—they are the foundation of the Book—while others are ambiguous. Those whose hearts are inclined to deviation pursue the ambiguous part, seeking discord and seeking its interpretation” (Āl ʿImrān 3:7).

Otherwise, the Quran can never contain anything contradictory, just as Allah says: “Had it been from anyone other than Allah, they would surely have found in it much inconsistency” (an-Nisāʾ 4:82). In truth, the Quran contains no discrepancies at all. Nāfiʿ ibn al-Azraq, the well-known Kharijite, once put forward to Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68 AH) numerous ambiguous verses whose surface meaning appeared conflicting, and Ibn ʿAbbās answered him with several other verses. Al-Suyūṭī records these exchanges in Al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān.

Next, the author proves the prohibition of baghy (transgression) with Allah’s words: “The blame is only upon those who wrong people and transgress on earth without right” (ash-Shūrā 42:42). Al-sabeel here means the consequence: blame and censure fall upon those who wrong people in their wealth, their honor, their persons, or their families—these are the ones who bear the blame. The phrase “and transgress on earth without right” means they assault others unjustly. Allah described baghy as “without right” because, in reality, it is never rightful; every act of baghy is, by definition, without right. The qualifier, therefore, is not restrictive but declarative, stating a fact—a usage that appears frequently in the Quran. You find a qualifier that simply reflects reality, not one that excludes anything else, such as His saying: “O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you so that you may become God-fearing” (al-Baqarah 2:21). There is not one lord who did not create us and another who did; rather, the verse declares the reality that the Lord is the One who created us.