Usul al-Fiqh

05

General, specific, absolute, restricted

العام والخاص والمطلق والمقيد

Arabic words in the Law are not all the same size. Amm is a word that covers every one of its kind — “the thief, male and female, cut their hands.” Khass narrows that cover — a hadith sets a nisab, so a stolen needle is not that ayah. Mutlaq is a word left free — “free a neck” (any slave). Muqayyad ties it — “free a believing neck.” The craft is knowing when the specific governs the general, and when two texts walk side by side.

  1. العام

    Amm

    A form that includes all of its class: kull, alladhi, the plural with al-.

  2. الخاص

    Khass

    A form that names some of that class, or a separate text that carves out an exception.

  3. تخصيص العام

    Takhsis

    Carving the general. The four accept takhsis by the Quran, by a strong Sunnah, and by ijma. They differ on a lone report carving a Quranic amm — Hanafis are the strictest here.

  4. المطلق والمقيد

    Mutlaq and muqayyad

    If the subject and the ruling match, the restricted can carry the absolute. If they differ, the four pause and look again.

Worked example

The thief’s hand

The ayah is general. The Sunnah restricts it: a quarter dinar, not in famine in some reports, and the first theft, with conditions of hirz (safekeeping). That is takhsis, not “cancelling” the Quran. Naskh is a different tool, and rare.

Naskh (abrogation) needs a later text that cannot live with an earlier one. Most of what people call naskh is takhsis or a later bayan. The companions used naskh sparingly. So should you.