AHADITH ON INTERPRETING THE HOLY QUR'AN

WITHOUT SOUND KNOWLEDGE

There are a number of Hadith related to the issue of interpreting the Holy Qur'an without sound knowledge. Two of them are found in the collection of Ahadith known as Mishkatul Masabih by Imam al-Tabrizi (ash-Shafi'i), one from Ibn Abbas and the other from Jundub (Allah be pleased with them):-

(A) Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) as saying: "He who speaks about the Qur'an on the basis of his personal opinion (only) would find his abode in Hell fire. In another version: He who speaks about the Qur'an without sound knowledge of it would find his abode in Hell fire." (Tirmidhi).

(B) Jundub (Allah be pleased with him) reported the Prophet (Peace  be upon him) as saying: "He who speaks about the Qur'an on the  basis of his personal opinion (by any accord) he commits an error,  even if he is right." (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawood). (See Mishkatul- Masabih, 1/234-235, English ed'n)