Section: Interpreting the Qur’an on the Basis of Mere Opinion

Interpreting the Qur’an solely on the strength of personal opinion is forbidden. Muʾammal narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) declared, “Whoever speaks about the Qur’an without knowledge, let him take his seat in the Fire.”

Wakīʿ narrated to us; Sufyān narrated from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Thaʿlabī, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Whoever speaks about the Qur’an without knowledge, let him take his seat in the Fire.”

And with this same chain up to al-Tirmidhī: ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us; Ḥibbān ibn Hilāl narrated to me; Suhayl, the brother of Ḥazm al-Qaṭʿī, narrated to us; he said: Abū ʿImrān al-Jawni narrated to us, from Jundub, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Whoever interprets the Qur’an by his own opinion and happens to be correct has still erred.” Al-Tirmidhī commented: “This ḥadīth is singular (gharīb), and some ḥadīth scholars have spoken critically of Suhayl ibn Abī Ḥazm.”

In the same vein, a number of scholars from among the Prophet’s Companions and others transmitted reports indicating that they imposed strict warnings against interpreting the Qur’an without knowledge. As for what has been narrated from Mujāhid, Qatādah, and other learned men—that they did explain the Qur’an—one must not imagine that they spoke about it