Muqaddima fi Usul al-Tafsir - Ibn Taimiya - (47)

Muqaddima fi Usul al-TafsirIbn Taimiya

the Qur’an and interpreted it without knowledge or on the basis of mere personal opinion. Reports handed down from them confirm what we have said: they never spoke on their own authority without knowledge.

Whoever speaks about the Qur’an according to his own opinion has burdened himself with something he does not know and has taken a path he was never commanded to follow. Even if, by coincidence, he arrives at the correct meaning, he is still in error, for he did not approach the matter through its proper gate—just like a person who judges between people in ignorance: he is in the Fire even if his verdict happens to coincide with the truth, although his sin is lighter than that of someone whose ruling is actually wrong. Allah knows best.

In exactly the same way, Allah has called those who level accusations of fornication liars, saying, “If they do not bring four witnesses, then in Allah’s sight they are indeed the liars” (Q 24:13). Thus the slanderer is a liar even if, in reality, the person he accuses did commit adultery, because he has reported something he was not permitted to report and has claimed knowledge he did not possess. Allah knows best.

For this reason, many of the early Muslims were extremely cautious about interpreting what they did not know. Shuʿbah narrated from Sulaymān, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Murrah, from Abū Maʿmar, who said: Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq remarked, “Which land could possibly carry me, which sky could possibly shade me, were I to say about the Book of Allah something of which I have no knowledge?”

Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām said: Maḥmūd ibn Yazīd narrated to us; al-ʿAwwām ibn Ḥawshab narrated from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī that Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq was asked about the verse, “and fruit and grass” (Q 80:31). He replied, “Which sky would shade me, which earth would bear me, were I to say about the Book of Allah that of which I have no knowledge?” (The chain is broken.)

Abū ʿUbayd also said: Yazīd narrated to us; Ḥumayd narrated from Anas that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb recited from the pulpit the verse, “and fruit and grass,” and said, “We know what the fruit is, but what is al-abb?” Then he checked himself and said, “O ʿUmar, this is indeed unnecessary over-analysis.”

القرآن وفسروه بغير علم أو من قبل أنفسهم. وقد روي عنهم ما يدل على ما قلنا، أنهم لم يقولوا من قبل أنفسهم بغير علم. فمن قال في القرآن برأيه فقد تكلف ما لا علم له به، وسلك غير ما أمر به. فلو أنه أصاب المعنى في نفس الأمر لكان قد أخطأ؛ لأنه لم يأت الأمر من بابه، كمن حكم بين الناس على جهل فهو في النار، وإن وافق حكمه الصواب في نفس الأمر، لكن يكون أخف جرما ممن أخطأ، والله أعلم. وهكذا سمى الله تعالى القَذَفَة كاذبين، فقال: ﴿فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِالشُّهَدَاء فَأُوْلَئِكَ عِندَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ﴾ [النور: ١٣] فالقاذف كاذب، ولو كان قد قذف من زنى في نفس الأمر؛ لأنه أخبر بما لا يحل له الإخبار به، وتكلف ما لا علم له به، والله أعلم. ولهذا تحرج جماعة من السلف عن تفسير ما لا علم لهم به، كما روى شعبة، عن سليمان، عن عبد الله بن مُرَّة، عن أبي مَعْمَر، قال: قال أبو بكر الصديق: أي أرض تُقلّني، وأي سماء تظلني، إذا قلت في كتاب الله ما لم أعلم؟ ! . وقال أبو عبيد القاسم ابن سلام: حدثنا محمود بن يزيد، عن العَوَّام بن حوشب، عن إبراهيم التيمي؛ أن أبا بكر الصديق سئل عن قوله: ﴿وَفَاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا﴾ [عبس: ٣١] فقال: أي سماء تظلني، وأي أرض تقلني، إن أنا قلت في كتاب الله ما لا أعلم؟ منقطع وقال أبو عبيد أيضا: حدثنا يزيد، عن حميد، عن أنس؛ أن عمر بن الخطاب قرأ على المنبر: ﴿وَفَاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا﴾ فقال: هذه الفاكهة قد عرفناها فما الأبُّ؟ ثم رجع إلى نفسه فقال: إن هذا لهو التكلف يا عمر.