and likewise what His names and attributes uniquely denote—a reality known only to Him.

For this reason, the imams, including Imam Ahmad and others, censured the Jahmiyyah and those like them—who distort words from their proper places—for interpreting passages of the Quran that they found ambiguous in ways other than their correct interpretation. Ahmad said this in the book he wrote to refute the heretics and the Jahmiyyah concerning the ambiguous passages of the Quran about which they harboured doubts and which they interpreted incorrectly.

He censured them precisely because they interpreted these passages incorrectly. In that work, he discussed passages whose meanings were unclear to them, even though they were not unclear to others, and censured them for interpreting those passages incorrectly. He did not reject the term ta’wīl altogether. As explained earlier, ta’wīl may mean an explanation that clarifies what Allah intends; this is not blameworthy but praiseworthy. It may also mean the actual reality whose knowledge Allah has reserved to Himself; that is known only to Him. We have discussed this at length elsewhere.

Those who fail to understand this become inconsistent in their statements. For example, some say that ta’wīl is invalid and that the wording must be understood according to its apparent meaning. They cite the words of the Most High:

“And no one knows its interpretation except Allah.”

They invoke this verse to invalidate ta’wīl, but this is a contradiction on their part: the verse establishes that there is a ta’wīl known only to Allah, whereas they reject ta’wīl altogether. Their error lies in failing to recognise that the ta’wīl whose knowledge Allah has reserved to Himself is the actual reality known only to Him.