A “proposition,” even when it is called a “conclusion” or a “premise,” is what the logicians term a khabar (declarative statement). It is not identical with the mubtadaʾ–khabar construction known to the grammarians; rather, it is broader. The grammatical subject–predicate occurs only in nominal sentences, whereas an informative proposition may be either nominal or verbal, as in the Almighty’s words:

“They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts” (Qur’an 48:11),

and His saying:

“Allah has certainly fulfilled the vision He granted His Messenger in truth” (Qur’an 48:27).

Both are declarative sentences, yet they are not labelled mubtadaʾ and khabar in grammatical usage.

The point here is that, when the logicians say, “A syllogism is a discourse composed of statements,” they intend propositions—each being a complete declarative sentence—not the single term known as a ḥadd. A syllogism contains three terms: minor, middle, and major. Thus one may say, “The disputed nabīdh is intoxicating; every intoxicant is unlawful.” The words “nabīdh,” “intoxicating,” and “unlawful” are each individual terms, the very “limits” of the syllogism. These single terms are not what the logicians meant by “statements.” Rather, every proposition is itself a “statement,” as they themselves explain: “a discourse composed of statements such that, once they are conceded, another statement necessarily follows.” That necessary consequent is the conclusion—again, a proposition, a full declarative sentence, not a solitary term. Hence they said, “The syllogism is a discourse,” and they called the two propositions taken together a “discourse.”

Because they have made the syllogism a composition of “statements,” that expression need not point to exactly two. In Arabic, the plural may denote two or more, as in the verse,

“But if he has brothers, then his mother receives one-sixth” (Qur’an 4:11);

or it may mean three or more, which is the prevalent view. At times it simply indicates the genus of number and therefore includes two and upward, without being restricted to precisely two. Accordingly, when they say the syllogism is “composed of statements,” if they are speaking generically, the sense is “two or more,” so it may be made up of three or four premises and is not confined to two. But if they employ the plural in its strict, literal sense, the composition could not consist of fewer than three.