What is the meaning of the abrogation of the recitation of the verse: "The old man and the old woman, if they commit adultery, stone them to death, a deterrent from Allah, and Allah is Almighty, Wise," while its ruling remains, and how do we reconcile Ali's flogging and stoning of the fornicator with his saying: "I flogged her according to the Book of Allah, and I stoned her according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him and his family," and the fact that the Messenger acts according to the Book of Allah?

Abrogating a verse in recitation, but not in ruling, means that its recitation is no longer an act of worship, while its legal ruling remains. This is the doctrine of the Companions and the four Imams. Both the Qur’an and the Sunnah are revelations, and there is no real contradiction between them; any apparent contradiction arises from some people's misunderstanding. The majority opinion is to limit the punishment to stoning for the married person, while Ahmad, Ishaq, Dawud, and Ibn al-Mundhir held the view of combining flogging and stoning, basing their argument on the action of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and the hadith in Sahih Muslim: "And the married person with a married person: a hundred lashes and stoning."