Abū Hurairah relates that the Holy Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) said, “The Qur’ān has been revealed on five subjects; permissible and prohibited, firm and allegorical and anecdotes. So you should take permissible and prohibited as such, follow what is firm, have faith in allegorical and take lessons from anecdotes.”
(Masabih, Baihiqi)
This hadīth highlights the fact that the Holy Qur’ān addresses man on five identifiable subjects. The first important subject the Holy Qur’ān addresses is Halal (permissible things in the eyes of Islam). Another important subject of the Holy Qur’ān is Haram (prohibited things). The believers have been enjoined to follow in every walk of life only the permissible things, and keep from what has been prohibited.
The third important subject is Muhkam (firm) ayahs. Firm ayahs are those whose meaning is quite clear and in which basic teachings of Islamic Faith, good ways and evil ones and other such matters as relate to the day-to-day affairs in individual or collective life have been presented for the guidance of mankind.
The fourth subject is Mutashabih (allegorical) ayahs. Allegorical ayahs mean the ayahs which human understanding cannot fathom such as the attributes of Allah, scenes of the Day of Judgement and those of the Heaven and the Hell. It is necessary to have faith in them and it is enough to have this faith.
The fifth important subject the Holy Qur’ān addresses is Amsal (anecdotes). Anecdotes relate to incidents of former Messengers of Allah and their respected followers. In them lie great lessons for us.