34. Why is there difference among scholars when it comes to the commentary (tafsir) or interpretation of the Quran?
Tafsir involves application of the Quran. When you do commentary of a verse in an applied way, there will naturally be differences in interpretation. For example, the Quran says, ‘Do not worship idols’. (31:13) About this, one commentator would say it means one should not worship stone idols, while another would say it also means that one should not give excessive importance to human beings, as that would mean making them one’s idols (object of veneration) instead of God. So, wherever there is an issue of application of the verses of the Quran, there will be differences.
Consider another example. The Quran says at one place:
Fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you. (Quran 2:190)
A certain commentator would say this verse means that fighting is an eternal teaching of the Quran. However, another would say this is a temporary injunction and the verse relates to a period when there were no world bodies such as the United Nations, no pacts between countries and no universal norms governing relations between nations. But now since we have all of these, there is no need for going to war. The only option before people and nations today is that of peaceful negotiation. So, two different commentators would give different interpretations of this verse.
Even in the Gita there are differences in commentary. For example, Mahatma Gandhi has said that war mentioned in the Gita is meant in the spiritual sense, that is one should engage in ‘spiritual war’, while there are some other scholars who say that war in the Gita is real physical war on the battlefield. So, there will always be such differences. This is the case even when it comes to the interpretation of the Constitution of India.
One has to study oneself to know which interpretation is correct. There will never be compulsion in this matter – that is, never will it become absolutely clear as to which interpretation is right and which is wrong. One will have to do deep study to understand this. Only in physical sciences are there no such differences, but there will be differences in social sciences or humanities. In physical sciences, mathematics provides certainty. But in the field of humanities, there would always be subjectivity.
