QuranCourse.com
Need a website for your business? Check out our Templates and let us build your webstore!
This pair of concepts is similar to the paired concepts, ‘aamm and khaass. A major difference is that the word which is ‘aamm encompasses every member of the category it names, whereas the mutlaq word usually applies to any one of a multitude, but not to all.93 For instance, if I say to a servant, “Give ten dollars to every high school graduate who comes to the house,” this expression is ‘aamm.
The servant would not be in compliance with my command unless he gives ten dollars to every individual who meets those qualifications. On the other hand, if I told him, “Give ten dollars to a (miskeen) poor person,” 94 this expression is mutlaq. He would be in compliance if he gave it to a single individual who is poor.
The mutlaq may be defined as a word or phrase which expresses a nonfigurative idea without placing any limitations on it. It refers to one type of thing without being specific and usually occurs in the form of an indefinite noun (annakirah) in an affirmative statement. Terms like “a slave,” “a chair,” or “a dog” would be mutlaq, whereas “a believing slave,” “a metal chair,” or “a Filipino man” would all be muqayyad, because each indefinite noun has been qualified and restricted by an adjective (sifah).
Allaah states in the Qur’aan that the expiation for breaking oaths in God’s name is either,
“....the feeding or clothing of ten poor persons according to how you feed and clothe your own family or the freeing of a slave.” 95
There are no limitations as to what type of slave may be freed. However, the type of slave has been restricted in the following verse:
“And whoever kills a believer accidentally should free a believing slave and pay a deeyah (fine) to the family.” 96
One of the issues discussed by the scholars of usool al-fiqh is the permissibly of applying a muqayyad expression from one text of the Qur’aan or Sunnah to a mutlaq expression in another text. There are certain circumstances in which there is consensus of the permissibility of this deductive tool, and there are other circumstances where scholars agree it is not allowed to do so, and there are circumstances in which there is some difference of opinion. In order to clarify the issue, the mutlaq and muqayyad verses have been placed in four main categories in relation to the underlying reason (sabab) for their revelation and the agreement or disagreement of the rules (hukm) which they contain.
An example is the fourth option in atoning (kaffaarah) for breaking an oath taken in Allaah’s name, i.e., to fast three days. This principle is mutlaq in the Qur’aan as follows:
“And whoever is unable (to do the previous three options) should fast three days; that is the atonement for breaking your oaths after taking them.” 97
However, in the recitation of Ibn Mas‘ood, it was muqayyad:
“Fast three consecutive days.”
Thus, some scholars ruled that since the sabab (breaking an oath taken in Allaah’s name) was the same in both recitations, and the hukm (fasting) was the same, the mutlaq rule should be understood according to the muqayyad recitation. There is general agreement about the validity of applying the muqayyad text to the mutlaq text in this category, as long as both texts are authentic.
A similar case where most scholars agree on the validity of applying the muqayyad to the mutlaq is the prohibition of eating blood. In several verses of the Qur’aan, blood is prohibited with a mutlaq expression:
“He only prohibited for you carrion and blood...” 98
However, in verse 145 of Soorah al-An‘aam, Allaah says,
“Say (O Prophet ﷺ), ‘In all that has been revealed to me, I do not find anything forbidden to eat, if one wants to eat of it, unless it is carrion or blood poured forth...’ ”
Since the mutlaq and the muqayyad both deal with prohibited foods, it is valid to say that the only type of prohibited blood is that which is poured forth. Therefore, the blood that seeps from meat while it is being cooked is not prohibited.99
An example of this category is the case of cleaning the hands100 during the performance of wudoo’ and tayammum.101 In the verse on purification,
“O believers, when you get up to make salaah (prayer), you should wash your faces and hands up to the elbows.” 102
the word “hands” in making wudoo’ is muqayyad; whereas in the same verse concerning tayammum, it is left mutlaq:103
“Make tayammum with good (clean) earth; Wipe your faces and hands with it.” 104
In these examples, the sabab (loss of one’s state of purity) is the same in both cases; however, the hukm is different in that water is used in the case of wudoo’ and more body parts are cleaned; whereas dust is used only on the face and hands in the case of tayammum. Hence, the mutlaq should not be interpreted according to the muqayyad. In fact, authentic hadeeths describing tayammum specify the wrists as the limit. The sahaabee ‘Ammaar ibn Yaasir reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) told him to strike both of his hands on the ground once, blow on them, and then wipe his face and hands, left hand on right, up to the wrists.105
The atonement (kaffaarah) of freeing a slave is a good example of this category. In the case of accidental murder, the word slave is muqayyad:
“A believer may not kill another believer except by accident. And whoever kills a believer accidentally should free a believing slave.” 106
But in the case of thihaar 107 the word is mutlaq:
“Those who swear off their wives, then wish to go back on what they said, should free a slave before they touch each other.” 108
There is obviously no basis here for interpreting the mutlaq according to the muqayyad. A believer’s life was taken, hence the requirement is that the freed slave be a believer; whereas in the case of breaking of oaths made by thihaar or otherwise, the freeing of any slave is sufficient.
An example of this category is in the case of the hand in wudoo’ and theft. In the verse on purification previously mentioned, the hand is made muqayyad by the phrase, “up to the elbows,” but in the case of theft, it is left mutlaq. Consider the following:
“Cut off the hands of both the male and female thief.” 109
Here again, the mutlaq cannot be specified by the muqayyad, especially since it was reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) limited the amputation of hands to the wrist and so did the Righteous Caliphs.110
93 See Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 113. This is based on a definition of the mutlaq given by many ‘usool scholars, such as Ibn Qudaamah and al-Aamidee. The definition has been criticized by other scholars, such as as-Subkee. See Kashf al-Asraar, vol. 2, p. 520.
94 An English speaker might say that a qualification has occurred in this statement, because “poor” is an adjective qualifying the noun “person.” However, in Arabic there is a single noun, miskeen, for this concept.
95 Soorah al-Maa’idah (5):89.
96 Soorah an-Nisaa’ (4):92.
97 Soorah al-Maa’idah (5):89.
98 Soorah al-Baqarah (2):173.
99 See Kashf al-Asraar, vol. 2, p. 527.
100 Hand (yad) in Arabic could refer to the palm up to the wrist, up to the elbow, or up to the shoulder.
101 Purification with dust or clean earth in the absence of water.
102 Soorah al-Maa’idah (5):6.
103 A person may ask, “Why is this verse considered muqayyad rather than mukhassas? Isn’t it true that one of the forms for expressing the ‘aamm in Arabic is the generic noun related to a possessive pronoun?” However, one should keep in mind that one of the conditions of the ‘aamm is that it applies to many things, not limited in number. Each human being has two hands, which is a limited number.
104 Soorah al-Maa’idah (5):6.
105 Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 1, pp. 208-9, no. 343, and Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, p. 202, nos. 716-8.
106 Soorah an-Nisaa’ (4):92.
107 A quasi-divorce practiced by pre-Islaamic Arabs. The husband would swear not to touch his wife because he considered her “like his mother.” The wife was not free to look for another husband, but she was denied conjugal rights.
108 Soorah al-Mujaadalah (58):3.
109 Soorah al-Maa’idah (5):38.
110 See Kashf al-Asraar, vol. 2, pp. 521-7.
Reference: Usool At-tafseer - Shu‘bah ibn al-Hajjaaj, Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyaynah and it was translated by Dr. M. Abdul Haq Ansari
Build with love by StudioToronto.ca