the Qur’an on the strength of his own opinion, let him prepare for himself a seat in the Fire.’

Accordingly, one must be extremely cautious about declaring, ‘The meaning of this verse is such-and-such,’ when he does not really know. If, however, the speaker is a student of sacred knowledge and he explains the verse in the presence of someone more learned—relying on that teacher to correct him should he slip—then there is no harm.

The same applies in examinations, where a student may be told, ‘Interpret this verse.’ Should he give the best explanation he can muster even though, at that moment, the precise meaning is not firmly in mind? We say: yes, because he is being tested, and if he is mistaken there will be someone to alert him. Still, he must do his utmost to avoid errors.

By contrast, a person who ventures to interpret the Qur’an without such oversight and without sound knowledge is not permitted to do so, for the speech of Allah is categorically unlike all other speech.

As for the hadith narrated by ʿĀ’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet ﷺ informed us that ‘the one who is proficient in reciting the Qur’an will be with the noble, dutiful angel-scribes.’ The proficient reciter is the one who reads the Qur’an skillfully and flawlessly; such a person is in the company of those ‘noble and righteous’ messengers. These noble, righteous scribes are the angels, as the Almighty says: ‘in scrolls that are honoured, exalted and purified, borne by the hands of scribes, noble and righteous’ (Q 80:13-16).

Thus the skilled reciter is ranked with the angels, whereas the person who stammers through the Qur’an, spelling it out with great difficulty, receives two rewards: one for the act of recitation itself and another for the hardship he endures while reciting.