for it is unequivocal as to the number three and admits no other meaning, as in His sayings, Exalted is He: “Feeding ten needy people” [al-Mā’idah: 89], and “Fasting for two consecutive months” [al-Nisā’: 92].

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In our view, wording whose intended meaning is known through customary usage in speech is treated as unequivocal, even if it is not itself an unequivocal text. Examples include His sayings, Exalted is He:

“Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters.” [al-Nisā’: 23]

“Forbidden to you is carrion.” [al-Mā’idah: 3]

The wording does not explicitly state that intercourse with mothers is forbidden, nor that eating carrion is forbidden. Rather, it is figurative, because the prohibition concerning mothers and all the other prohibited things is attached to the entities themselves, whereas what is intended is the prohibition of actions involving them. When wording becomes widely used in a figurative sense, it ceases to be classed as figurative and is treated as explicit wording, since its intended meaning is understood through customary usage in speech. An example is His saying, Exalted is He:

“Or one of you has relieved himself.” [al-Nisā’: 43]

The same applies to similar expressions. It is known and understood from Arabic usage that when prohibition or permission is attached to an entity, what is meant is the prohibition of the intended act [associated with it]. The intended use of carrion is to eat it, while the intended enjoyment of women is through intercourse and lesser forms of intimacy. It is this, and nothing else, to which the prohibition applies, because it is the intended act associated with the entity. If someone says to another, “I forbid you the horse,” this is understood as forbidding him to ride it, since that is its intended use. If he says, “I forbid you the slave woman,” this is understood as forbidding intercourse.

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Some of Abū Hanīfah’s followers have claimed that such wording is indeterminate, but this is incorrect