Those who disliked explaining the Quran

Ibn Sirin said: I asked Abidah about a verse of the Book of Allah, and he said: "Hold to the fear of Allah and to right conduct, for those who knew concerning what the Qur'an was revealed have gone."

Amr bin Murrah said: A man asked Sa'id bin al-Musayyib about a verse of the Qur'an, and he said: "Do not ask me about the Qur'an; rather, ask the one who claims that nothing of the Qur'an is hidden from him", meaning Ikrimah.

Sa'id bin Jubayr said: Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Whoever speaks about the Qur'an without knowledge, let him take his seat in Hell."

Mughirah said that Ibrahim used to dislike offering any opinion about the Qur'an.

Imam al-Sha'bi said: I found the students of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) in such a state that, of all knowledge, explaining the interpretation of the Qur'an was the most disliked thing to them.

He said: And Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "Which sky would shade me, and which earth would shelter me, if I were to say about the Book of Allah what I do not know?"

Abdullah bin Habib bin Abi Thabit said: I asked Tawus about the interpretation of this verse: "The testimony among you when death approaches one of you" [Al-Ma'idah: 106]. He was about to attack me, until it was said to him: "This is Ibn Habib." This was out of his dislike for explaining the interpretation of the Qur'an.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse on the pulpit: "And fruit and fodder (abb)" [Abasa: 31]. Then he said: "This fruit we know, but what is abb?" Then he turned to his own self and said: "O Umar! This is indeed affectation!"

Jabir said that Amir said: A man wrote out the Qur'an and wrote the interpretation alongside every verse. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent for it and then cut it up with scissors.

Ibrahim al-Taymi said that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about this verse: "And fruit and fodder." He said: "Which sky would shade me, and which earth would shelter me, if I were to say about the Book of Allah what I do not know?"

Al-A'mash said that when Abu Wa'il was asked about any verse of the Qur'an, he would say: "Allah is right in whatever He intended."