Is the rule that a pronoun refers to the nearest mentioned noun a consistent rule?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question : Regarding His saying, may He be Exalted, "None can join in intercession except the small ones," does the pronoun refer to the small ones based on the rule that a pronoun refers to the nearest mentioned noun? Is this rule consistent, O Shaykh, in this instance or not?
Answer : It is the general rule. However, it may be an exception due to a contextual indicator. Yes, such as His saying, may He be Exalted:[Al-Hajj 22:78]. Yes. There are many examples, but the general rule is that they refer to the nearest mentioned noun.
Answer : It is the general rule. However, it may be an exception due to a contextual indicator. Yes, such as His saying, may He be Exalted:
[It is] the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah named you "Muslims" before [in former scriptures] and in this
مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِي هَٰذَا
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 4540 - 4600 هل قاعدة أن الضمير يعود إلى أقرب مذكور قاعدة مطردة؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.