general? As for anyone who interprets it according to its apparent meaning without any indication from Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or any of the Companions, this is the interpretation of the people of innovation. A verse may be particular while its ruling is general, or its apparent wording may be general while something specific is intended. Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the one who explains Allah’s Book and His intended meaning. His Companions knew this better than we do, because they witnessed the circumstances and knew what was intended. Thus, a verse may be particular—that is, in its meaning—as in His saying, Exalted is He:

“Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, a share equal to that of two females.”

Its apparent wording is general: anyone to whom the designation ‘child’ applies is entitled to what Allah has prescribed. Yet the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, established that a Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever. It has also been narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—though the report is not firmly established—that a killer does not inherit; it is, however, reported from his Companions that they did not allow a killer to inherit. Thus, Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, explained the Book, making clear that the verse was intended for the Muslim, not the disbeliever. Anyone who takes it according to its apparent meaning would have to allow anyone designated a child to inherit, whether a disbeliever or a killer. The same applies to the rulings concerning either parent as an heir, and other cases, along with many verses whose discussion would make this letter lengthy. The Muslim community has followed the Sunnah transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and from his Companions, except for those who rejected it among the people of innovation, the Khawārij, and their like. You have seen where they ended up.”

I say:

The terms mujmal (undetailed), mutlaq (unrestricted), and ‘āmm (general) were synonymous in the terminology of the leading scholars, such as al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad, Abū ‘Ubayd, Ishāq, and others. By mujmal they did not mean something whose meaning cannot be understood, as some later scholars mistakenly explained it. Rather, the mujmal is that which, on its own, does not suffice for