Mubhamatu'l-Qur'an in Tabari's tafsir

From the early period, many studies were initiated to understand the message of the Qur'an. One of these studies focuses on the ambiguous (unclear) expressions found in the verses. Different ideas are proposed regarding the scope and nature of these ambiguous expressions. This situation indicates that the concept of ambiguity has a subjective characteristic. One of the names considered an authority in tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) is Ibn Jarir al-Tabari. This study examines al-Tabari's approach to the concept of ambiguous expressions. In fact, the term "ambiguous" became a conceptualized term after al-Tabari, leading to independent studies. Therefore, while attempting to identify ambiguous expressions in al-Tabari's work, later works were also utilized. In this context, the work of al-Suyuti on this subject was chosen as a key reference for determining the framework. In this research, based on al-Tabari's Jami' al-Bayan 'an Ta'wil Ayat al-Qur'an (The Collection of Explanations on the Interpretation of the Qur'anic Verses), the author's findings regarding ambiguous expressions were examined.