No, I am most definitely not a scholar and neither are the extreme majority of Muslims… but it really does not matter much because there is only ONE way to interpret the Qur’an that is acceptable in Islam.
Think of the Qur’an as the map to guide us in the journey of life and think of the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as the legend by which to correctly read this map.
The Prophet (pbuh) did not really need to “explain” every aspect of the Qur’an because his companions as well as his family members used to watch him really closely in practically everything he did.
The hadeeth of Ayesha (ra) states that – “
He i.e. Muhammad (pbuh) was a living Qur’an”… and this means that his way of teaching the early Muslims was to act and live according to the Qur’an and then others would watch him and do the same.
Just as we should never be foolish enough to try to read a map without referring to the accompanying legend, then only a fool will attempt to interpret the Qur’an in a way which is different than how the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself followed the teachings of the Qur’an.
And so, it is the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who is the ultimate authority on the Qur’an and it is his Sunnah that Muslims refer to in oder to get the most accurate interpretation of the Qur’an possible.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in his Final Sermon said:
“
I leave behind two things, if you hold fast unto them you shall never go astray: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.”
After the Prophet completed this Sermon near the summit of Arafah, the revelation came down:
"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My Grace upon you, and have chosen Islam for you as your religion." … (Al Qur’an: Surah Al-Maeda :3)
Bearing in mind that Islam is the finished product to cap all that has been revealed since the dawn of humankind, then to say that what the Creator Himself has deemed a perfect religion would need to be interpreted differently in order to suit the changing times, simply does not make much sense at all.
After all, if the needs and desires of His creations have not changed one iota since 1,400 years ago, then is there a valid reason why the divine Laws that the Creator has commanded His creations to obey back then need to be interpreted differently today?
My sincere apologies, it is just that there are often far too many issues being raised for me to address… and many of them are not really related to the topic of this thread.
However, for those who really do wish to learn and ask questions about Islam, then I would suggest that it would be far better for you to pursue this in a more appropriate forum than here.
I therefore wish to invite all who are interested in learning and asking questions about Islam to participate at the Muslim forum that I often visit where God-willing, you will be able to engage in meaningful dialogue with and obtain a lot more info from many other Muslims there than from just the few Muslims here.
Kindly register and introduce yourself at this
forum and then ask all the questions on matters related to Islam that you wish… or even post stuff about the Catholic faith… and God-willing, it would be of mutual benefit to you and all the forum members there as well.