The specific (al-khāṣ)

Linguistically, al-khāṣ is the opposite of al-ʿāmm, the general.

Technically, it denotes a wording restricted to a single person or to a fixed number—such as proper names, demonstrative pronouns, and numerals. By the clause “restricted to,” we deliberately excluded what is general.

Specification (takhṣīṣ) in the language means the opposite of generalization; technically, it is to exclude some of the individuals covered by a general term.

The specifier (al-mukhaṣṣiṣ)—with the ṣād pronounced with a kasrah—is the agent that performs specification, namely the Lawgiver. The word is also used for the evidence by which the specification is effected.

The evidences that bring about specification are of two types: connected and separate. A connected specifier is one that cannot stand on its own, whereas a separate specifier is independent of the text it qualifies.

Among the connected specifiers:

1. Exception (istithnāʾ). Linguistically, it comes from the root th-n-y, meaning to bend part of a thing back upon the rest, as when a rope is folded. Technically, it is the exclusion of certain individuals encompassed by a general statement through the particle illā (“except”) or one of its sisters, as in the Almighty’s words: “Indeed, mankind is in loss” (al-ʿAṣr 103:2), “except those who believe…” (103:3).