Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

102 'Ali ibn Abi TAlib in Makkah
or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from opposite
sides,$ (Qur'an 5: 33) He said: AUah (&) did not specify cutting off
more than one hand and one foot in the verse on waging war against
Allah and His Messenger and doing mischief in the land, hence such
cases are to be punished with irnpris~nment.'~~ It was narrated that
ash-Sha'bi said: 'Ali cut off no more than one hand and one foot, and
if the person stole after that, he would be imprisoned and punished.
He ['Ali] used to say: I cannot justify before AUah (s) leaving him
without a hand with which to eat and clean hi~nself.''~
3.5.4. Knowledge of QLu'anic verses which
abrogate and verses which are abrogated
This refeus to the lifting of a Sharia ruling by means of a
subsequent divine statement.lS6 Az-Zarkashi said: The imams said: It
is not permissible for anyone to interpret the Book of Allah until after
he has learned what abrogates and what is abrogated therein.''' This
meaning was confirmed by Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali ibn Abi wib
(&), when he rebuked a preacher by saying: Do you know what
abrogates and what is abrogated therein (in the Qur'an)? He said: No.
He said: You are doomed, and yon have led others to d00rn.''~
3.5.5. Interpreting the Qur'an in the
light of the Arabic language
One of the methods of Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali in
understanding the Noble Qur'an was to look at it in the light of the
Arabic language. He understood from the verse (And divorced
women shall wait [as regards their marriage] for three menstrual
periods) (Qur'an 2: 228) that what was meant by al-aqra' was
menshal periods, so the woman's 'iddah does not end until she
has become pure following the third menstrual cycle.160 Hence 'Ali
(4) said concerning the divorced woman: It is not permissible for