We have to establish who is an expert. In islam that is very easy. No one wants to hear what EROS thinks a koranic verse means, or what Rima thinks it means, or some muslim named Mustafa Omar Billybob. We want to know what MUHAMMED HIMSELF meant and how it was understood by his IMMEDIATE followers and how THEY implemented these verses. We don’t want the “Christianized” islam or the westernized Islam or the sanitized islam. We want the Islam of Muhammed.
That is why, all four schools of Muslim jurisprudence; being the Shafi’i, Maliki, Hanafi and Hanbali; tell us that to understand the meaning of the Koran we need the following sources written by the most ANCIENT, AUTHENTIC, AUTHORITATIVE and AGREED upon Islamic scholars - written by MUSLIMS.
1- First we need to read “Asbab Al Nuzul” which means “The reasons for revelation” which are the historical background texts that tell us why a certain verse was revealed.
2- Then we need to read one of the 4 major “Tafseer” or commentary books written by “Al Tabari, or “Al Kurtubi” or “Jalaien” or “Ibn Kathir”. These four are the most ancient and most authoritative Islamic commentary on the koranic verses. There are two lesser commentaries written by “Suyuti” and “Zamakh-shari”. So when you want to site the meaning of a verse you must tell us what the agreed upon ANCIENT and ACCEPTED sources say. NOT what a modern, westernized apologetic muslim thinks the verses say.
3- The third source is the “Hadith” or the “Sayings” of Muhammed. The two major AUTHENTIC collections of “Hadith” are “ Sahih Bukhari” which is THE MOST ANCIENT AND AUTHORITATIVE collection of hadith (sayings) in Islamic literature. It is considered second only to the Koran. The second collection of hadith is called “Sahih Muslim”. There are others who have collected Hadith like “Musnad Ahmad” but they are considered less authoritative than the first two. As a matter of fact the first two are so highly regarded that the word “Sahih” was attached to them which means “Authentic or Correct”
We also need to look at the “Seerah” or Biography of muhammed as written by the earliest compilers such as Ibn Is-hak and Ibn Hisham (his student). There are also other ancient biographies like “Seerah Halabia” (the Syrian Biography) and the biography if Ibn Abbas. The first two are the most ancient and they were complied BEFORE the hadith was collected.
4- Finally we look at the four schools or jurisprudence that are Shafi’i, Maliki, Hanafi and Hanbali and we see how they applied the Sharia (Islamic law) and how they understood the koranic verses to mean
After this short history lesson, here is what we all need to do. When we quote a Koranic verse and explain it’s meaning we have to present:
1- The reason why that verse was revealed.
2- The commentary from the ancient sources I listed above that ALL Muslims tell us about.
3- Any Hadith that clarifies the meaning of that verse. You must list the source of the hadith as in “Sahih Bukhari hadith # 5647
4- A section of the Biography of the prophet (seerah) that might also explain how muhammed himself applied that verse.
DO NOT give me some modern interpreter’s opinion (like yousef Ali(1939), or Hasanien Heykal (1976), or John Esposito(1992) etc.) about what that verses means because in that case, my opinion is just as valid as his. For I too have spent many years studying Islam. AGREED?