. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

,ে 'i.Sࣟ ,J.;.JI "'Ll. ,Ɯ\ For a discussion of these terms, see al-Sadlaan, al-Niyyah, vol. I , pp. 1 15-126. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi clarify the construction."' In Arabic, this can happen in more than one case. One such case is known as idhmaar (_) .... ....;,)) or "suppression". This is very close to the definition of ellipsis just given. Another case is that of taqdeer (Y-..W), where a missing word or words must be assumed or are implied. In general, for any sentence, it is a given that idhmaar or taqdeer need not to be resorted to. That is, every sentence is to be understood as it is and it is only when it cannot be understood as it is that the presence of either idhmaar or taqdeer is understood. Th use of idhmaar and recourse to taqdeer is part of Arabic speech. Examples of their usage can be found in the Quran. In general, taqdeer occurs, that is something must be assumed, when: (a) The statement is simply not correct or true unless something is assumedfor example, a hadith states,  1;f:1 3J ::(· . \\j tk.;J1 _;J ৸ ৹J ai1 0৷ "Mistakes, forgetfulness and acts out of coercion have been removed from my Ummah (Nation)."2 This statement could not mean its literal meaning because such acts do occur among this Nation. They exist among this Nation and hence they have not been removed. Therefore, the hadith must either mean that the ruling and consequences of such acts have been removed or the sin of such acts have been removed. 3 (b) The statement does not make rational sense. For example, in the Quran, Allah states in Yoosuf, verse 82, -- -- @fr1 ' \௫@ .. -- 'Yr -f-J ,, This literally means, "Ask the city." A city does not speak. However, the words "inhabitants of' are understood. So the sentence means, "Ask the inhabitants of the city." This is similar to the statement in English, "I spoke with New York last night," which, of course, means, "I spoke with someone in New York last night." (c) The speech is not correct from a shareeah point of view. For example, a verse in the Quran (al-Nisaa 23) states, } } ,, ... f-:. _ C ࣜ..>- յ,,,. Ƒ"\ - } @I ' - "" '<>'J \' - ਅ This literally means, "Your mothers are forbidden to you." However, an object in itself cannot be forbidden. What is forbidden is an action with respect to that 1 Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Portland House, 1989), p. 464. 2 This is a variation of Hadith #37 in this collection. With the above wording, it has been recorded by Abu Nuaim. It will be noted later that this is not the correct wording of the hadith. 3 In general, the first interpretation is attributed to the Shafi' ees while the latter is that of the Hanafis. This concept will be discussed in greater in the commentary to Hadith #39. Hadith #1 : All Actions are but by Intentions . . . object. Hence, this verse is clearly understood to mean, "Your mothers are forbidden to you [in marriage]." The exact same form of speech can be found in the English language. If someone says that "alcohol is prohibited," he does not mean that the substance is prohibited but he means that certain acts with respect to that substance are prohibited. For example, he may mean, "The consumption of alcohol is prohibited," "The selling of alcohol is forbidden," or, "The production of alcohol is forbidden." ( d) The grammatical construct requires extra speech. This could be an example of idhmaar. Again, as stated above, in general, one does not resort to taqdeer or assuming non-stated words unless one absolutely has to. That is, it is taken as a given that any speech contains all of the words that it needs. Only when that cannot be considered the case, as in the different cases described above, does one then assume that something must have been left non-stated. When this occurs, one then has to determine what has not been stated and what is implied. According to the Hanafis, since such an assumption is done in a case of necessity, one must assume the least possible to make the statement complete. Others state that one must assume what seems to be closest to the meanings of the words that have been stated. For example, if a thing itself is being denied, then an assumption that is closest to denying an entire thing must be selected, as shall be made clearer below in this case. 1 Has Something been Left Out of the Statement, "All actions are but by Intention"? The scholars differ as to whether the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), "All actions are but by intention," is in need of taqdeer, idhmaar or neither. Furthermore, they also differ as to what should be assumed.