restricted one whenever the legal ruling is the same; otherwise, each text is applied in the very form in which it appears, whether unrestricted or restricted.

An example in which the ruling is the same is the Almighty’s statement regarding the expiation for ẓihār: “then freeing a slave before the two touch one another” (al-Mujādilah 58:3), and His statement regarding the expiation for manslaughter: “then freeing a believing slave” (al-Nisāʾ 4:92). The common ruling in both is the freeing of a slave; therefore, the unrestricted wording in the expiation for ẓihār must be confined by the restricted wording in the expiation for manslaughter, and faith is required in the slave in both cases.

An example where the rulings differ is His statement: “As for the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands” (al-Māʾidah 5:38), and His statement in the verse of wuḍūʾ: “Wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows” (al-Māʾidah 5:6). Since the rulings are different—cutting in the first and washing in the second—the first is not restricted by the second. Rather, it remains unrestricted: the hand is cut off at the wrist joint, while washing extends up to the elbows.