1240 ad)...

1240 ad), who was absorbed in the teachings of mysticism (’Irfan) and philosophy, went forth to comment on these verses, he did so with a mind so engrossed in philosophy and mysticism that he wrote: “The meaning of the ‘bitter body of water’ are the corporeal and physical issues (related to the human being) whereas the meaning of the ‘sweet and pleasant body of water’ is the human spirit; both of these meet in the existence of the human being, and the barrier and separator between them is the ‘animal soul’, which although does not reach to the level of the human spirit in terms of purity and refinement, is higher and better than the physical body in terms of darkness and murkiness.

At the same time neither of the two dimensions transcend their boundary: neither does the spirit bestow immateriality to the body, nor does the body make the spirit descend and place it among the material entities.”[^1] This example should give us a good understanding of what ‘exegesis of the Qur`an according to one’s own personal opinion’ is and how such a preconceived notion and belief (in a particular science or discipline) can have an effect on the actual commentary of the Qur`an which a person wishes to express.

[^1]: Tafsir of Ibne ‘Arabi, vol. 2 pg. 280. This is just one example of exegesis of the Qur`an according to one’s own personal opinion and the book of Tafsir of Ibne ‘Arabi, just as his work Fususul Hikm is full of such examples of Tafsir of the Qur`an according to his own personal whims and opinions which is both – from the viewpoint of the intellect and also the Islamic jurisprudence – not permissible. Previous…