that the people who lived in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were in fact not calling upon anything besides Allah—there were believers among them—yet the wording is cast in universal form, while what is truly meant is only those who behaved in that manner.

61 – He (Allah) also says, “Ask them about the town that was by the sea, when they transgressed the Sabbath” (7:163). This shows that the ones who broke the Sabbath were its inhabitants, not the town itself.

62 – I mentioned to him further examples of the same kind that I had already recorded in my book.

63 – He said, “All of this is exactly as you state, but show me a universal wording in the Book of Allah for which there is nothing in the Book itself indicating that a particular meaning was intended.”

64 – I replied, “Allah has made the prayer obligatory; do you not find that obligation addressed to mankind in general?”

65 – He said, “Indeed.”

66 – I then recited, “O people! A parable is set forth, so listen to it: those whom you invoke instead of Allah could never create even a fly, even if they all joined together for that purpose” (22:73), and added, “Yet you find that menstruating women are exempted from that obligation.”

67 – He said, “Yes.”

68 – I continued, “Zakat is likewise prescribed on wealth in general, yet certain kinds of wealth are excluded from it.”

69 – He said, “Certainly.”

70 – I said, “And the original bequest to parents has been abrogated by the fixed inheritance shares.”

71 – He said, “Yes.”

72 – I added, “The inheritance shares for fathers and mothers are laid down in universal terms, yet Muslims do not allow an unbeliever to inherit from a Muslim, nor a slave from a free person, nor a murderer from the one he killed—this exclusion is established by the Sunnah, is it not?”

73 – He said, “Yes, and we affirm part of what you have mentioned.”

74 – I asked, “What guided you to that view?”

75 – He answered, “The Sunnah, for there is no explicit Qur’anic text on the matter.”