How ever...
How ever, the third verse conveys that the meaning of some verses is comprehensible, and that of some other verses is not so. The meaning of these three verses is nothing except that which has been mentioned. Hence there remains no basis for sensing a contradiction. Examples of Muhkamat and Mutashabihat: Here it would be proper to give some examples of muhkamat and mutashabihat in order to illustrate their character.
Here are some examples of the muhkamat: God is the creator of every thing..., (39: 62) Verily, God is powerful over everything. (2:20) He has not begotten, nor He has been begotten. (112:3) ... Nothing is like Him .... (42:11) The meaning of the above verses is quite distinct and clear. They can be understood without any reflection. The following is an example of a mutashabih verse: Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three quru' ....
(2:228) In the above example, the word quru' has two different meanings in Arabic. One meaning is menstruation (haya) and the other is purity from menses (tuhr). Because of this a kind of doubt has come about for jurisprudents "in understanding it. Some of them interpret it as `purity', while others take it to mean `menstruation.' In the following verse: ...Or he makes remission in whose hand is the knot of marriage ....
(2:237) it is not clear whether the one who makes remission is the guardian or the husband, for it can mean either of them. In another example: O believers, when you stand up to pray, wash your faces, and your hands up to (ila) the elbows .... (5:6) it is not clear whether the word ?? is used in the sense of inclusion or in the sense of `extreme limit' and whether the extremity is to be included, from the viewpoint of the rule of ablution, in the part of the hand to be washed or not.
Furthermore, in the verse: ...And if you can find no water, then have recourse to wholesome dust..., (4:43) the meaning and significance of the word said is not clear.
It can be understood to mean either the `ground surface' or `soil.' Also, in the case of the verse: ...And wipe your faces and your `hands'..., (4:43) it is unclear as to whether or not the word aydi (hands) indicates only the back of the palm, or includes the wrist and the forearm, or includes the forearm and the elbow, or the forearm together with the elbow and the upper arm.
In another verse: (or if you have touched women [ 4:43 ]) the meaning and significance of the word lams (touch) is unclear as well.