Wonders of the Secrets
\r\nThe great synthesizer of traditional Sunnism and Sufism, Imam al-Ghazali, argued that the goal of those who read the Quran should be to rid themselves of obstacles that prevent a deeper understanding of its "wonders of the secrets." Among those obstacles, al-Ghazali says, is the belief "that Quranic verses only have those meanings which have been transmitted by tradition from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and other exegetes, and that meanings going beyond them are interpretations of the Quran by personal opinion." Al-Ghazali refers to a statement of Ali which indicates that God gives some people an understanding of the meanings of the Quran that are not accessible to others. Al-Ghazali asserts that the great early Quran commentators like Ibn Abbas and Mujahid offered their own understanding of many words and verses, the proof of this being the fact that they often gave different explanations and presented multiple interpretations for the same word or verse.
\r\nAl-Ghazali agrees that proffering one's personal opinion of the Quran is not permitted, but what he understands by this is that it is sinful to deliberately interpret the Quran in a way one knows to be in contradiction to its true meaning. Further, it is not permitted for one ignorant of the external meaning of the Quran to offer his own opinion about what it means. He says, "One who claims to possess understanding of the deep meanings of the Quran, without being prudent of its outward exegesis, is comparable to a man who claims to reach the upper part of a house without crossing its door, or claims to understand the meaning of the Turks when they speak, although he does not understand the Turkish language."
\r\nAl-Ghazali explains that another obstacle to reaching a deep understanding of the Quran is rigid adherence to a particular school of thought. This rigidity leads one who is reading the Quran to reject flashes of insight that could allow him to reach a deeper understanding of the meaning of the Quran.
\r\nCompiled From:
\r\n \"The Story of The Quran: Its History and Place in Muslim Life\" - Ingrid Mattson, p. 223