Prophet SallAllah-u-Alaihi-wa-Sallam said: There would arise in this nation a people and you would hold insignificant your prayers as compared with their prayers. And they would recite the Qur’an which would not go beyond their throats and would swerve through the Deen (as blank) just as an (swift) arrow passes through the pryey. The archer looks at his arrow, at its iron head and glances at its end (which he held) in the tip of his fingers to see whether it had any stain of blood.
[Sahih Muslim: Book 5, Number 2322]
[A Universe of Meanings]
Muslims have been reciting the Quran for over 1400 years.  The way of the Ahl ul Sunnah has always been to approach the Quran with a deep reverence and with the acknowledgment of its immense scope. Non-Muslims have also examined the Quran through their own lenses. Indeed, there have been many approaches towards these words of God.  Recently, we have seen the rise of literalists and modernists who have raised havoc with traditional approaches to the Quran.
Its clear from the hadith above that indeed there would come a group who would recite the Quran properly and with fluency, their prayers would outshine ours outwardly, yet they would be incapable of grasping its meaning (it would not reach their hearts). How can this be and what do these people believe in that leads them astray?
The numerous issues that these groups raise today can boil down to one question: Is there one knowable meaning to each ayat of the Quran, and can it be found by linguistic and grammatical analysis?
The answer of the accomplished spiritual people of Muslim history for the past 1400 years can be clearly found in their practice and legacy. These spiritually accomplished people (focused on improving their own selves) have always used the ‘outward meaning’ as a stepping stone into the endless meanings and value within the Quran as it applies to themselves and others. Few of them relied on grammatical analysis or even restricted themselves to the particular outward context of the verse before or after.
Of course, this approach has always upset the literalists. By itself, the literalistic understanding of the Quran is about limiting one to the outward meaning of the Quran, by focusing on ‘Classical Arabic’ grammar, the hadith which documented some places of interpretation, and marginalizing the interpretations coming from outside of that scope by spiritual people.
In fact, Western Muslims have learned to give more thought to high school English reading assignments than to the Holy Quran. This applies even the ones who spend all their lives studying the Holy Quran, since literalist readings prohibit even symbolic and allegoric interpretative techniques which one learns in grade school.
While some won’t apply even the most basic techniques of interpretation, the spiritual elite of Muslim history often understood the Holy Quran through even far more subtle and amorphous interpretive inspirations, always directed by their faith and their connection with their Lord.
What is the purpose of this antagonism towards broad understandings of the text? Why shut down interpretations beyond what is immediately apparent through the basic grammatical understanding of the Arabic text (or in the case of non-Arabic speakers, translations)?
From one perspective it is clear that from the higher echelons of such movements, the motivation is to create a religion which has stripped the Quran of its depth and richness. Â However, this is not an goal which would outwardly appeal to the masses, nor would declaring such a purpose be wise in recruiting (Shaytan is not often so explicit).
So what has been sold to the ‘educated’ Muslim public is the infrastructure and universe of modern learning which allows one to be able to say: “I understand the Quran better, because I studied hard and now I understand the Arabic words that are written.”
But do we really understand the Quran better merely by knowing a language better?
Imam Ghazali (R) wrote
Anyone who is content with understanding the outward aspect (i.e. the rules) of the Arabic language and who hastens to explain the Quran without knowing by heart the meaning transmitted in these Quranic subjects, is designated as ‘a man who explains the Quran by his personal opinion.’  … When hearing (from authorities) is achieved in these an similar Quranic subjects, then one has mastered the outward exegesis of the Quran which is merely the translation of its words. This, however, is not sufficient for understanding the reality of the meanings of the Quran.
Again the question comes, what is the meaning which can be known by the “heart” which seems to live far outside “outward exegesis”?
[Nafs & Quran - The Spiritually Prohibitive Reading]
Imam Ghazali (R) answered these questions in the Ihya and soundly explained the need for accepting the vast meanings of the Quran:
(In reply to your question) know that the man who imagines that the Quran has no meaning except that which the outward exegesis has translated (and described) is acknowledging his own limitations; he is right in his acknowledgment (because he knows only this measure and is not aware of that which lies beyond this), but is wrong in his judgment which places all other people on the same level as himself.
So, at a fundamental level this is about not debating various contrasting meanings against each other but about ego (nafs). This is a personal projection of ones own state of understanding of the Quran onto ‘the other’, or in fact, to everyone.
As the Quran states:
BismillahirRahmanriRahim
“We raise by grades (of mercy) whom We will, and over every lord of knowledge there is one more knowing.” 12:76 (Pickthall Translation)
Or, as is often stated by Sheykh Abdul Kerim Effendi, “There is a knower above every knower.”
Yet, isn’t it clear that assigning a fixed, literal, knowable, grammatically analyzed interpretation to each verse means you have achieved the knowledge of the highest level? Now that you have identified, defined, and categorized the goal (i.e. the literal and apparent meaning), it can be reached. Like a math problem, right?
For these people Quranic knowledge is therefore something that any individual with the mental capacity to read or listen in ‘Classical Arabic’ can completely and fully grasp and understand.
What are the consequences of this approach? At a minimum we can see that this disconnects the meaning of the Quran from wisdom and most notably, it disconnects the meaning of the Quran from faith in it. Any non-Muslim can teach with possibly greater accuracy the outward meaning of the Quran, however they will never be able to approach an understanding based on wisdom and inspiration from Allah.
This type of system is empowering to a community which has eliminated the concept of hierarchy of experience and wisdom, while deeply devaluing contemplation, reflection, and stations of spirituality.
The Muslim nafs eagerly feeds on the empowerment that comes from progressing in ‘education’ in these institutions and classes and seminars which feed this paradigm of ‘knowledge’. He or she becomes closer to being able to pronounce fatwas based on Quranic exegesis and give long lectures. At a minimum it allows one to give definitive meanings speaking with authority of God’s word. It is now his or her interjecting of Arabic into regular conversation or writings which now invites the “ooh’s” and “aaah’s” of the crowd. Not only is this person missing the deep meanings of the Quran, but they have suffered a great deal worse damage.
The person is pleased with themselves. The nafs has found its way into the religion.
[The Spiritually Elite - The Spiritually Supportive Understanding]
The spiritually supportive understanding of the Quran is actually not one which relies soley on its reading. And the end result is that every moment with the Quran in reading is filled with an inexplicable awe and wonder.
The Prophet (S) was described as a living walking Quran, but somehow between now and then the Quran has lost its powerful meaning of practice for most Muslims and become a subject of studious debate and lexical analysis.
Most Muslims today are especially eager to deny the ability of considering anyone a ‘saintly’ person who is an inheritor of the Prophet (S).  Suspicion and doubt taints every person we meet.  The reality is the Quran orders us to be with saintly people, with righteous people, with those who are on the path He has favored. The true awliya are known instantly by consultation of ones heart.
Like Shaitan who refused to acknowledge the knowledge of Adam (AS) above him, people today cringe at submitting to those who demonstrate spiritual authority.
In the West this is particularly true about Muslims, where people have tended to ‘start over’ when it comes to the reality of Islam for 1400 years.
When taking the spiritually supportive approach towards the Quran one builds love for it, without even possibly knowing how to read it.  The spiritually supportive approach focuses on establishing your own weakness, the immensity of the Quran, and again returning to your own inadequacies. How could one advise others on fatwas or interpretations when one still has so much first to learn and know?
And what is the key to this knowledge? There are many ways towards ascertaining the perfect knowledge of the Quran. In the Naqshbandi sufi way, it is through sohbet, or association with the Sheykh. This is, in fact, the very same approach of the Sahabi towards the Quran. They kept a constant association with the Prophet (S), they did not attend lecture series or read volumes of text. It was through observation that they witnessed the Quran in action. When the revelation came to the Prophet (S) they witnessed it in context and application as well as hearing it.
This (sohbet/suhba/association) is the simple formula of the spiritually elite towards the Quran, there are no fancy vocabulary words to learn, no special classes to take.  With this, Islam is quite simple as well as quite deep.
[Imam Ghazali discussing the proofs of vast meanings of Quran]
Imam Ghazali (R) in the Ihya provides numerous proofs regarding the vast number of inward meanings of the Quran.
The truth is that traditions (akhbar) and statements of the companions and of other pious Muslims in early Islam (athar) prove that for men of understanding there is wide scope in the meanings of Quran. Thus Ali said “…except the God bestows understanding of the Quran upon a man.”  If there is no meaning other than what is related (from Ibn Abbass and other exegetes) what is that understanding of the Quran (which is bestowed upon a man)?
The Prophet (S) said: “Surely the Quran has an outward aspect, an inward aspect, a limit and a prelude.” This is also related by Ibn Masud on his own authority and he is one of the authorities on Quranic explanation. (If there are no meaning of the Quran besides the outward ones), what is the meaning of its outward aspect, inward aspect, limit and prelude?
Ali (R) said: “If I so will I can certainly load seventy camels with the exegesis of the Opening Sura of the book (Fatihat al-Kitab),” What then is the meaning of this statement of Ali, when the outward exegesis of this sura is extremely short (and can be set forth in a few pages?
Abu d-Darda said: “One cannot (fully) understand the religion until one sees the Quran from different perspectives.”
A certain scholar said: “For every verse there are sixty thousand understandings (comprehensible to man). The understandings of it which remain (incomprehensible to man) are (even) more than these in number.”
Another scholar said: “The Quran encompasses seventy-seven thousand and two hundred forms of knowledge, since every Quranic sentence constitutes one form of knowledge. This number is multiplied by four times, since each sentence has its outward aspects, inward aspect, limit, and prelude.
Repetition of the verses, BismillahirRahmanirRahim (“In the name of God, most Gracious, ever Merciful”), by the Prophet twenty times could not have been for any reason other than that he was pondering over its deep, inward meanings; otherwise its translation and its outward exegesis are so obvious that one like the Prophet would not be in need of repetition.
Ibn Mas’ud said: “One who intends to acquire (the core principles of) the knowledge of the ancients and the moderns should ponder over the Quran.” This knowledge is something which is not achieve by its mere outward exegesis.
He (the Prophet (S)) also said “Surely my community will be split up into seventy-two sects all of which are misguided themselves and misguide others by calling them to Hell. When this state of affairs comes about, you must adhere to the book of God, for in it lies the message concerning those who were before you and the message concerning what will happen after you, and the judgment of all that happens among you. Anyone of (even)the most powerful men who contradicts it is severely punished by God (Great and Mighty is He!), anyone who seeks knowledge from a source other than it is led astray by God. It is the strong rope of God (which man should grasp firmly), His clear light (in which man should walk in all aspects of his life), and his useful means of healing (of man’s spiritual disease); it is a protection for one who holds fast to it, and a means of salvation for one who follows it; it is not distorted so that it needs to be set aright, nor has it deviated so that it needs to be brought to its normal state; its wonders are never exhausted, nor does much-repeated recitation of it make it old.” (63)
Ali said “One who understands the Quran can thereby explain the totality of knowledge.” By this statement Ali indicated the Quran implies the confluence of all forms of knowledge.
Ibn Abbas said, in the explanation of the words of God, “Whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant good,” (66) that “abundant good” means understanding of the Quran.
God said: “We gave Solomon the right understanding of the matter, and upon each We bestowed wisdom and knowledge” (67) Here God had called what He bestowed upon both Solomon and David “knowledge and wisdom,” but the prudence which He gave Solomon alone He explicitliy mentioned as “right understanding” and mentioned it before “wisdom and knowledge”.
The matters (mentioned above) then, prove that in understanding of the meanings of the Quran there is a wide ranged, an excessive width and that outward exegesis which has come down by tradition is not the end of the understanding of the Quran.
[ Conclusion ]
If the above comment of Imam Ghazali (R) is taken into account, then the outward exegesis (even when backed by ‘classical exejesis’) can continue minus the actual meaning of the Quran.
So what happens when almost the entirety of the Muslim community has shut out the inner Quranic meaning and has been left with only the outward understanding of the Quran?  What becomes of a society that stubbornly refuses to acknowledge it has never even tasted the Quranic meaning? What diseases creep into the community?  How are our choices affected? These are questions which have yet to be fully realized, as we live the results of this approach every day.
I’ll conclude with Imam Ghazali’s (R) remarks:
These are thoughts exposed to those possessed of purified souls, i.e. perfect sufis. They have further depth which consist in understanding the meaning of nearness to God and its specification with prostration, and understanding the meaning of seeking protection with one divine attribute from another and the meaning of seeking protection with him against Him. There are many secrets here, but outward exegesis cannot guide us to them. They are not opposed to external exegesis; rather they complete it and constitute the essence of the Quran from its external aspect…