When can a person judge that another is among the people of knowledge, or that he himself is among the people of knowledge?

The questioner : This is a clarification of, or rather a completion of, this question: When can a person judge that another is among the people of knowledge, or that he himself is among the people of knowledge who are permitted to do this? What is the dividing line between, for example, these laypeople I mentioned and the people of knowledge who have the right to understand the Qur'anic and hadith texts?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that one must first be knowledgeable of the Arabic language, and that one must be a memorizer of the Noble Qur'an, either by memorization that allows recitation from memory or by review; at least one of these is necessary. Then, one must be knowledgeable of the Sunnah, for as we explained to you earlier, the Sunnah explains the Noble Qur'an. I will give you a very simple example so that the Muslim knows that an ordinary person should not undertake to interpret the Qur'an on his own based on what knowledge he has, or rather, based on what ignorance he has, for we are not speaking now of scholars, but of the second category of people to whom the Lord of the Worlds addressed them in the previous verse . Any person who has some knowledge of the Arabic language, when he hears the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): to the end of the verse, if he knows nothing but this verse and is asked: Is it permissible to eat dead locusts? He will say: No, of course. Why? Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: . Is it permissible to eat dead fish? He will answer with the same answer: Allah has forbidden carrion, and this is carrion. But the one who has knowledge will give the answer to the previous question: Is it permissible to eat dead locusts? He will say: Yes, it is permissible, because there is in the hadith: . Thus, the one who knew this hadith was able to understand the previous verse correctly, whereas the one who does not have knowledge of this hadith will interpret the Qur'an with his opinion and say: Carrion, my brother, includes dead locusts and includes dead fish; so both are forbidden. This is a very simple example, and there are dozens of examples—if not hundreds—that show the student of knowledge that interpreting the Qur'an is not as easy as some people imagine. So, the one who is knowledgeable of the Arabic language first, then has the Qur'an at his disposal either by memorization or review, and then is knowledgeable of the Sunnah; this is the one who can interpret the Qur'an while being on clear evidence of the matter. As for others, it is not permissible for them to undertake this interpretation.