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B10 · باب البيان · Explanation (bayān): how a text's meaning is made clear, and when a later clarification is really abrogation (v2/26–53)

1. In short
2. Why it matters
3. B10.01 · معنى البيان · Explanation means making the meaning plain, whether or not the hearer comes to know it; the Prophet's act explains as his word does
4. B10.02 · بيان التقرير والتفسير · Five kinds of explanation; confirming and interpreting explanations are valid whether joined to the text or given later
5. B10.03 · تأخير دليل الخصوص · A narrowing joined to a general text explains it; a narrowing that comes later is abrogation, against al-Shāfiʿī
6. B10.04 · بيان التغيير والتبديل · An exception alters the speech and a condition replaces its ruling; both count only when joined; an exception makes the speech about what remains
7. B10.05 · الاستثناء المنقطع · A disconnected exception means "but" and starts a new ruling; a true exception is preferred where it can work
8. B10.06 · الاستثناء عقيب الجمل · An exception after several joined sentences applies only to the last one, unless the text shows otherwise
9. B10.07 · لا يصح إلا موصولا · An exception or condition counts only if joined to the speech; ⚑ the imams differ over which additions change an admission and which take it back
10. B10.08 · بيان الضرورة · Explanation by necessity: a meaning made clear without words made for it, in four ways

In short

• This chapter asks how a text's meaning is made clear [Overview]. Explanation is making the meaning plain, by the Prophet's word or act [B10.01]. A narrowing that comes after a general text is abrogation, not explanation [B10.03]. An exception or condition counts only when joined to the speech [B10.07].

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Why it matters

• A limit that comes after a general text counts as abrogation, not explanation, so in the ring bequest a stone given in a separate statement is shared, not the second legatee's [B10.03]. And a man who adds an exception after falling silent is not believed [B10.07].

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B10.01 · معنى البيان · Explanation means making the meaning plain, whether or not the hearer comes to know it; the Prophet's act explains as his word does

• In plain words: Is explanation (bayān) the act of making a meaning clear, or the knowledge it produces in the hearer? ⚑ Most Ḥanafīs say the act of making clear; some Ḥanafīs, with al-Shāfiʿī's followers, say the knowledge produced. Sarakhsī calls the first sounder: the Prophet explained to everyone, yet only some came to know. The jurists and most theologians also hold that the Prophet's act explains, just as his word does.
• Example: At al-Ḥudaybiya the Prophet told the Companions to shave, and they did not. When they saw him shave, they shaved at once, so his act explained what his word had not.
• Who disagrees: Some theologians say only words explain, since for them the explanation of an unclear word must be joined to it. Sarakhsī answers with the Prophet's "pray as you have seen me pray" and "take your rites from me".
• Deeper: v1 B10.01

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B10.02 · بيان التقرير والتفسير · Five kinds of explanation; confirming and interpreting explanations are valid whether joined to the text or given later

• In plain words: Must every explanation come in the same breath as the text? Sarakhsī names five kinds: confirming, interpreting, altering, replacing, and by necessity. Confirming (taqrīr) rules out reading the words figuratively or narrowly, as in "the angels prostrated, all of them together". Interpreting (tafsīr) makes clear an unclear (mujmal) word or a shared word (one with several meanings), like "prayer" or "zakat". Both are valid whether joined to the text or given later, since they do not change its ruling.
• Example: A man says "You are separated" and explains "I meant divorce". His explanation is accepted, and the word then gives an irrevocable separation.
• Who disagrees: Some theologians say the explanation of an unclear word cannot be delayed, since that would be like speaking Turkish to an Arab. Sarakhsī answers that the unclear command already has a point before it is explained: we are tested by believing that what is meant is true, while waiting to act.
• Deeper: v1 B10.02

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B10.03 · تأخير دليل الخصوص · A narrowing joined to a general text explains it; a narrowing that comes later is abrogation, against al-Shāfiʿī

• In plain words: If a general text is later limited by another, is that explanation or abrogation? The Ḥanafīs say a narrowing joined to the general text explains it; one that comes later is abrogation. For them the general word binds with certainty (B4.03), so narrowing it changes it, and a change must be joined to the speech. Only the explanation of an unclear or shared word may come later.
• Example: A man bequeaths a ring to one person and its stone to another. In one joined statement, the band goes to the first and the stone to the second. In separate statements the first still gets the band, and the stone is split half and half. The second bequest now competes with the first instead of explaining it.
• Who disagrees: al-Shāfiʿī says a later narrowing still only explains, since for him the general binds with doubt; he cites "then upon Us is its explanation" (Q 75:19). Sarakhsī answers that allowing a delayed narrowing would bind us to believe a thing contrary to what it is; that verse means the unclear word.
• Deeper: v1 B10.03; B4.03

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B10.04 · بيان التغيير والتبديل · An exception alters the speech and a condition replaces its ruling; both count only when joined; an exception makes the speech about what remains

• In plain words: How does an exception like "1,000 less 100" work? An exception is "altering" explanation; a condition is "replacing" explanation (Q 65:6). All agree both count only when joined to the speech, for anyone who cannot abrogate. The Ḥanafīs say an exception makes the speech mean only what remains: "1,000 less 100" is simply 900 said the long way. No ruling arises for the excepted part, since the words no longer cover it.
• Example: An exception worded to take back all that was said fails, so "My slaves are free except my slaves" frees them all. "My slaves are free except these", pointing to every slave he owns, frees none. "These" leaves room for others he might own, so the speech can still be about what remains.
• Who disagrees: al-Shāfiʿī says the excepted part fails because an opposing proof (a second proof that blocks the first) cancels it there, as with narrowing. Sarakhsī answers that an exception also works in reports ("a thousand years less fifty", Q 29:14), where an opposing proof would make the report a lie.
• Deeper: v1 B10.04

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B10.05 · الاستثناء المنقطع · A disconnected exception means "but" and starts a new ruling; a true exception is preferred where it can work

• In plain words: What if the excepted thing was never part of what came before? Then the exception is disconnected: it means "but" and starts a new ruling. A true exception is preferred where it can work. The qadhf verse (on accusing a chaste person of zinā) says "except those who repent". It can be read as disconnected, or as a true exception that limits the time: they are sinners except when they repent. So sinfulness ends with repentance, for want of a proof establishing it, not because an opposing proof blocks it.
• Example: "I owe him 1,000 except a garment" makes him owe the full 1,000, since a garment is not dirhams. ⚑ For "except a kurr (a measure) of wheat", Muḥammad makes him owe the full 1,000. Abū Ḥanīfa and Abū Yūsuf, by istiḥsān, subtract the kurr's value, since measured goods are owed like money.
• Who disagrees: Sarakhsī reads "except by mistake" (Q 4:92) as "but if he kills by mistake". ⚑ Some Ḥanafī shaykhs read it "nor by mistake"; he calls this an error, since it would make a mistake forbidden, yet a mistake is neither forbidden nor commanded.
• Deeper: v1 B10.05

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B10.06 · الاستثناء عقيب الجمل · An exception after several joined sentences applies only to the last one, unless the text shows otherwise

• In plain words: When an exception follows several sentences joined by "and", does it cover all of them? The Ḥanafīs say it covers only the sentence right before it. An exception changes the speech, and a change is limited to where it is needed. A condition is different: joining by "and" shares the condition among all the sentences. The text itself may show that an exception covers more.
• Example: In the brigandage verse (Q 5:34), "except those who repent before you overpower them" covers all the ḥadd punishments before it. The Ḥanafīs agree, but because of "before you overpower them": repentance counts before God whenever it comes, so the timing matters only for the worldly punishment.
• Who disagrees: al-Shāfiʿī says an exception goes back to all the sentences, like a condition, since for him it is an opposing proof; he cites the same verse. Sarakhsī answers that there the text itself shows the wider reach.
• Deeper: v1 B10.06

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B10.07 · لا يصح إلا موصولا · An exception or condition counts only if joined to the speech; ⚑ the imams differ over which additions change an admission and which take it back

• In plain words: Can a speaker add an exception or condition after a pause? All agree: an altering or replacing explanation counts only when joined. Once he falls silent, his speech is complete, and a later exception would be abrogation, which he cannot do. The imams then differ over whether a joined addition changes the admission, and so is believed, or takes it back, and so is not.
• Example: ⚑ "I owe him 1,000 as the price of wine": for the Ṣāḥibān, said in one breath, it changes the admission into a report of buying wine. That creates no debt for a Muslim, so he owes nothing. For Abū Ḥanīfa it takes the admission back, since a Muslim never owes the price of wine through a purchase, so he owes the 1,000.
• Deeper: v1 B10.07

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B10.08 · بيان الضرورة · Explanation by necessity: a meaning made clear without words made for it, in four ways

• In plain words: Can something be made clear without words said for it? Sarakhsī names four ways. The unsaid can be as if stated: "his mother has a third" (Q 4:11) gives the father the rest. The speaker's state: the Lawgiver's silence at what he sees approves it; the Companions' silence where an answer was due denies; a virgin's silence at her marriage consents. Preventing deception: misleading silence counts as permission or waiver. The speech's indication: "a hundred and a dirham" means a hundred dirhams.
• Example: A master sees his slave buying and selling and stays silent. His silence counts as permission to trade, so those who deal with the slave are not deceived.
• Who disagrees: al-Shāfiʿī says in "a hundred and a dirham" only the dirham is fixed; the speaker explains the hundred. Sarakhsī answers that custom drops the explanation from the first number, for goods owed by measure or weight, not for "and a garment" or "and a slave". But all agree "a hundred and three garments" is all garments, since the explanation follows both numbers.
• In his words: "Silence after explanation became due is proof of denial": «وَالسُّكُوت بعد وجوب الْبَيَان دَلِيل النَّفْي» (v2/51)
• Deeper: v1 B10.08

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