I find it frustrating when some traditionalist Muslims reject any laymen’s interpretation of the Qur’an’s passages, relying solely on the opinion of sheikhs and imams.

The Qur’an itself condemns this behavior in verse 9:31 by chastising the people of the book (Jews and Christians) for taking the opinion of their rabbis and monks as divine law. God doesn’t explicitly tell us to seek advice from scholars alone.

Instead, multiple verses tell us to personally reflect on our own on the Qur’an’s passages (verses 4:82, 52:35, 41:53, etc.).

Not trying to disparage scholars who act in good faith, but scholars are human too who can lack knowledge in certain areas or have their own narrow interpretation of the religion.