for the sake of causing discord. Likewise, ʿUmar beat Sabīgh ibn ʿAsal because his purpose in asking about the ambiguous passages was to stir up discord. This resembles someone who raises questions and objections about another person’s words, asking, “What was meant by such-and-such?” His aim is to cast doubt on those words and discredit them, not to discover the truth. These are the people whom the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, meant when he said:

“When you see those who pursue its ambiguous passages…”

Thus, “pursue” means that they seek out and deliberately focus on the ambiguous passages rather than the clear ones, just as someone pursuing something deliberately seeks it out. This is the conduct of someone intent on causing discord. But someone who asks about the meaning of an ambiguous passage in order to understand it and dispel doubts that have arisen—while knowing and following the clear passages, believing in the ambiguous passages, and having no intention of causing discord—is not censured by Allah.

This is also what the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to say. An example is the well-known report narrated by Ibrāhīm ibn Yaʿqūb al-Jūzajānī and also mentioned by al-Talamankī:

Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Rabbih narrated to us: Baqiyyah narrated to us: ʿUtbah ibn Abī Hakīm narrated to us: ʿImārah ibn Rāshid al-Kinānī narrated to me, from Ziyād, from Muʿādh ibn Jabal, who said:

“Two kinds of men read the Quran. One reads it with personal desires and an ulterior motive, combing through it as one searches a head for lice, hoping to find something with which to turn against people. Such people are the worst members of their community; Allah blinds them to the paths of guidance.

“The other reads it without personal desires or an ulterior motive, combing through it as one searches a head for lice. Whatever becomes clear to him, he acts upon; whatever remains unclear, he entrusts to Allah. He will surely gain an understanding of it such as no people have ever attained. Even if one of them were to wait twenty years, Allah would surely send him someone to explain the verse that puzzled him, or enable him to understand it for himself.”