The guidance provided by the people of the Quran whose...

The guidance provided by the people of the Quran whose knowledge of the Quran is authentic must be availed of. So long as our method of deducing from the Quran is not correct and so long as we have not had acquaintance with the rules and the principles of interpretation of the Quran we cannot benefit from it. The opportunists and the fools, when they read the Quran, impute incorrect meanings to it. As you have heard through Nehj-ul-Balagha, they say a right thing but mean a wrong one.

This is not an act in obedience to the Quran or an act for its revival, it is rather a betrayal to the Quran". Acting in accordance with the Quran is possible only when its appreciation is a correct appreciation. The Quran always outlines the issue in form of basic principles but their correct analogy and application is subject to our correct appreciation and understanding.

For example, it is not written in the Quran that a battle which takes place on such and such day between Ali and Mo'awiyah, Truth will be on Ali's side; only this much has come in the Quran. "If two groups of the Muslims fight with each other, attempt a compromise between them, and if one of them has committed aggression and excess against the other then you should also fight against the aggressor, so that he reverts to Allah". This is the Quran and its diction.

But the Quran never says such and such 'person' is on the right in the conflict and 'the other' is on the wrong. ( 141 ) The Quran does not mention each one by his name. It does not say that after forty years or more or less, a man with the name of Mo'awiyah will be born and he will fight with Ali and you should also enter the fight for Ali's cause. Nor should it give details. The Quran is not supposed to enumerate subjects and then to point out which is wrong, because this is not possible.

The Quran has, come to hold on perpetually. Therefore, it was to lay down only the fundamental rules and principles so that whenever 'wrong' confronts 'Right', people may follow those standards. It is another responsibility of the people themselves to distinguish the rebels from the believers by comparing them with the fundamentals. When two groups from among the Muslims are warring-They should open their eyes to distinguish between the rebel and the otherwise.