even though their beauty may please you…" (Al-Aḥzāb 52). According to one opinion, the second verse abrogates the first.
3 – If abrogation is impossible, one follows the stronger text, provided a sound preference exists.
Example: the report of Maymūnah stating that the Prophet ﷺ married her while he was not in a state of iḥrām (1), and the report of Ibn ʿAbbās that he married her while he was in iḥrām (2). The first report is given precedence, because Maymūnah herself was the subject of the incident and therefore knew it best; moreover, her narration is supported by the hadith of Abū Rāfiʿ (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he says that the Prophet ﷺ married her while he was not in iḥrām, adding, “I was the messenger between them.” (3)
4 – If no factor of preference is found, one must withhold judgment; no authentic example of this exists.
Third category: when the apparent conflict is between a general text and a specific text, the general is restricted by the specific.