- Relative pronouns.
- An indefinite noun that appears in the context of negation, prohibition, condition, or interrogation.
- A noun rendered definite by the all-inclusive definite article “al-.”
Its ruling
When a general term is used in the Sacred Law, the ruling applies to every individual it covers. One must act upon that generality unless there is evidence that restricts it. If a specificator is established, the general wording continues to apply to whatever individuals remain outside the scope of that restriction.
It is unusual to find a general term with no specificator; hence the maxim, “There is no general wording except that it has a specificator.”
The particular
The particular is the opposite of the general: a wording that refers to something limited—whether a single person or a certain number—such as “a man,” “two men,” “men,” “women,” “a small company,” or “a group.”
Specification
Specification is the exclusion of some of the individuals denoted by a general term. The specificator (with kasrah) is the Lawgiver; the word is also applied to the proof by which the specification occurs.
Categories of specification
Specification is either connected or separate.
- Connected specification: that which cannot stand alone. Its forms are:
a. Exception: excluding some members of the general term by “illā” (except) or one of its cognates.
b. Condition: making the existence or absence of something dependent upon the conditional particle “in” or one of its cognates.
c. Qualifying attribute: wording that assigns a meaning specific to certain members of the general term, whether as an adjective, a substitute, or a circumstantial qualifier.