Section: The warning against speaking about the Quran on the basis of one’s own opinion, without knowledge
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Samad al-Turabi informed us; Abu Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hammuyah al-Sarakhsi informed us; Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Khuzaym al-Shashi informed us; Abu Muhammad ‘Abd ibn Humayd narrated to us; ‘Abd al-Razzaq informed us; Sufyan al-Thawri informed us from ‘Abd al-A‘la, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever speaks about the Quran according to his own opinion, let him take his place in the Fire.” (1)
Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffari informed us; Abu Sa‘id Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Fadl, the jurist, informed us; Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan al-Basri informed us; Abu al-Fadl al-‘Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri narrated to us; Yahya ibn Hammad informed us; Abu ‘Awanah narrated to us from ‘Abd al-A‘la, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah Most High be pleased with them both, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: “Whoever speaks about the Quran without knowledge, let him take his place in the Fire.” (2)
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Samad al-Turabi informed us; ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hammuyah narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Khuzaym informed us; ‘Abd ibn Humayd informed us; Habban ibn Hilal narrated to us; Suhayl, the brother of Hazm al-Qati‘i, narrated to us; Abu ‘Imran al-Jawni (3) narrated to us from Jundab ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Bajali, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever speaks about the Quran according to his own opinion and is correct has nevertheless erred.” (4) This is a singular report.
(1) Reported by al-Tirmidhi in the chapters on Quranic exegesis, in the chapter concerning one who interprets the Quran according to his own opinion, 8:277. He said: “This hadith is hasan sahih.” Al-Manawi attributed it to Abu Dawud and al-Nasai in al-Fada'il, perhaps in al-Sunan al-Kubra. Ibn Jarir also reported it from Ibn Abbas as a mawquf report, 1:78, edited by Shakir. The compiler likewise included it in Sharh al-Sunnah, 1:258.
Its chain includes Abd al-Ala ibn Amir al-Tha'labi, a Kufan narrator who was truthful but prone to error, from the sixth generation. Ahmad and Abu Zur'ah deemed him weak, and al-Nasai said: “He is not particularly strong.” See al-Nasai's al-Du'afa wa al-Matrukin, p. 165; Mizan al-I'tidal, 2:530; al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil, 6:25; Taqrib al-Tahdhib; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 6:94; and other works.
(2) Reported by Ahmad, 1:269, from Ibn Abbas; and by al-Tirmidhi in the chapters on Quranic exegesis, in the chapter concerning one who interprets the Quran according to his own opinion, 8:277. He said: “This hadith is hasan sahih.” Al-Tabari reported it under nos. 73-77. Shaykh Shakir said: “All these hadiths revolve around Abd al-Ala ibn Amir al-Tha'labi, concerning whom the scholars have spoken as mentioned above.” The compiler also included it in Sharh al-Sunnah, 1:257, and said: “This hadith is hasan.”
(3) The original text reads: al-Jawfi.
(4) Reported by Abu Dawud in the Book of Knowledge, in the chapter on speaking about the Book of Allah without knowledge, 5:249; and by al-Tirmidhi in the chapters on Quranic exegesis, in the chapter concerning one who interprets the Quran according to his own opinion, 8:279. He said: “This hadith is gharib.”
Al-Mundhiri attributed it to al-Nasai and said: “Suhayl ibn Abi Hazm was a Basran narrator; the name of Abu Hazm was Mihran. Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, al-Nasai, and others criticized him.” Al-Suyuti indicated in al-Jami al-Saghir that it is hasan. Al-Manawi said: “Perhaps this is because of supporting evidence; otherwise, its chain contains Suhayl ibn Abd Allah...” See Fayd al-Qadir, 6:191. The compiler also reported it in Sharh al-Sunnah, 1:259.