Clarity of the Qur'an
The Qur'an presents itself as a scripture of clarity, guidance, and detail. It asks why anyone would seek a judge besides Allah when "...He has sent down to you the Book fully detailed..." (6:114). It describes its message as "...detailing of all things..." (12:111). Where clarification is required, Allah Himself takes responsibility for its interpretation, saying that "... it is for Us to explain it" (75:19). The Qur'an does this by explaining certain themes in one passage through additional detail in another. What is stated generally in one place is specified elsewhere, allowing its verses to be understood collectively.
Furthermore, it states its verses as "... made fixed, then detailed..." (11:1), and affirms that Allah "...did not leave anything out of the record..." (6:38). Together, these verses and many others form the Qur'an's self‑description as a scripture that is complete and sufficient, making Islam accessible to all and not restricted to only the scholarly class.
Reflecting on the Qur'an
The Qur'an calls upon every individual to reflect, and engage with the verses directly. It asks "do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? Or are there locks on the hearts?" (47:24). Over time, many people have delegated their personal reflection to the scholars, assuming that others must think on their behalf. The mentality instilled in people from an early age is that the Qur'an must not be approached, except for devotional recitation, unless a person is 'qualified'. This creates a culture where lay Muslims are told they must understand the Qur'an only through the filter of a scholar.
This concept of delegation of responsibility contradicts the Qur'an. It states that "whoever is guided is guided for himself, and whoever is misguided is for his own loss..." (17:15). The verse then goes on to say "...no bearer may carry the burden of another..." (17:15).
The Qur'an asks such people if "...they have partners who decree for them a system which has not been authorised by Allah..." (42:21) and describes such people as transgressors who "will have a painful retribution" (42:21).
This shows that guidance and accountability are personal, and cannot be transferred to scholars or any other person. The Qur'an does not forbid learning from others; it forbids transferring obedience to them. Knowledge explains and informs, but authority commands and binds, and that power belongs to Allah alone. A person may share understanding of the Qur'an, but no explanation can ever become law. Responsibility for judgment always remains with the individual before Allah.
Rise of scholars and sects
In the earliest generations, there was no scholar class. As the Islamic empire expanded, individuals stepped in to help the new nations with understanding Islam and gradually formed the schools of law. Figures such as Abu Hanifa, Malik, al‑Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal became central to this process, and their students later formalised the major madhhabs known today. Their authority was strengthened by ideas such as the Qur'an is not clear, the notion that scholars inherit the role of prophets or that the agreement - ijmaa - of a generation of scholars can bind all who come after. Over time, these human developments began to carry a weight that rivalled the Qur'an itself.
This is really not surprising as the Qur'an observes that while Allah has "...dispatched in this Qur'an for the people from every example..." (18:54), He already knows how human beings are design to behave when He states "...the human being has always been most argumentative" (18:54). It is this inherent desire for complexity and debate that led communities to move away from the simple, unified message of the Qur'an.
The result of elevating human authority is akin to "...those who have divided their system and become sects, each group is happy with what it has" (30:32) or "...every group happy with what it had" (23:53). This has reached a point where, when asked about their faith, many people no longer simply say they are 'Muslim', the title given by Allah, "....the One who named you Muslim..." (22:78). Instead, they proudly use man-made titles like 'Hanafi' or 'Maliki'. When these people are asked to re-think and "...come to what Allah has sent down, and to the messenger..." (5:104), they will instantly dismiss such questions and reply "...we are content with what we found our fathers doing..." (5:104).
The Qur'an describes this fragmentation and distances Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) from "those who have divided their system and become sects..." (6:159). These divisions did not arise from the Qur'an, which is consistent and unified, but from the external material built around it.
The Qur'an condemns the scholars from the People of the Book "...who conceal what We have sent down to them of the clarities and the guidance, after We had made it clear for the people in the Book..." (2:159). This does not always mean physically hiding the text; it happens by surrounding it with conditions and complexities that make it feel inaccessible to the average person.
It also describes how communities "...only divided after the knowledge had come to them, due to resentment among themselves..." (42:14). Division arises not from the Qur'an, but from human pride and inherited authority.
Allah has decreed "...you shall uphold this system, and do not divide in it..." (42:13), a clear warning against those dividing their religion. The Qur'an tells us how to avoid becoming part of sects by calling for unity through holding "...firmly to the rope of Allah, all of you, and do not be separated..." (3:103). The rope of Allah is what brought together the first Muslims who "...were enemies and He united your hearts. Then you became, with His blessing, brothers..." (3:103). The rope of Allah is the Qur'an, the revelation given to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) which serves as the only true source of unity.
Islamic sciences
Despite the Qur'an's claim of clarity, a system of 'Islamic sciences' developed centuries later. Human books need layers of explanation, which is why classical texts ended up with commentaries. Qur'anic commentaries also appeared, primarily as a means for scholars to reconcile the Qur'an with the sectarian traditions, legal schools, and theological positions that emerged after Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) time. The need for commentary came from the tradition and not from any lack of clarity in the Qur'an itself.
Without these later additions, the Qur’an is clear on its own and allows a person to follow their religion completely. We know that Allah has taken it upon Himself to clarify the Qur'an when He says "... it is for Us to explain it" (75:19) and He has "...made the Qur'an easy to remember..." (54:17). With this backdrop, Allah asks "...are there any who want to learn?" (54:17). These verses show that the Qur'an does not require vast human explanations to be understood as the Qur'an explains itself. The impression of complexity comes from the human-made 'Islamic sciences' and not from the Qur'an itself.
Such people who have dedicated their lives to developing these 'Islamic sciences' were simply not satisfied when Allah said "... Today I have perfected your system for you, and completed My blessings upon you, and I have approved Islam as the system for you..." (5:3).
Other sources of law
Allah warns that on the day of judgement those who follow other sources "...will be exposed, and they will be required to prostrate, but they will be unable to" (68:42). Allah addresses such people in the Qur'an when He asks directly "what is wrong with you, how do you judge? Or do you have a book which you study? In it, you can find what you wish?" (68:36-38). The same question is repeated when Allah asks "...What is wrong with you, how do you judge?" (10:35, 37:154). These verses dismantle the idea that any man‑made work could stand beside the Qur'an.
It warns against declaring things lawful or unlawful without Allah's permission when it instructs Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to ask whether they have "...made some of it forbidden and some permissible..." (10:59) from Allah's provisions. Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) is then instructed to ask "...did Allah authorise you, or do you invent lies about Allah?" (10:59). Allah warns such people by stating "...do not say, as to what your tongues falsely describe 'this is permissible, and that is forbidden', that you seek to invent lies about Allah..." (16:116). This is because the Qur'an makes clear that "...judgment is for none except Allah..." (12:40).
The Qur'an clearly warns against "...woe to those who write the Book with their hands then say 'this is from Allah'..." (2:79) and then doubles down by saying "...woe to them for what their hands have written..." (2:79).
Lords besides Allah
The Qur'an warns that previous communities fell into error when they elevated their religious leaders to a position of authority over Allah's word. It says that people had "...taken their priests and monks to be lords besides Allah..." (9:31). This is not referring to physical worship of such people but rather total obedience to them in matters of religious law not authorised by Allah.
This is the exact reason why Allah sent Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to "...removes their burden and the shackles that are upon them..." (7:157). Yet the Muslim scholars have re‑introduced those shackles through hundreds of small rules and the insistence that the Qur'an is inaccessible without their interventions. A visit to any popular Islamic website today shows they are busy with unimportant things; answering questions like 'is it haram to wear a watch on the left hand?' or 'do spider webs in the house cause poverty?'. This raises the question of whether this aligns with the purpose for which Allah sent Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) "...as a mercy to the worlds" (21:107).
The legal concept of ijmaa, the apparent collective agreement of a generation of scholars on a view which becomes binding on later generations is not supported by the Qur'an. Even in reality, this concept did not actually exist as there were always scholars with dissenting views albeit in the minority. The Qur'an warns that most people follow nothing but assumption when it states "...if you obey most of those on the earth they will lead you away from the path of Allah; that is because they follow conjecture, and that is because they only guess" (6:116). Much of traditional scholarship rests on probabilistic judgments about narrators and reports, exactly the kind of assumption the Qur'an warns against.
Conclusion
Based on the Qur’anic evidence, the system that formed over centuries is not how Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) intended for people to access their religion. He only left behind one thing for the believers: the Qur'an. He had total belief in the Qur'an as the only explainer of Islam and unshakeable confidence that it will always be preserved by Allah for people to access. His lack of legacy other than the Qur'an dismisses the idea of the scholars being the heirs of the prophets, as he did not leave them anything else to inherit. A true scholar is not one who masters man‑made sciences and looks for minute details, but one who recognises the truth when it is recited, for "...those who have been given the knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, they fall to their chins prostrating" (17:107). Knowledge is defined not by chains of narration or academic credentials, but by humility before the Qur'an.