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B6 · باب بيان معاني الحروف المستعملة في الفقه · The small words: "and", "or", "if", "in" and others, on which many rulings turn (v1/200–236)

1. In short
2. Why it matters
3. B6.01 · الواو · "And" (wāw) only joins, without order; ⚑ the triple divorce made to depend on a condition
4. B6.04 · الفاء وثم وبل ولكن · "So", "then", "no, rather" and "but": order, delay and correction
5. B6.08 · أو وحتى وإلى · "Or" gives a choice; "until" and "to" mark a limit, which is sometimes included
6. B6.11 · على ومن وفي والباء · "On", "of", "in" and "with": binding, part, container and attaching
7. B6.14 · مع وقبل وبعد وعند وحروف الاستثناء · Time words ("with", "before", "after", "at") and the words for "except"
8. B6.17 · حروف القسم والشرط · Oath words and condition words: bi, wa, ta; in, idhā, matā
9. B6.19 · علامة الذكور والإناث · A masculine plural covers men and women together, but not women alone

In short

• This chapter explains the small words, like "and", "or", "if" and "in", on which many rulings turn [Overview]. Like nouns, each has a literal sense and can be borrowed for another [B6.01]. Many Ḥanafī disagreements over divorce, oaths and admissions come down to which sense a particle carries [Overview].

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Why it matters

• The same few words decide how many divorces fall: said to a wife not yet consummated with, "divorced, and divorced, and divorced", hung on a condition, gives one divorce for Abū Ḥanīfa and three for his two students [B6.01].

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B6.01 · الواو · "And" (wāw) only joins, without order; ⚑ the triple divorce made to depend on a condition

• In plain words: Does "and" mean "first this, then that", or "all at once"? Sarakhsī says wāw only joins: both parts share the ruling, with no order and no togetherness. This is settled by Arabic usage: "Zayd and ʿAmr came" is true in any order, and Arabic has other words for order and togetherness. He adds that no Ḥanafī disagrees on this. Wāw can also mark a state: "pay me 1,000 and you are free" frees him only when he pays.
• Example: ⚑ A man tells a wife he has not yet consummated with, "if you enter the house, you are divorced, and divorced, and divorced". Abū Ḥanīfa: one divorce falls on entering, since the three hang like links of a chain and fall one after another, and the first leaves no marriage for the rest. His two students: three, since each hangs on the entering directly. Sarakhsī finds Abū Ḥanīfa's view closer to the words.
• Who disagrees: Some of al-Shāfiʿī's followers say wāw requires order, so order in wuḍūʾ is a pillar; Sarakhsī answers from Arab usage. Mālik says wāw means togetherness; he answers that togetherness has its own word, maʿa ("with").
• Deeper: v1 B6.01; B6.02; B6.03

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B6.04 · الفاء وثم وبل ولكن · "So", "then", "no, rather" and "but": order, delay and correction

• In plain words: How do "so", "then", "no, rather" and "but" change a statement? Fāʾ ("so") gives order with no gap. Thumma ("then") gives order with a delay. Bal ("no, rather") corrects a mistake. It works in reports, which can be mistaken, not in acts like divorce. Lākin ("but") affirms what follows a negation, and joins only when the two parts make one sense. "I owe you 1,000 as a loan." "No, but as usurpation." The money is owed.
• Example: To a consummated wife, "you are divorced once, no, twice" gives three; before consummation, one, since the first ends the marriage. "I divorced you yesterday once, no, twice" is a report, so it gives two.
• Who disagrees: ⚑ On thumma, a wife not yet consummated with is told "if you enter, divorced, then divorced, then divorced". Abū Ḥanīfa says the delay starts a new sentence, so the first hangs, the second falls at once and the third lapses. His two students keep one sentence, so all hang and one falls on entering. ⚑ Zufar reads "I owe him 1,000, no, 2,000" as 3,000. Sarakhsī says 2,000: the first amount is inside the second.
• Deeper: v1 B6.04; B6.05; B6.06; B6.07

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B6.08 · أو وحتى وإلى · "Or" gives a choice; "until" and "to" mark a limit, which is sometimes included

• In plain words: Does "or" give a choice or express doubt, and is a limit included? Aw ("or") covers one of the things named. In commands and legal acts it gives a choice: feeding or clothing or freeing a slave (Q 5:89). Ḥattā ("until") and ilā ("to") mark a limit. A limit that is a thing in its own right is not included: "his is the land from this wall to that wall" leaves both walls out. If the words already reached the limit, naming it cuts off what lies beyond, so it is included: "hands to the elbows" (Q 5:6). If not, it is excluded: "fast until night" (Q 2:187).
• Example: "By God, I will stay with my debtor until he pays me": if the swearer leaves before payment, he breaks the oath.
• Who disagrees: Some Ḥanafī shaykhs say aw was made for doubt. Sarakhsī answers that doubt is no aim a word is made for; context supplies it. Mālik lets the ruler choose among the punishments for highway robbery (Q 5:33); Sarakhsī answers that they are matched to the kinds of robbery.
• Deeper: v1 B6.08; B6.09; B6.10

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B6.11 · على ومن وفي والباء · "On", "of", "in" and "with": binding, part, container and attaching

• In plain words: What do these four add? ʿAlā ("on") binds: "I owe (ʿalayya) him 1,000" is a debt, unless he adds "as a deposit" at once. Min ("of") means "some of", or filler when the speech needs it. Fī ("in") makes a container of time, place or act: "divorced in the house" falls at once, unless he means on entering. Bāʾ ("by") attaches: "divorced by God's will" does not divorce, as it works like a condition.
• Example: In "wipe your heads" (Q 5:6), bāʾ attaches the hand to the head. A hand laid on the head does not usually cover it all, and most of the hand counts as the whole, so three fingers count as wiping.
• Who disagrees: al-Shāfiʿī reads it as "some of", so the least part suffices; Mālik, as filler, so the whole head. Sarakhsī answers that "some of" has its own word, min, and filler would be pointless. ⚑ If she says "divorce me three times for (ʿalā) 1,000" and he divorces once, Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad make her owe a third. Abū Ḥanīfa: nothing, since ʿalā marks a condition, met only if all three are given.
• Deeper: v1 B6.11; B6.12; B6.13; B6.16

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B6.14 · مع وقبل وبعد وعند وحروف الاستثناء · Time words ("with", "before", "after", "at") and the words for "except"

• In plain words: How do words like "with", "before", "after" and "except" shape a ruling? Maʿa ("with") means togetherness, qabl "before", baʿd "after", and ʿind "at" or "with", meaning presence. A small pronoun can change the count: said to a wife not yet consummated with, "one after one" gives two divorces, but "one after which is one" gives one. For "except", illā is the true exception word; ghayr ("other than") can mark an exception or just describe ("a dirham other than a false one"); siwā ("besides") excepts.
• Example: "You have 1,000 dirhams with me (ʿindī)" makes the money a deposit, not a debt he owes, unless he says "debt". "Divorced one with one" gives two divorces, even before consummation.
• Deeper: v1 B6.14; B6.15

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B6.17 · حروف القسم والشرط · Oath words and condition words: bi, wa, ta; in, idhā, matā

• In plain words: Which words make an oath, and which make a condition? For oaths, bi- is the root. Wa- is borrowed for it, and is used only when "I swear" is left unsaid, and with a name, never a pronoun. Ta- is borrowed from wa- and is used only with "Allāh". Dropping the particle still makes an oath. For conditions, in ("if") is the pure condition word, with no sense of time. Matā ("whenever") is a word of time made conditional.
• Example: "If I do not divorce you, you are divorced" falls only at the husband's death, or, in one reported version, just before the wife's. "Whenever (matā) I do not divorce you, you are divorced" falls as soon as he falls silent.
• Who disagrees: ⚑ Take "when (idhā) I do not divorce you, you are divorced", said with no intention. His two students say she is divorced once he falls silent, since idhā always means time. Abū Ḥanīfa says not until he dies, since idhā can be a pure condition, and a divorce does not take effect while in doubt.
• Deeper: v1 B6.17; B6.18

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B6.19 · علامة الذكور والإناث · A masculine plural covers men and women together, but not women alone

• In plain words: Does a masculine plural in the Qurʾān include women? Sarakhsī says the masculine form covers men and women when they are mixed, but not women alone; the feminine form covers women only. Arabs let the masculine form stand for a mixed group, and what usage settles counts as the word's real meaning.
• Example: A man asks for "safety for my sons (banīya)". If he has sons and daughters, all are safe. If he has only daughters, the safety does not cover them.
• Who disagrees: Some of al-Shāfiʿī's followers say the masculine form does not include women without further proof, since each form was made for one group. They cite Q 33:35, which names Muslim men and Muslim women separately. Sarakhsī answers that it named the women to comfort them, since they knew they were included. And every general address in the Qurʾān on matters men and women share covers both, as all agree.
• Deeper: v1 B6.19

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