Rule Twenty-Seven: The qualifying clauses (muḥtarazāt) in the Qur’an appear precisely where they are most needed.

This rule is of great benefit and profound effect.

Its purport is that whenever Allah sets forth a legal ruling or reports some matter, and the mind naturally anticipates a related point, you will find that He couples the first statement with that very point, clarifying it in the finest manner. This is the highest form of teaching: it removes every ambiguity and dispels every possible misconception. Such precision testifies to the vastness of Allah’s knowledge and His wisdom, and the Qur’an is replete with examples of it.

Let us cite a few illustrations that will shed light on this rule and make it easy to grasp.

One example is His saying: “I have only been commanded to worship the Lord of this city, who has made it inviolate” (27:91). Because the verse singles the city out, someone might imagine that His Lordship is confined to it; the Qur’an removes this notion by immediately adding, “and to Him belongs everything” (27:91).

Another case is His words: “So do not be in doubt about what these people worship” (11:109). A listener might suppose that they possess evidence and proof, so Allah made it clear: “They worship nothing but what their forefathers worshipped before them” (11:109)—meaning they are misguided imitators of those like themselves. Then, lest anyone think that they enjoy tranquillity and certainty in their creed, or imagine that it would be more fitting for worldly ease to be withheld from them, the verse guards against such ideas with His words: “We shall indeed give them their full portion, undiminished. And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture, yet differences arose concerning it; and had it not been for a decree that had already gone forth from your Lord, judgment would have been passed between them. Indeed, they are in disquieting doubt about it” (11:109–110).

And when He said, “Those believers who remain behind are not equal…” (4:95), one might suppose—