Among them are writers whose diction is graceful and fluent, yet who surreptitiously slip innovations into their prose while most readers remain unaware—such as the author of al-Kashshāf and the like. As a result, large numbers of people who themselves do not subscribe to falsehood nevertheless imbibe, by Allah’s decree, whatever portions of those erroneous commentaries reach them. I have personally seen exegetes and other scholars cite in their books and lectures passages from such commentaries that accord with the innovators’ corrupt premises—premises whose unsoundness they either know or at least profess—yet they fail to notice the connection.

Because of the extremism and misguidance of these people, the Twelver Rāfiḍīs, then the philosophers, and after them the Qarmaṭī movement and others, plunged into even worse distortions. Matters became truly grave among the philosophers, the Qarmaṭīs, and the Rāfiḍīs, for they produced interpretations of the Qur’an so astonishing that any learned person is left dumbfounded. A sample of Rāfiḍī exegesis runs as follows: “Perish the hands of Abū Lahab, and perish he!” (111:1) is alleged to refer to Abū Bakr and ʿUmar; “If you ever associate [others with Allah], your deeds will surely come to nothing” (39:65) supposedly alludes to placing Abū Bakr before ʿAlī in the caliphate; “Allah commands you to slaughter a cow” (2:67) is, in their view, a veiled reference to ʿĀʾishah; “Fight the leaders of disbelief” (9:12) designates Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr; “He let the two seas meet” (55:19) points to ʿAlī and Fāṭimah; “From them both come forth pearl and coral” (55:22) signifies al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn; “We have enumerated everything in a clear leader” (36:12) is taken to mean ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; “About what are they asking? About the tremendous tiding” (78:1-2) likewise denotes ʿAlī; and “Your only patron is Allah, His Messenger, and the believers who establish prayer and give alms while bowing” (5:55) is claimed to refer solely to him. They even adduce a report that all specialists agree is fabricated—the story of his giving alms with his ring while in prayer—and they assert that “Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy” (2:157) was revealed about ʿAlī when he was afflicted by the death of Ḥamzah.

Something akin to this—though on a lesser scale—appears in what many commentators relate regarding the verse, “the steadfast ones, the truthful ones, the devout ones, the charitable ones, and those who seek forgiveness….”