These people think that they have followed the words of Allah Most High:

“And no one knows its interpretation except Allah.”

Most of the early generations did indeed pause at His words:

“And no one knows its interpretation except Allah.”

This is a valid place to pause. However, these people failed to distinguish between the meaning and explanation of the words and the “ta’wīl” of which Allah Most High alone has knowledge. They assumed that the “ta’wīl” mentioned in the words of Allah Most High is the same as the “ta’wīl” spoken of by later scholars. In this they were mistaken, for the term “ta’wīl” has three meanings.

In the terminology of many later scholars, “ta’wīl” means diverting an expression from its more likely meaning to a less likely meaning on the basis of supporting evidence. Thus, in their terminology, a meaning that accords with an expression’s apparent sense is not ta’wīl. They assumed that this was what Allah Most High intended by the term ta’wīl, and that the scriptural texts have an interpretation contrary to what they indicate, known only to Allah and unknown to those who interpret them.

Yet many of these people say, “These texts are to be taken in their apparent sense, and their apparent sense is intended,” while also saying that they have a ta’wīl in this sense which Allah alone knows. This is a contradiction into which many who profess adherence to the Sunnah have fallen, including followers of the “four imams” and others.

The second meaning of “ta’wīl” is the explanation of speech—whether or not it accords with its apparent sense. This is “ta’wīl” in the terminology of the majority of Quran commentators and others. This “ta’wīl” is known to those firmly grounded in knowledge, and it accords with the practice of those who paused