Continuation of the benefits of the verse: “Before [it was] a guidance for the people, and He sent down the criterion…”

Among the benefits of this noble verse is that the guidance of the Qur’an is of two types: general and specific. The general type is like this verse: , and the specific type is like His saying: . So what is the difference? The difference is that guidance in the sense of indication is general, while guidance in the sense of success and finding the right path is specific, specific to the righteous. So the guidance that includes finding the right path is for the righteous, while that which includes explanation and clarification is for people in general, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Among the benefits of this noble verse is that all the books are a criterion (al-Furqan) that distinguishes between truth and falsehood, between the truthful and the liar, between the believer and the disbeliever, and between the harmful and the beneficial. Whatever can be distinguished, the books distinguish it. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that it is impossible for the heavenly books to combine two separate things, or to separate two similar things, ever, because the criterion is that which distinguishes between two different things, whereas two things that do not differ have no distinction between them. From this, it can be derived, branching from this benefit, the proof of analogical reasoning (qiyas), because qiyas is attaching a branch to a root in a ruling due to a common cause. It is combining two similar things, and not taking qiyas into account is separating two similar things, and all the heavenly books are a criterion. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that the more a person finds the right path regarding the distinctions, the greater his finding of the right path with the books sent down from Allah, is that so? The more they find the right path regarding the distinctions, the greater their finding of the right path with the books sent down from the sky, because all the books are a criterion. For example, if a person distinguishes between minor and major shirk, between doctrinal and practical hypocrisy, between major and minor disbelief, and between matters of permissibility and prohibition, he is more guided by the books than whom? Than one who does not distinguish, is that not so? Yes. It can also be taken from this: the indication that one should pay attention to knowing the distinctions, to knowing the distinctions between similar things. This is a thing, or this is a discipline adopted by some of the scholars, especially in books of Islamic jurisprudence.