category of taweel

The meanings of "ta-weel" Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al ‘Uthaymeen rahimahullaah comments on the meaning of "ta-weel" in his explanation of al ‘Aqeedah al Waasitiyyah: “Not all ta’weel is blameworthy. The Prophet sall Allaahu ‘alaiyhi wa sallam said: O Allaah, grant him understanding of the religion, and teach him the ta-weel. (Reported by al Bukhaaree in the Book of Wudhoo and by Muslim). And Allaah, the Most High, said: And none knows its ta-weel except Allaah and those firmly grounded in knowledge. Soorah aale ‘Imraan (3) aayah 7 So He praised them due to their knowing the ta-weel. And not all ta-weel is blameworthy, because ta-weel has several meanings. It can have the meaning of tafseer (explanation). And it can have the meaning of the end result and final outcome. And it can have the meaning of taking a word away from its apparent meaning… and this type can be divided into that which is praiseworthy and that which is blameworthy. So if there is a proof to support it, then it is a praiseworthy type and it is in fact from the first type (of ta-weel mentioned above) and this is tafseer (explanation). And if there is no proof to support it, then it is blameworthy and it falls under the category of tahreef (distortion) and not under the category of ta-weel. (Sharh al ‘Aqeedah al Waasitiyyah p70-71, translated by Nasser ibn Najam)