A Principle of Usul al-Fiqh: Ruling on an Individual with the Ruling of the General Does Not Necessitate Specification

The Shaykh : Ruling on an individual with the ruling of the general does not necessitate specification, according to the stronger opinion among the principles of jurisprudence scholars, as al-Shanqiti and others mentioned in his book. If it is said, “In silver, a quarter of a tenth,” and “In silver, zakah,” is there a contradiction between them? No, why? Because it established for the individual the ruling of the general. Specification only occurs when we establish for the individual a ruling that contradicts the ruling of the general. Let me give you an example to clarify the matter: If I said, “Honor the students,” this is a formulation that includes every student. Then, if I said, “Honor Muhammad,” and he is one of the students, does that mean we do not honor any of the students except Muhammad? No, the honoring of the students remains, but we mentioned Muhammad to emphasize honoring him, not to specify him with the ruling. Now, if I said, “Honor the students,” which is a general formulation, and then said, “Do not honor Muhammad,” and he is one of the students, here there is specification; we excluded Muhammad from the general. Why? Because we established for him a ruling that contradicts the ruling of the general. Therefore, mentioning some individuals of the general with a ruling that agrees with the ruling of the general is not specification. Specification is when the individual is mentioned with a ruling that is what? Contradicts the ruling of the general. Thus, it becomes clear that the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): does not necessitate excluding jewelry from the obligation of zakah. Why? We said: Because some scholars said that “silver” (al-riqqah) is a name for both coined and uncoined silver. The second point is that “silver” is an individual from the individuals of the general, mentioned with a ruling that agrees with the ruling of the general, and this does not necessitate specification.