The Ruling on Ta'wil (Figurative Interpretation) Other Than a Little

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah reward you, is ta'wil (figurative interpretation) other than a little considered dangerous or not?

Answer:
This varies depending on the one who interprets. If the interpreter thought that this matter was correct and did not intentionally engage in ta'til (denial of the divine attributes), but rather thought that this was a correct ta'wil (figurative interpretation), then ta'wil (figurative interpretation) averts disbelief from him. Ta'wil (figurative interpretation) that occurs with ignorance and with the belief that it is a correct ta'wil (figurative interpretation), when in fact it is wrong, averts disbelief from him, but it is considered misguidance short of disbelief. However, if he is intentional and knows, being knowledgeable, that his ta'wil (figurative interpretation) is not correct, but he wants to argue sophistically and wants to push back the truth through stubbornness, this is a disbeliever, this is a disbeliever. If he is like the Jahmiyyah (a sect that denied the divine attributes) and the extremists of the misguided sects who know that they are not on the truth, but they did this for the sake of stubbornness and defiance, there is no doubt that this is disbelief in Allah (Mighty and Majestic).