Sometimes one of us asks a question about the interpretation of a verse or a word in the Qur'an, and some of us interpret the verse based on what seems most likely to them. Is there any harm in that?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Sometimes one of us asks a question about the interpretation of a verse or a word in the Qur'an, and some of us interpret the verse based on what seems most likely to them. Is there any harm in that?
The Shaykh : If the one who interpreted the verse according to his opinion is among the people of Arabic language who are knowledgeable about it, then there is no harm. But if he is just guessing without basis, it is not permissible. This is because the interpreter of the Qur'an is a witness for Allah the Exalted that He intended such and such, and this is a matter of great danger. Indeed, Allah the Exalted will question him on the Day of Resurrection: how did you bear witness for Me that I intended such and such without knowledge? For this reason, there is a warning against interpreting the Qur'an by opinion, and whoever interprets the Qur'an by his opinion has erred, even if he happened to be correct.
As for the person who has knowledge of the Arabic language and interprets the Qur'an according to the Arabic language, there is no harm in that. However, even so, he should review what the mufassirun (commentators) said in their interpretation of the verse. But if this statement is in a discussion among students of knowledge and they will ultimately return to the books of tafsir (exegesis), then there is no harm in that, because this is not a settled statement, but rather an opinion that will be reviewed later.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner Muhammad A A from al-Qassim says.
The Shaykh : If the one who interpreted the verse according to his opinion is among the people of Arabic language who are knowledgeable about it, then there is no harm. But if he is just guessing without basis, it is not permissible. This is because the interpreter of the Qur'an is a witness for Allah the Exalted that He intended such and such, and this is a matter of great danger. Indeed, Allah the Exalted will question him on the Day of Resurrection: how did you bear witness for Me that I intended such and such without knowledge? For this reason, there is a warning against interpreting the Qur'an by opinion, and whoever interprets the Qur'an by his opinion has erred, even if he happened to be correct.
As for the person who has knowledge of the Arabic language and interprets the Qur'an according to the Arabic language, there is no harm in that. However, even so, he should review what the mufassirun (commentators) said in their interpretation of the verse. But if this statement is in a discussion among students of knowledge and they will ultimately return to the books of tafsir (exegesis), then there is no harm in that, because this is not a settled statement, but rather an opinion that will be reviewed later.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner Muhammad A A from al-Qassim says.