and both al-Bukhārī and Muslim also transmitted it through additional chains with wording that is nearly identical.

[Explanation]
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, quotes—on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with him) and of his father, Bashīr ibn Saʿd—in his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between the two are doubtful matters that many people do not know.” In this ḥadīth the Prophet ﷺ divides affairs into three categories: what is plainly lawful, what is plainly unlawful, and what is doubtful.

What is plainly lawful includes, for example, the permissibility of eating properly slaughtered livestock. What is plainly unlawful includes such things as the prohibition of carrion, blood, pork, and the like. Every place in the Qur’an where Allah says, “He has made lawful (aḥalla),” the matter is lawful; and every place where He says, “He has forbidden (ḥarrama),” the matter is unlawful. Thus, His saying, “Allah has permitted trade” (al-Baqarah 2:275) is manifestly lawful, while His saying, “and He has forbidden usury” (al-Baqarah 2:275) is manifestly unlawful.

There remain doubtful matters that are hidden from people, and the reasons for that obscurity are many. A person may not be certain that the textual evidence is sound—he hesitates: is it authentically traced back to the Messenger ﷺ or not? Even if its authenticity is established, its indication may be unclear: does it point to the intended ruling or not? And even if it does, one might still wonder: is it subject to a particularizing text if it is general? Does it have a restricting clause if it is unrestricted? Finally, once all that is clarified, there may still be the question: is the ruling still in force, or has it been abrogated?