainty].”*

How should we understand this statement in light of the fact that the word al-thann is used elsewhere in the Qur’an with other meanings?

The sheikh responded by writing:

عن الضحاك:كل ظن في القرآن من المؤمن فهو يقين،ومن الكافر فهو شك. وعن مجاهد:كل ظن في القرآن فهو يقين. وقول الضحاك أقرب وقد يحمل قول مجاهد على أن الذي يفيد اليقين:ما كان متعلقاً بأمور الآخرة،أما ما كان متعلقاً بأمور الدنيا فيفيد الشك وقد رويت رواية ثانية عن مجاهد تدل على هذا المعنى،وفيها:ظن الآخرة يقين، وظن الدنيا شك؛ ونحو هذا قول قتادة :ما كان من ظن الآخرة فهو علم . ـ

al-Dhahhaak said: Every time the word thann is used in the Qur’an in relation to the believers, it means yaqeen, and every time it is used for the disbelievers, it means “doubt”.

Mujahid said: Every time the word thann is used in the Qur’an, it means yaqeen.

However al-Dhahhaak’s statement is more accurate.

And Mujahid’s statement could also be interpreted to mean that thann takes the meaning of yaqeen when it is connected to matters of the Hereafter, but when it is related to matters of this worldly life it takes the meaning of “doubt”.

And there is a second narration from Mujahid that has been transmitted which points to this meaning, in which he mentions, “thann of the hereafter is yaqeen, and thann of the worldly life is doubt.”

Similar to that is Qatadah’s statement, “Whatever is a thann related to the hereafter, it is knowledge.”

 وقد وضع الزركشي ضابطين للتفريق بين اليقين والشك؛ أحدهما: أن (الظن) حيث وُجد محموداً مثاباً عليه فهو (اليقين)، وحيث وُجد مذموماً متوعداً عليه بالعذاب فهو (الشك). وهذا الضابط يفيد أن السياق هو المعول عليه في تحديد معنى (الظن)، الثاني: أن كل (ظن) يتصل به (أن) المخففة فهو (شك)،وكل (ظن) يتصل به (أن)المشددة فهو (يقين)،فإن (أنَّ) المشددة للتأكيد، فدخلت في (اليقين)،و(أن) المخففة بخلافها، فدخلت في (الشك). ـ

al-Zarkashi laid down two principles for distinguishing between these meanings of yaqeen and doubt:

1) When thann is used in a praiseworthy way that entails reward, then it means yaqeen, but when it is used in a blameworthy way which would entail punishment, it means doubt. And from this principle, we learn that the context is what is used to determine the meaning of the word thann.

2) That every instance of the word thann which is followed by by the Arabic word “an” without a shaddah is “doubt”, while every instance of the word thann followed by the word “anna” with a shaddah is yaqeen, for “anna” with a shaddah is conveys reiteration and affirmation, so yaqeen falls under that. But “an” without a shaddah is the opposite of that, so “doubt” falls under that.

ولفظ (الظن) في القرآن ولفظ (الظن) في القرآن الكريم ورد على عدة معان:منها اليقين، كقوله تعالى: {الذين يظنون أنهم ملاقو ربهم}، قال الجمهور يوقنون، وذهب الأزهري وغيره إلى أن إطلاق (الظن) على (اليقين) إطلاق حقيقي،. وقال الجوهري وابن سيده والفيروزابادي.إن إفادته لذلك تحصل على سبيل المجاز لقرينة تدل عليه. ـ

And the term thann is used for a number of meanings in the Qur’an, such as Allah’s statement,

الَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُم مُّلَاقُو رَبِّهِمْ

Those who yathunnoon that they will meet their Lord [2:46]

which most scholars explained as “they are certain”.

Al-Azhari and others held that applying the meaning of “certainty” to the word thann was its actual linguistic meanings. But al-Jawhari, ibn Seedah, and al-Fayroozabaadi said that if thann did take that meaning, it was only because of some features in the surrounding context that would make that clear.

[This was a question that I, Khalil Klopfenstein, asked the sheikh via Twitter on 2/22/2018 which he answered here, here, here, and here]

*Translator’s Note: As found in their explanations of surah al-Baqarah, ayah 46

See also: al-Thann in the Qur’an: Imam al-Sa’di

See also: “O you who believe, avoid much suspicion…”: Tafsir al-Sa’di