ghulam muhammed wrote:Bro porus,
Do you concur with the interpretation of Adam with regard to your translation of Qadi Noman's al-Majaalis wa al-Musaayiraat ?
I believe that Imam refers to 'ghayb' as in ayat 2:3, whereas Adam refers to 'ghayb' as something that only Imams know. Let us write 'ghayb' in ayat 2:3 in capitlas as 'GHAYB'.
In the extract that I quoted, reference is to 'GHAYB' and there is no reference to 'ghayb'.
'GHAYB" is not available to an Imam, let alone to share it with others.
Thus I think that Adam is not trying to interpret the extract but he points to some other kind of knowledge ('ghayb') which, presumably, Imam will share with some select group of people. That is entirely possible. Adam's 'ghayb'could be 'baatin', known to Imams but not to all and which could be made available to others.
Let me reproduce what I previously wrote about this on this forum:
****
"This brings me to the issue of Baatin, Zaahir and Taawil. Quran uses all these words in connection with the content of the Quran and all these appear to be accessible to humans.
What is clearly not accessible is what the Quran calls Ilm-ul-Ghayb, or the Hidden Knowledge, which the Quran states is known only to Allah.
Zaahir is the ‘apparent meaning’. This, of course, does not mean that it is apparent to everyone. You can verify this by consulting different translations.
‘Baatin’ is the ‘inner meaning’. Muslims have sought guidance from the Quran in all sorts of subjects. When the meaning is not apparent, there is a belief that with deep study these meanings can be discovered.
‘Taawil’ is used as a synonym for ‘Baatin’. But they are different. Taawil is the ‘process’ one engages in to get to the ‘Baatin’. So, when someone says that this is taawil, what they mean is is that it is baatin as derived by some respected authority through the process of taawil.
Taawil is not Ghayb. The latter is known only to Allah.
Quran warns people to stay away from the process of taawil unless they are very well versed in the study of the Quran.
Once, you accept that someone is qualified to engage in the process of taawil and impart the baatin of Quran to you then you are his follower. The authority may be true or false. Without a large body of scholars and an open system to check his interpretations, corruption is clearly possible."
