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Fatwa CenterMeaning of wisdom in Quran 33:34
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. I heard that hikmah (wisdom) in the Quran means the Sunnah, but only in this verse: {And remember what is recited in your houses of the verses of Allah and wisdom. Indeed, Allah is ever Subtle and Acquainted [with all things].} [Quran 33:34] So what do you say?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
What you mentioned is not accurate, as there are other verses in which hikmah (wisdom) was interpreted to mean the Sunnah. Many scholars of Tafseer (exegesis) interpreted wisdom to mean the Sunnah in the verse in which Allaah says (what means): {Certainly did Allaah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error.} [Quran 3:164]
This is the same in regard to similar verses; for instance, the Tafseer of Imaam Ash-Shaafi'i (1/496) reads:
“Allaah says (what means): {Certainly did Allaah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves...} (and he mentioned other verses in the same context, then he said:) Allaah mentioned the Book, which is the Quran, and then He mentioned wisdom, and I heard the trustworthy scholars of the Quran say: wisdom means the Sunnah of the Prophet . This is the correct view – and Allaah knows best – because after the Quran was mentioned, the wisdom was mentioned straight after it. Then Allaah mentioned His favors upon His creation by teaching them the Book and wisdom, so it is not permissible to say – and Allaah knows best – that wisdom here means something other than the Sunnah of the Prophet because of what we have discussed, that Allaah made the belief in the Prophet linked to the belief in Him. And the Sunnah of His Messenger clarifies the meaning intended by Allaah, and it is a guidance and clarification of what is specific and what is general (of the texts of the Quran).”
Besides, Ibn Rajab said in Lataa’if al-Ma’aarif about the verse in which Allaah says (what means): {He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding.} [Quran 2:269]; whoever interprets the wisdom to mean the Sunnah, then he has said the truth because the Sunnah interprets the Quran and clarifies its meaning and urges us to follow it and act according to it.”
Allaah knows best.
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