What is the ruling on acting upon a general hadith?

The general (al-amm) is a term that encompasses all meanings applicable to it at once, without restriction. The default for a general text is to take it at its generality and to use it as evidence. However, one should not rush to act upon it until consulting scholars to see if it has a specificatory text (mukhassis), because the proofs of Sharia were revealed in stages, and some clarify others. This applies to the knowledgeable person, and even more so to the ignorant, because "acting upon a generality before searching for a specificatory text is something that has been associated with prohibition."