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Among the crimes spawned by speculative interpretation (taʾwīl) are the disasters that have afflicted Islam from the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ down to this very day—and even during his own lifetime, peace and blessings be upon him. Khalid ibn al-Walid, for example, killed the clan of Banū Jadhīmah on the basis of an interpretation; whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ disowned the deed, saying, “O Allah, I declare before You my innocence of what Khalid has done.” (1)

After the Prophet’s death, certain Arab tribes refused to pay the zakah on the strength of another interpretation, arguing, “Allah addressed only His Messenger when He said, ‘Take alms from their wealth to purify and cleanse them thereby, and pray for them; your prayer is a source of tranquility for them’ (at-Tawbah 9:104); such a command applies to no one else.” Because of this false interpretation, Islam and its people endured grievous harm.

Next came the turmoil that led to the murder of ʿUthmān—again justified by interpretation. Interpretation continued to press its claims until ʿUthmān was slain because of it; then it swelled and proliferated, so that in the battle of Ṣiffīn between ʿAlī and Muʿāwiyah some seventy (2) thousand—or even more—Muslims were killed for the same reason. The people of al-Ḥarrah (3) were massacred under the banner of interpretation, as were those who fell on the Day of the Camel. Thereafter Ibn al-Zubayr was killed and his body was hoisted up