44 — Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dāwūd narrated to us, saying: Al-Muthannā ibn Ahmad narrated to us, saying: Amr ibn Khālid narrated to us, saying: Ibn Lahīa narrated to us, from Atā ibn Dīnār, from Saīd ibn Jubayr, concerning the words of Allah Most High, “And others are ambiguous” [Āl Imrān: 7]. He said:

“As for the ambiguous passages, they are verses in the Quran whose meaning becomes confused to people when they recite them. It is because of this that whoever goes astray among those who profess this declaration does so. Each faction recites verses from the Quran and claims that those verses support it and that it has thereby attained guidance.

“Among the ambiguous passages that the Harurites follow is the statement of Allah Most High, ‘Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed—it is they who are the disbelievers’ [al-Māidah: 44]. They recite along with it, ‘Yet those who disbelieve set up equals to their Lord’ [al-Anām: 1]. When they see the ruler judging unjustly, they say, ‘He has disbelieved. Whoever disbelieves has set up an equal to his Lord and has therefore committed shirk. These rulers are thus polytheists.’ They then rise in rebellion and do what you have seen, because of their interpretation of this verse.”