The Shaykh’s clarification of the verbal explanation from the Sunnah regarding verses with multiple meanings, and his mention of the verse on cutting off the hand of the thief as a practical example.

The Shaykh: There is no objection; rather, it is necessary for me to bring you closer to some of what I summarized earlier, with an example or more if time permits, so that—as it is said today—we put the dots on the letters. There is the noble verse that says: . Here you find two Arabic terms that carry many possible meanings. Now look at how the Messenger of Allah, who is charged with clarification by the text of the previous verse, clarified this noble verse! There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such cases in the noble Qur'an, and it is the books of the Sunnah that undertake their clarification and detailing. First: the thief. Every Arab, even if he is an illiterate commoner who cannot read or write, understands that anyone who steals something, no matter how insignificant or valueless that thing is, is called a thief. So this is an absolute term. Do you cut off the hand of any thief? Here you fully realize the importance of the Sunnah alongside the Qur'an, and that whoever does not adopt the Sunnah alongside the Qur'an will go astray and be wretched. The thief in this verse is absolute. So what was the position of the Messenger (peace be upon him)? He said in the authentic hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim: , . If a thief stole a chicken egg, and the Muslim ruler—so he claimed—cut off his hand citing the previous verse, he would go astray and be wretched. Why? Because he did not take the clarification of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This person who cut off the hand of the thief in the example, because he stole a chicken egg, did not pause, nor did he care about his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . This is the first clarification of this verse: that the thief is absolute. He (peace be upon him) clarified it and restricted it with a hadith like this.