Jesus through the word, nor how He sent His spirit to her—who appeared before her as a well-formed man—and breathed into her of His spirit. In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, ‘Ā’ishah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“When you see those who follow its ambiguous passages, they are the ones Allah has identified, so beware of them.”

The point here is that Allah cannot have revealed speech devoid of meaning, nor can the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the entire Muslim community have been ignorant of its meaning, as some later scholars claim. This view must be judged unequivocally mistaken, whether those firmly grounded in knowledge do not know the Quran’s interpretation, or whether “interpretation” has two meanings, one of which they know and the other they do not.

If the choice is between saying that the Messenger did not know the meaning of the Quran’s ambiguous passages and saying that those firmly grounded in knowledge do know it, this affirmation is better than that negation. For the many proofs from the Quran, the Sunnah, and the statements of the early generations indicate that the entire Quran can be known, understood, and reflected upon. This must be held with certainty. There is, however, no conclusive indication that those firmly grounded in knowledge do not know the explanation of its ambiguous passages. Indeed, many of the early generations said that they knew their interpretation, including Mujāhid—with his eminent standing—al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas, and Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn al-Zubayr. They also transmitted this from Ibn ‘Abbās, reporting that he said:

“I am among those firmly grounded in knowledge who know its interpretation.”