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Originally Posted by Variable
I don't think the danger here is translation. I think the danger is people not acknowledging that every source, no matter how divine or 'clear' - is open to interpretation. Each translation is just the interpretation of another scholar.
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Not exactly.
In the Qur'an itself it clearly states that some verses are clear cut and straightforward, while others are allegorical, or have hidden meanings known to none bu God alone. It also goes on to say that only those men who seek discord are the ones who make a fuss about the unclear / allegorical verses.
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People who think they have a monopoly on Quranic understanding, who refuse to be open to the fact that they might be wrong about something - are what come out of this mind set.
That's the danger.
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There are individuals in Muslim history who could truly, with a straight face, say that they had a better understanding of the Qur'an that anyone else [except the Prophet]. One example was Ibn Mas'oud who was a servant in the household of the Prophet from a very young and was always with the Prophet up until his death. He once made a claim that he knew where, when, why, and about what,
each and
every single verse was revealed for. When the 2nd Caliph [Umar] heard this claim from third-party sources, he became extremely upset until it was told to him that Ibn Mas'oud was the one who made the claim, and upon hearing that Umar calmed down - because he knew it was true. And he knew that Ibn Mas'oud didn't say it to brag or to show-off, either.
There were also less than a handful of other mufassireen who could make a similar claim. It is their exegetical works that are taken as the top authority in Islam when it comes to the Qur'an [after the Prophet's own comments, if any] for obvious reasons.
Of course some verses are open to different understandings - many of the Companions had differing yet valid views on a wide variety of subjects - but the views of those top-ranked exegetists are taken as a base anchor.
The real danger is ignorant or uneducated laypersons coming along and claiming all sorts of stuff about this verse or that hadith or that event,
and people actually believing him or her.
That is why in Islam, we've always been taught that Satan fears the lone
educated servant of God far more than a thousand uneducated zealots. Not without reason was our first command the command to read.