Is there exaggeration in the Quran and hadiths? If there is exaggeration, is exaggeration not a kind of lie?
Dear Brother / Sister,
Exaggeration is a kind of literary art. When the language that people use is not enough to express some issues in the Quran and hadiths, exaggeration is used. It is not a lie but a style that is preferred to make the meaning that the language cannot express be understood by the mind.
Having defined "exaggeration" as "to show the meaning as bigger and more than its original state in the language in order to explain it", Rummani lists the six types of exaggeration included in the Quran as follows:
1. With the form exaggerative form of the word like Ghaffar, Tawwab, Rahman, Rahim, Wadud, Qadir and Alim. Ziyauddin Ibnul-Athir and Maghribi say that this kind of attributes will not exaggerate about Allah because divine attributes have endless perfection, that exaggeration takes place in attributes having the property of increasing-decreasing and that Allah's attributes are free from it. (al-Mathalus-Sa'ir, III/191; Mawahibul-Fattah, II/558)
2. Using the general instead of the specific style like the phrase "the Creator of all things" (al-An'am 6/102).
3. Mentioning the greatest one like saying, "And thy Lord cometh" (al-Fajr, 89/22) instead of saying, "The evidences of thy Lord came."
4. Expressing what is possible as impossible like the verse "Nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle" (al-Araf, 7/40).
5. Expressing something with more than one possibility in order to use a moderate style in a discussion like the verse "And certain it is that either we or ye are on right guidance or in manifest error." (as-Saba' 34/24).
6. The answer to be deduced from the expression. This expresses exaggeration because it necessitates the answer to be thought in different ways and leads the listener and reader to thinking and imagination like the following verse: "If thou couldst but see when they are confronted with the Fire!" (al-An'am, 6/27)
Questions on Islam
- Will you give information about the reason why the chapter of al-Ikhlas was sent down and its interpretation?
- Is there a narration meaning “Ali and the Prophet’s uncle Abbas regarded Abu Bakr as a liar, sinner, trickster and traitor”?
- Since the Quran calls Hz. Isa "kalam (speech/word)", can it be said that Hz. Isa is not a makhluq (a being that was created later)?
- Does reading the chapter of al-Ikhlas gain man the reward of a khatm al-Quran?
- How can we apply the following hadith today: "A person who dies without paying allegiance to the imam of his time dies the death of Jahiliyyah"?
- Are the mutashabih (ambiguous, allegorical) verses in the Quran not contradictory with the rules of rhetoric?
- Why is the same verse repeated thirty-one times in the chapter of ar-Rahman? What is the wisdom behind it?
- How was the body language and speaking style of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?
- The importance of high ethics... The following is stated in a hadith: "The first thing to be placed on the Scale (Mizan) on the Day of Judgment is high ethics." What is the meaning of a deed being placed on the Scale first or later?
- There are many verses containing slang and cursing in the Quran. What is the wisdom behind it?
