What is the evidence that it is not permissible for a person to interpret the Qur'an according to his own opinion?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Excuse me, Shaykh, I remembered a matter, may Allah honor you. Regarding the fact that a person should not speak about the Qur'an according to his own understanding, and Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) made the Qur'an a clear, easy Arabic, what is the evidence that it is not permissible for a person to speak about the Qur'an according to his own understanding, especially since the Qur'an is Arabic, as Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) informed us?

The Shaykh : Yes, this is a good question. First, my brother, it is obligatory that we do not forget that many non-Arabs became Arabized, and most Arabs became non-Arabized, is that correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So your statement that it was revealed in the Arabic language is true, Allah is truthful, but where are the Arabs today? The Arabs have forgotten their language, and they have forgotten their customs, and they have forgotten their traditions, and only a very small remnant of what they used to be remains. This is the first point.
Second: This applies even to those who are naturally Arab and those who acquired Arabic. The Qur'an has two languages: a customary language, meaning the Arabic language in which the Qur'an was revealed, and another legal language, meaning the terminology agreed upon by the Lawgiver. The Arabs did not previously know the meanings of some of these terms. For example: Prayer in the language in which the Qur'an was revealed is supplication, but prayer in the legal language has its pillars, its obligations, its conditions, and so on. So if we brought a non-Arab scholar who became Arabized and knew the Arabic language, its literature, and all its styles, but did not know anything of the legal language, and he read , he would not understand it as we Muslims today understand it, that prayer has bowing, prostration, the tashahhud, and that one recites this in the first rak'ah and that in the other, and so on. Why? Because this is a special language, a legal language. And what clarifies this are some of the authentic hadiths. For example, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions one day: Of course, they knew the bankrupt person. They said, "The bankrupt among us is the one who has no dirham and no property." He said: So the bankrupt in the legal language has a meaning different from the meaning of this term in the customary Arabic language. Similarly, for example, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): He said: The one who is thrown down is the one who wrestles with people and throws them down. Or he said to them: , he said: . These meanings cannot be understood by a pure Arab unless he relies on the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which are considered an explanation of the Qur'an, as He (Mighty and Majestic) said regarding it: Even the Companions themselves, who were the pure Arabs, found a verse in the Noble Qur'an difficult for them.

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : No, it follows Abu Bakr. I think the verse is in Surat Luqman: No, it is not this verse. The Messenger answered with this verse. There is a verse in the Noble Qur'an in which injustice is mentioned, if there is a reader among you.

The questioner : .
The verse: , you brought it up just now. They said: O Messenger of Allah, then are we all perished? Which of us has not mixed his faith with injustice? He said: ليس ذاك ، ألم تسمعوا قوله تعالى : إن الشرك لظلم عظيم ؟ That is not it. Have you not heard His saying, Exalted is He: Indeed, associating partners with Allah is great injustice? So the Companions of the Messenger understood that this verse means that no injustice mixed with their faith, meaning injustice of people toward one another, and they were the Companions. So the Messenger interpreted it for them with the verse of Luqman: So it is not possible for a person, even if he is a pure Arab, to independently understand the Qur'an except through the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).