Opinions of Scholars Vs Actually Reading?

Good discussiontoday in islamic-research.org. Rizwan Ahmed asked this thought-provoking question:

Is what scholars say and their “opinion” more important to what it says in the Quran?

My answer was:

I dont think this dichotomy exists. Your question constructs and ‘either or’ situation which I believe does not represent the situation. So it’s not between:
Scholar’s Opinion vs What the Quran Says
It’s rather:
…Scholar’s Opinion Vs Public Opinion about what the Quran says.Sorry to be pedantic, just need to be clear here.

As a Quranist (only speaking for myself here), I challenge Traditional Interpretations because I feel they do not represent the message and nor do they have the authority to do so. I offer my own interpretation as another option among many, not to be the final word in interpretation. I do not believe there should be any authority in Quranic interpretation whatsoever. Everyone should read and interpret for himself.

So not students learning at the feet of the scholar but rather travellers sharing notes.

Hope you’ll benefit from this…

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