5:15 O people of the scripture, our messenger has come to you to make clear for you many things you have concealed in the scripture, and to pardon many other transgressions you have committed. A beacon has come to you from GOD, and a profound scripture.
This shows that the messenger can extract matters from within the scripture that were previously suppressed. So, if we say the messenger explains or clarifies, it would always be through God’s words in the Quran and not through some other source, as it is their duty to deliver God’s message clearly.
Tafsir
In the following verses, we hear the testimony of the person who wished he followed the path of the messenger on the Day of Resurrection, as well as the messenger’s testimony against his people that they have deserted this Quran.
25:27 The day will come when the transgressor will bite his hands (in anguish) and say, “ Alas, I wish I had followed the path with the messenger.
This testimony is followed by the people challenging the prophet and complaining that the Quran did not come down to him all at once. This indicates that they had to wait for him to receive a verse in order to answer their questions. This shows that the messenger could not make decrees on his own until the verses were revealed to him.
25:31 We also set up against every prophet enemies from among the guilty. Your Lord suffices as a guide, a master.
25:32 Those who disbelieved said, “Why did not the Quran come through him all at once?” We have released it to you gradually, in order to fix it in your memory. We have recited it in a specific sequence.
The word tafsir today infers to the explanations or exegesis of the Qurʾān. The only place this word or root is used in the entire Quran is in the above verse (27:33). This again solidifies that only God explains the Quran, and He does this by means of the Quran itself.
Role of the Messenger
These examples show that all explanations and all judgments in matters of religion and scripture are determined by God alone and found within God’s scripture, the Quran. It is always the enemies of the messenger who attempt to have them fabricate rulings and laws beyond the scripture.
17:73 They almost diverted you from the revelations we have given you. They wanted you to fabricate something else, in order to consider you a friend.
17:75 Had you done that, we would have doubled the retribution for you in this life, and after death, and you would have found no one to help you against us.
God warns the messenger that in no uncertain terms, if he was to deviate from the rulings of God in the scripture, the punishment would have been severe.
The messengers simply deliver and follow the scriptures revealed to them and can never make rulings by other than the scripture they received.
5:48 Then we revealed to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them. You shall rule among them in accordance with GOD’s revelations, and do not follow their wishes if they differ from the truth that came to you. For each of you, we have decreed laws and different rites. Had GOD willed, He could have made you one congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you. You shall compete in righteousness. To GOD is your final destiny—all of you—then He will inform you of everything you had disputed.
If they judge or settle disputes, it is always by means of the scripture. A famous verse that people love to site to try to claim that the messenger had the ability to judge outside of the scripture is the following:
4:65 Never indeed, by your Lord; they are not believers unless they come to you to judge in their disputes, then find no hesitation in their hearts whatsoever in accepting your judgment. They must submit a total submission.
Even though the word here for “judge” ( yuḥakkimūka / يُحَكِّمُوكَ) is from a different root ( ح ك م) it is worth pointing out that even when the messenger was obligated to judge strictly by the Quran.
4:105 We have sent down to you the scripture, truthfully, in order to judge among the people in accordance with what GOD has shown you. You shall not side with the betrayers.
The messengers are only responsible for clearly delivering God’s message, and they, like all believers, must try to apply the scripture to practice to the best of their ability.
21:27 They never speak on their own, and they strictly follow His commands.
10:15 When our revelations are recited to them, those who do not expect to meet us say, “Bring a Quran other than this, or change it!” Say, “I cannot possibly change it on my own. I simply follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the retribution of an awesome day.”
17:46 We place shields around their minds, to prevent them from understanding it, and deafness in their ears. And when you preach your Lord, using the Quran alone, they run away in aversion.