Usool At-tafseer by Shu‘bah ibn al-Hajjaaj, Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyaynah and it was translated by Dr. M. Abdul Haq Ansari

Takhsees (specification of the general) is accomplished by specifying words or phrases found either within the general statements themselves or outside of them. The five types which occur within general statements are as follows:77

In this case the general law is followed by a preposition of exception and a clause or phrase which qualifies it. A good example can be seen in the following verse:

This type refers mainly to relative clauses introduced by the relative pronouns allathee, allatee (who, which), and their derivatives. An example of this type of specification can be found in the following verse concerning the forbidden categories of marriage:

That is, a man’s stepdaughter by a wife with whom he had sexual intercourse is forbidden to him if he divorces his wife or if she dies. However, if he divorced her before consummating the marriage or if she died before he did so, he would be able to marry her daughter (his stepdaughter). Thus, the relative clause, “whom you have entered” specifies the general phrase, “step-daughters of your wives.”

Conditional clauses function as specifiers since they state the dependence of one circumstance or set of circumstances on another. Such clauses are usually introduced by a subordinator such as “ in” (if). For example, the verse,

Thus the general obligation of writing a will when death approaches is turned into an obligation only for those who possess wealth.

Adverbial clauses of time are usually introduced by the subordinator “hattaa” (until) and accompanied by a negative. Good examples of this type of specification are Allaah’s statements concerning the rites of hajj,

and His statement concerning menstruating women,

This is an Arabic construction in which a form of relative clause introduced by the subordinator “whoever” (man) des-cribes an aspect of a noun which it can take the place of. An example of this type of construction can be seen in a literal translation of the verse,

In Arabic, the subordinator “whoever” represents a part of the phrase “all people” and is substituted in its place. Hence the verse could be translated, “Allaah has a right on whoever is able to find a way that they make hajj to the House (Ka‘bah).”