Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir
To the Questions of the Visitors of his Facebook Page "Fiqhi"
To Yeni Camii
Question:
It was mentioned in The Islamic Personality (Ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah), Volume 1, page 307, that indications are divided into Primary Indication (Al-Dalalah al-Asliyyah) and Subordinate Indication (Al-Dalalah al-Tabi'ah). However, it was mentioned in The Islamic Personality, Volume 3, page 129, that indications are divided into Mantouq (Explicit Meaning) and Mafhoum (Implicit Meaning), and that the Mantouq consists of two types (Al-Mutabaqah - correspondence and Al-Tadammun - inclusion), and that the Mafhoum, i.e., the indication of necessity (Dalalat al-Iltizam), is of several types, including the Indicated Signification (Dalalat al-Isharah). When explaining Dalalat al-Isharah, its examples were the same as those mentioned in The Islamic Personality, Volume 1, as examples of Subordinate Indication according to some. This has created some confusion regarding the classifications in Volume 1 and Volume 3. Is Primary Indication the same as Mantouq, and Subordinate Indication the same as Mafhoum? Or does each classification have a specific context in which it is used? And were these classifications made at the same time or at different times? May Allah reward you with goodness.
Answer:
- The passage you are asking about in The Islamic Personality, Volume 1, clearly explains the meaning of Primary Indication and Subordinate Indication. It states on pages 305-307 (Word file) in the chapter The Ummah's Need Today for Interpreters (Mufassirin):
"[As for the reality of the Quran in terms of its vocabulary, we observe words to which the literal linguistic meaning applies, and the metaphorical linguistic meaning applies. Both literal and metaphorical usage may exist together, and the intended meaning is known by the context (qarīnah) in each structure. Sometimes the literal meaning is forgotten and the metaphorical meaning remains, becoming the intended one rather than the literal. We also observe vocabulary to which only the literal linguistic meaning applies and is not used metaphorically because there is no context to divert it from the literal meaning. There are also words to which the linguistic meaning applies, as well as a new Shari'ah meaning that is neither the literal linguistic nor the metaphorical linguistic meaning; they are used in both linguistic and Shari'ah meanings in different verses, and what determines the intended meaning is the structure of the verse. Or, only the Shari'ah meaning applies, and it is not used in the linguistic sense. For example, the word qaryah (town/village) was used only in its linguistic sense:
حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَا أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ اسْتَطْعَمَا أَهْلَهَا
"Until, when they came to the people of a town, they asked its people for food." (QS. Al-Kahf [18]: 77)
أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْ هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ
"Take us out of this city." (QS. An-Nisa [4]: 75)
And it was used in its metaphorical sense:
وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ الَّتِي كُنَّا فِيهَا
"And ask the city in which we were." (QS. Yusuf [12]: 82)
A city is not asked; rather, the people of the city are intended, which is metaphorical.
وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ عَتَتْ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهَا
"And how many a city was insolent toward the command of its Lord." (QS. At-Talaq [65]: 8)
Meaning the people of the city... Similar to the saying of Allah (swt):
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَى * عَبْداً إِذَا صَلَّى
"Have you seen the one who forbids a servant when he prays?" (QS. Al-'Alaq [96]: 9-10)
Where the Shari'ah meaning is intended. And His saying:
يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ
"They send blessings upon the Prophet." (QS. Al-Ahzab [33]: 56)
Where the linguistic meaning is intended, which is supplication (du'a). And His saying:
فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ
"And when the prayer has been concluded." (QS. Al-Jumu'ah [62]: 10)
And:
يَا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ
"O my son, establish prayer." (QS. Luqman [31]: 17)
In all the verses where Salat is mentioned, it is only used in its Shari'ah meaning.
This is regarding vocabulary. As for the structures, the Arabic language consists of words indicating meanings. If we examine these words within structures, whether regarding their individual meaning in the structure or the meaning of the structure as a whole, they do not fall outside of two perspectives. One is to look at them as absolute words and phrases indicating absolute meanings, which is the Primary Indication. The second is to look at them as words and phrases indicating meanings that serve the absolute words and phrases, which is the Subordinate Indication....
As for the second part—structures being words and phrases indicating meanings that serve the absolute words and phrases—every report mentioned in a sentence requires a clarification of what is intended by that report. The sentence is structured in a way that fulfills that intent according to the reporter, the subject reported on, the report itself, the state in which it was found, the context in which the sentence was driven, and the style used—be it clarification, concealment, brevity, prolixity, etc. You say at the beginning of a report: "Qāma Zaidun" (Zaid stood), if there is no special concern for the subject but rather the event. If the concern is for the subject, you say "Zaidun qāma" (Zaid, he stood). In response to a question or something treated as one, you say "Inna Zaidan qāma" (Verily Zaid stood). In response to a denier: "Wallāhi inna Zaidan qāma" (By Allah, verily Zaid stood). In reporting to one who expects Zaid to stand: "Qad qāma Zaidun" (Zaid has indeed stood), and so on among the matters that must be observed in Arabic texts. The Quran came fulfilling these two perspectives. It contains absolute words and phrases indicating absolute meanings, and it contains restricted words and phrases indicating meanings that serve the absolute meanings in various facets of eloquence (balāghah). Among the most wonderful things observed in the presence of serving meanings—which are the Subordinate Indication—are the verses and parts of verses repeated in the Quran in one Surah or different Surahs, as well as stories and sentences that are repeated, and what occurs in them regarding placing the predicate before the subject (taqdim al-mahmul 'ala al-mawdhu'), and emphasis through various types or a single type according to the context of the sentence, and rhetorical questions (al-istifhamat al-inkariyyah), and other things that include the highest types of Subordinate Indication. You find the verse, part of a verse, sentence, or story appearing in a context in one form in some Surahs, in another form in another Surah, and in a third form in another place, and so on... You will not find an expression diverted from its original state—such as placing the predicate before the subject, emphasizing the report, or sufficing with mentioning part instead of the whole—unless you find a rhetorical point (nuktah balaghiyyah) for creating a meaning that serves the absolute meanings contained in the words and phrases of the verse.] End quote.
- As you can see, Primary Indication is that which is looked at as absolute words and phrases indicating absolute meanings. That is, the indication of words according to linguistic styles like precedence and delay, prolixity and brevity, literal and metaphorical usage, etc. In other words, it is the Mantouq (explicit meaning) of the text. As stated in The Islamic Personality, Volume 3, page 180, Mantouq is: (The indication of the discourse on the ruling; if it is from the word itself, it is the indication of the Mantouq, and if it is from the meaning indicated by the word, it is the indication of the Mafhoum. The Mantouq is what the word definitely indicates in the place of utterance, i.e., what is understood directly from the word without mediation or probability... such as the obligation of fasting Ramadan understood from His (swt) saying:
فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ
"So whoever among you sights [the crescent of] the month, let him fast it." (QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 185)
This is the word indicating the meaning through its Mantouq, which is called the linguistic indication (al-dalalah al-lafziyyah). What the word indicates by correspondence (mutabaqah) or inclusion (tadammun) is the Mantouq, not what is understood from the flow of speech. This is because the word, considering the indicator alone, is divided into three types: correspondence, inclusion, and necessity (iltizam). The indication of the word on its entire meaning is correspondence (mutabaqah), which is from the Mantouq. The indication of the word on part of the named meaning is inclusion (tadammun), which is also from the Mantouq. When a discourse indicates a ruling through its Mantouq, it is first carried upon the Shari'ah literal meaning (al-haqiqah al-shar'iyyah), such as the saying of the Prophet (saw):
لَيْسَ مِنَ الْبِرِّ الصِّيَامُ فِي السَّفَرِ
"It is not of righteousness to fast during travel." (Reported by Ahmad)
It is carried upon the Shari'ah fasting, not the linguistic meaning, because the Prophet (saw) was sent to clarify Shari'ah matters. If the word is not a Shari'ah literal meaning, or is but cannot be carried upon it, it is carried upon the customary literal meaning (al-haqiqah al-'urfiyyah) present in his (saw) era because it is what immediately comes to mind and because the Shari'ah considers custom in many rulings like oaths. If it is impossible to carry it upon the Shari'ah literal or customary literal meanings from the Prophet's era, it is carried upon the linguistic literal meaning. Shari'ah texts are legislative words that came to clarify Islamic Shari'ah, so the default in their indication is the Shari'ah meaning, then the customary, then the linguistic. This applies if the Shari'ah and customary usages are so frequent that one of them precedes the linguistic; if not, it is a homonym (mushtarak) that is only outweighed by a context (qarīnah). If all three literal meanings are impossible, it is carried upon the metaphorical meaning (al-majazi) to protect the speech from being disregarded...).
- Thus, you see that Primary Indication is the indication of the Mantouq, and both mean the indication of the word. The indication of the discourse on the ruling, if from the word, is the indication of the Mantouq, and the Primary Indication is that which is looked at as absolute words and phrases indicating absolute meanings. The Subordinate Indication serves the Primary Indication, clarifying it with an exquisite style that shows the beauty of the meaning and the structure. It serves the Mantouq by clarifying it in terms of literal and metaphorical usage, prolixity and brevity, precedence and delay, etc., and through everything that clarifies the meaning and highlights (the manifestation of its eloquence and the secret of its inimitability). This means that Subordinate Indication is a clarification of the Mantouq, reinforcing its ruling and not for the purpose of clarifying another ruling. It serves the Primary Indication, i.e., the Mantouq, to clarify its meaning and not to create a different ruling. In other words, Subordinate Indication is not the Mafhoum, nor is it any of its types. The Mantouq is what is understood from the word's indication, while the Mafhoum is what is understood from the word's connotation, i.e., from the meaning of the word, such as His (swt) saying:
فَلاَ تَقُل لَّهُمَا أُفٍّ
"Say not to them [so much as], 'uff'." (QS. Al-Isra [17]: 23)
The word's indication is not to say "uff" to them, which is the Mantouq. However, the connotation of the word—which is the prohibition of saying "uff"—implies "do not hit them." Thus, the Mafhoum of His saying "Say not to them 'uff'" is "do not hit them." The prohibition of hitting parents, understood from this verse, is indicated by the Mafhoum of the verse...).
- For your information, Mantouq and Mafhoum were focused on by scholars of Usūl (principles of jurisprudence) in the early centuries since the era of Ash-Shafi'i (d. 204 AH), as Al-Juwayni mentioned in Al-Burhan. This flourished in the 5th century AH, particularly with Al-Juwayni, the Imam of the Two Holy Mosques, in his book Al-Burhan fi Usul al-Fiqh (d. 478 AH), and Al-Ghazali in his book Al-Mustasfa (d. 505 AH). We will mention some of what Al-Ghazali said in Al-Mustasfa:
On page 25: [Chapter One regarding the Indication of Words on Meanings] The first art regarding predecessors contains three chapters. Chapter One: On the indication of words on meanings, and the objective is clarified through classifications: The first classification: The indication of the word on the meaning is restricted to three facets: Correspondence (Mutabaqah), Inclusion (Tadammun), and Necessity (Iltizam)... etc.
On page 246: Fifth: The implicit meaning by the sense (Al-Mafhoum bi al-Fahwa), such as the prohibition of hitting the father understood from the prohibition of saying "uff." It is definitive like a text (Nass), even if it is not based on the word itself; we do not mean the word specifically but rather its indication. Every definitive auditory evidence is like a text. The Mafhoum, according to those who uphold it, is also like the Mantouq, such that if a general text is revealed regarding the obligation of Zakat on sheep, and then the Legislator says:
فِي سَائِمَةِ الْغَنَمِ زَكَاةٌ
"On pasturing sheep, there is Zakat."
Then the stall-fed sheep are excluded by the Mafhoum of this expression from the general term "sheep"... etc.]
Then scholars of Usūl followed, such as Al-Mahsul in Usul al-Fiqh by Ibn al-Arabi (d. 543 AH), Al-Mahsul by Al-Razi (d. 606 AH), Rawdat al-Nadhir by Ibn Qudamah (d. 620 AH), then Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam by Al-Amidi (d. 631 AH)... and the scholars of Usūl thereafter.
- Then came the division of indications into Primary and Subordinate. The one who most focused on this matter and clarified it was Imam Al-Shatibi (d. 790 AH) in his book Al-Muwafaqat—Volume 1—Chapter on the Types of Meanings of Arabic and Their Ranks, 1st edition 1417 AH/1997 CE (pp. 51-52), where he said:
[(3) Types of Arabic meanings and their ranks... Among the customs of the Arabs in discourse—as Al-Shatibi mentions—is that the Arabic language has two indications:
The first: In terms of being absolute words and phrases, indicating absolute meanings.
This is the Primary Indication (Al-Dalalah al-Asliyyah), in which all languages share, and towards which the intentions of speakers end. it is not exclusive to one nation over another. It is what can be translated into other languages, and from it, the interpretation of the Quran and the clarification of its meaning to the general public and those who lack the strength of understanding its deep meanings are valid.
The second: In terms of being restricted words and phrases, indicating serving meanings... which is the Subordinate Indication (Al-Dalalah al-Tabi'ah) to the Primary Indication. this indication is exclusive to the tongue of the Arabs... ("Every report requires serving matters according to the reporter, the subject, the report itself, the state, the context, the style of clarification or concealment, brevity or prolixity, metonymy or explicitness, and according to what is intended in the flow of the report, and what the context requires... among other matters that cannot be counted. Such maneuvers, by which the meaning of a single speech differs, are not the original objective, but they are among its complements and completions. Through mastery in this type, the flow of speech becomes beautiful")... He adds about this second indication: ("It is what is researched in the science of eloquence (Balāghah), and the rhetoricians call it 'the consequences of structures' (mustatba'at al-tarakib), which are the characteristics of composition by which the status of speech is raised. Since the Quran, being linguistic words, has a primary indication and another subordinate (which is the manifestation of its eloquence and the secret of its inimitability); its translation with respect to the secondary meaning is not easy. Al-Zamakhshari said in Al-Kashshaf: 'In the speech of the Arabs—especially the Quran—there are subtleties of meaning that no tongue can independently fulfill.' As for what can be transferred to another language, it is the primary meaning, as foreign languages are not incapable of fulfilling it. This is what Al-Shatibi decided on the issue of translating the Quran...")] End quote.
- It is worth noting that this issue is disputed among scholars of Usūl. Some said what we mentioned—that Subordinate Indication does not bring a new ruling but is a servant clarifying the Primary Indication. Others consider Subordinate Indication to be part of the Mafhoum, especially the Indicated Signification (Dalalat al-Isharah), such as the minimum duration of pregnancy... etc. We clarified Dalalat al-Isharah as one of the types of Mafhoum in The Islamic Personality, Volume 3, page 186, where we said:
[Indicated Signification (Dalalat al-Isharah): It is when the speech was driven to clarify a ruling, or indicated a ruling, but another ruling is understood from it other than the one for which it was driven, even though this other ruling was not the intended purpose of the speech. The indication of the speech on this ruling that was not intended is Dalalat al-Isharah. An example is the combined indication of His (swt) saying:
وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْراً
"And his gestation and weaning is thirty months." (QS. Al-Ahqaf [46]: 15)
And His saying:
وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ
"And his weaning is in two years." (QS. Luqman [31]: 14)
This indicates that the minimum duration of pregnancy is six months, even if that was not the intended meaning of the text. Similarly, His (swt) saying:
فَالآنَ بَاشِرُوهُنَّ
"So now, have relations with them." (QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 187)
Permitted relations until the break of dawn by His saying:
حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ
"Until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]." (QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 187)
Clarifying this was the objective, yet it necessarily follows that whoever has intercourse in the night of Ramadan and wakes up in a state of Janabah (ritual impurity), his fast is not invalidated; because whoever has intercourse at the end of the night must delay his Ghusl (ritual bath) until the daytime...]
Al-Shatibi confirms that some scholars of Primary and Subordinate indications hold this view—that Subordinate Indication is Dalalat al-Isharah—and he gives the same examples we mentioned for Isharah. He states in Al-Muwafaqat 2/151-154, clarifying the difference in Subordinate Indication under the heading (The Fifth Issue):
[If it is established that speech, in terms of its indication of meaning, has two considerations: its indication of the primary meaning and its indication of the subordinate meaning which serves the primary, then it is mandatory to look at which facet the rulings are derived from, and whether it is exclusive to the primary meaning or covers both.
As for the primary meaning, there is no issue in the validity of its consideration in indicating rulings absolutely... As for the subordinate meaning, is it valid to consider it in indicating rulings in terms of understanding additional meanings beyond the primary meaning, or not? This is a place of hesitation, and each side has a viewpoint:
The proponents of validity argue through several points:...
Second: Deriving evidence from Shari'ah for rulings is from the perspective of it being in the Arabic tongue, not just being speech. This consideration includes what is indicated by the first facet and what is indicated by the second... Specifying the first for indicating rulings without the second is specification without a specifier and preference without a weighted factor, all of which is invalid.
Third: Scholars have considered it and derived evidence for rulings from it in many places:
They derived that the maximum duration of menstruation is fifteen days from the saying of the Prophet (saw):
تَمْكُثُ إحْدَاكُنَّ شَطْرَ دَهْرِهَا لَا تُصَلِّي
"One of you remains for half of her life without praying."
The objective was to report the deficiency in religion, not to report the maximum duration, but exaggeration necessitated mentioning that.
And their derivation of the minimum pregnancy duration being six months from His (swt) saying: "And his gestation and weaning is thirty months," alongside His saying: "And his weaning is in two years." The objective in the first verse was to clarify the duration of both without detail, then He clarified in the second the duration of weaning intentionally and remained silent about the duration of pregnancy alone, so it necessarily followed that its minimum is six months.
And they said regarding His (swt) saying "So now, have relations with them" until "Until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]" that it indicates the permissibility of being in a state of ritual impurity at dawn and the validity of the fast, because the permission for relations until dawn necessitates that, even if it was not the intended clarification...
The opponents argue through several points:
First: This facet is by definition a servant to the first and subordinate to it. Its indication of a meaning is only in terms of it being a reinforcement of the first, a strengthening of it, a clarification of its meaning, and placing it in a position of acceptance for the ears and understanding for the minds...
As we say in "And ask the city in which we were," the objective is "ask the people of the city," but the city was made the subject of asking as an exaggeration in the thoroughness of the inquiry, etc. No ruling was built upon attributing the question to the city...
Third: Placing this facet as subordinate to the first necessitates that the meaning it conveys cannot be taken except from that facet. If it were permissible to take it from elsewhere, it would be a departure from its original placement, which is invalid. Its indication of a ruling additional to what is in the first is a departure from it being subordinate...
As for the duration of menstruation, we do not concede that the Hadith indicates it, and there is a dispute regarding it; therefore, the Hanafis say its maximum is ten days. Even if conceded, it is not from the word's linguistic indication... And the minimum pregnancy duration is taken from the first facet, not the second, and similarly the issue of being in ritual impurity at dawn, as nothing else is possible.
Thus, the rest of what is hypothesized in this chapter. The result is that deriving evidence from the second facet for rulings is not established, so it is not valid to apply it at all...
Therefore, the correct view is the absolute prohibition, and Allah knows best.] That is, Al-Shatibi does not take the view of the first group but the second. However, he adds thereafter:
[Chapter: The evidence has conflicted in the matter, and it appeared that the stronger of the two sides is the side of the preventers, necessitating that the second facet—the subordinate meaning—has no indication of an additional Shari'ah ruling at all... but there remains another consideration: I suspect it has an indication of meanings additional to the primary meaning, which are Shari'ah etiquettes and good character that every sound mind acknowledges, thus it would have consideration in Shari'ah...]
- The conclusion is:
A- Primary Indication is the Mantouq, and both mean the indication of the word. The indication of the Mantouq is the indication of the discourse on the ruling if it is from the word directly in the place of utterance definitively. The Primary Indication is from the perspective of it being absolute words and phrases indicating absolute meanings. Both Mantouq and Primary Indication are indications directly from the word.
B- Subordinate Indication serves the Mantouq, clarifying it with an exquisite style that shows the beauty of the meaning and structure. It serves the Mantouq by clarifying it in terms of literal and metaphorical usage, prolixity and brevity, precedence and delay, etc., i.e., through everything that clarifies the meaning and highlights (the manifestation of its eloquence and the secret of its inimitability). This means that Subordinate Indication is a clarification of the Mantouq, reinforcing its ruling and not for clarifying another ruling. It serves the Primary Indication, i.e., the Mantouq, to clarify its meaning and not to create a different ruling. In other words, Subordinate Indication is not the Mafhoum, nor is it any of its types, neither Dalalat al-Isharah nor others.
C- For your information, this issue is disputed among scholars of Usūl. Some said what we mentioned—that Subordinate Indication does not bring a new ruling but is a servant clarifying the Primary Indication. Others make the Subordinate Indication part of the Mafhoum, especially the Indicated Signification (Dalalat al-Isharah), such as the maximum menstruation duration, minimum pregnancy duration, and not invalidating the fast when waking up in ritual impurity... etc., as shown above. However, the weightier view for us is what we mentioned previously.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
06 Sha'ban 1444 AH Corresponding to 26/02/2023 CE
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