Discover the meaning of the term Al-mḥkm (محكم) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readWhat is intended by it is secured against substitution and change, that is, specification (takhsis).
In language: what is solidly built, secure from curtailing. With the masters of principles: what is intended by it is secured against substitution and change, that is, specification, interpretation, and abrogation. The ceasing of the possibility of abrogation may be in the meaning itself, in that it rationally admits no change, as the verses proving the Maker's existence and attributes, the world's origination, and the reports; this is called muhkam in itself.
It may be by revelation's ceasing with the Prophet's death (peace and blessings upon him); this is called muhkam by another.
Of the Qur'an's verses, in the usulis' terminology: the opposite of the ambiguous (mutashabih). What excludes the disjointed letters at the suras' openings. What is not abrogated.
What is clear in meaning and known in intent: either by plainness or by interpretation. Al-mahkama: the body charged with deciding judgments; the place where the judicial body convenes.
What its wording has been made firm by being guarded against ambiguity.
That whose ruling has been sealed and does not loosen, as one seals a girth, making its ruling a firm band by which the thing feared to slip out is held fast. Al-Hurrali mentioned it.
What its intended meaning is secured against substitution, change, and abrogation, as the verse: 'God is over all things powerful' (al-Baqara, 148).