and groups of speculative theologians. Someone influenced by this may even imagine that he should not abandon the explicit wording of the condition, or its general scope, for the weaker implication of a qualifying attribute. We seek refuge in Allah from blindness of insight, or from a squint that makes one see a single thing as two. For a blind person’s perception is safer than that of someone with a squint if he follows a sighted person whose perception is sound. Were it not for the fear that someone might suppose this view to be tenable, or valid according to the principles of certain jurists, it would have been better to refrain from explaining it.

The answer is as follows:

The debate over whether implication constitutes authoritative evidence, and, if so, whether it can restrict the scope of general wording, concerns only two separate statements made by a single speaker, or treated as coming from a single speaker. It does not concern a single, connected statement whose parts belong together, nor statements made by two speakers whose intentions need not coincide. There are therefore three cases.

The first is two statements made by a single speaker, or treated as coming from a single speaker. We have included this latter qualification to cover cases in which one statement is Allah’s speech and the other is His Messenger’s. Such a case is treated just as though both statements were Allah’s speech or both were His Messenger’s speech.

An example is the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Water is purifying; nothing renders it impure,”

together with his statement:

“When water reaches two qullahs (large jars), it does not become impure.”

Both were uttered by the same speaker, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but they are two separate statements.

Thus, whoever holds that implication constitutes authoritative evidence by which general wording may be restricted restricts the general scope of his statement:

“Water is purifying; nothing renders it impure,”

by the implication of:

“When water reaches two qullahs, it does not become impure,”

even though the implication of a numerical specification