Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And in the answer to 'How is Zayd?' say 'Dunaf' *** So Zayd was dispensed with when he was known."
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The Shaykh : And in the answer to: "How is Zayd?", one says: "Say: Dunaf", meaning sick. A questioner asked, "How is Zayd?" and I said: "Dunaf", meaning sick. Here we say that "Dunaf" is the predicate of a deleted subject. So what is deleted now is the subject, and the implied meaning is: "Zayd is Dunaf" or "He is Dunaf." Both are permissible. The important point is that the subject is deleted. Is it permissible to delete both the subject and the predicate? The answer is: Yes, if the subject and predicate are known and there is no obstacle. For example, if someone asks you, "Is Zayd standing?" and you say, "Yes," what was deleted?
The student: The subject and the predicate.
The Shaykh : Because "Yes" is a particle of response, not a sentence. So what was deleted is the subject and the predicate. That is, "Yes" means "Yes, Zayd is standing," so both parts were deleted. As for what some people cited as an example, which is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[At-Talaq 65:4] Whoever cited this verse as an example for deleting the subject and the predicate, his example is not correct, where he said that the implied meaning is: "And those who have not menstruated, their waiting period is three months." This example is not correct. First: We do not accept that what is deleted is a sentence, since it is possible to estimate: [At-Talaq 65:4] Likewise, is that not so? And "Likewise" is not a sentence, so the subject and predicate were not both deleted in it. Second: Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that what is deleted is the subject and the predicate, but this subject and predicate is actually a predicate, because the subject and predicate here stand in for? For a predicate only, because [At-Talaq 65:4] is the subject, "their waiting period" is a second subject, "three months" is the predicate of the second subject, and the sentence consisting of the second subject and its predicate is in the position of the predicate of the first subject. So what is actually deleted is?
The student: The predicate.
The Shaykh : The predicate. So the example using the verse is not valid for the two reasons I mentioned: First: It is possible to estimate the predicate as "Likewise," which is a singular noun, and it is known that the fewer the estimated words, the better and more preferable. Second: Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that the verse is on the estimation of "And those who have not menstruated, their waiting period is three months" for the suitability of this estimation with what preceded, we would say that what is deleted is not the subject and the predicate, but rather what is deleted is the predicate, but it became a sentence. So the correct example now is to say: "Is Zayd standing?" and it is said: Yes, meaning Zayd is standing. So Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) gave us a rule, and illustrated it with only two examples: he illustrated the deletion of the predicate, and he illustrated the deletion of the subject, but he did not illustrate the deletion of both. So is it said that he—meaning Ibn Malik—was deficient in that?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : So the answer is: No, because the example is intended to clarify the rule, and the rule has preceded, which is: "Deleting what is known is permissible", so this includes what is known from a subject or a predicate or from a subject and predicate.
The student: The subject and the predicate.
The Shaykh : Because "Yes" is a particle of response, not a sentence. So what was deleted is the subject and the predicate. That is, "Yes" means "Yes, Zayd is standing," so both parts were deleted. As for what some people cited as an example, which is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated
واللائي يَئسن من المحيض مِن نسائكم إن ارتبتم فعدتهن ثلاثة أشهر واللائي لم يحضنand [also for] those who have not menstruated
واللائي لم يحضنand [also for] those who have not menstruated
اللائي لم يحضنThe student: The predicate.
The Shaykh : The predicate. So the example using the verse is not valid for the two reasons I mentioned: First: It is possible to estimate the predicate as "Likewise," which is a singular noun, and it is known that the fewer the estimated words, the better and more preferable. Second: Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that the verse is on the estimation of "And those who have not menstruated, their waiting period is three months" for the suitability of this estimation with what preceded, we would say that what is deleted is not the subject and the predicate, but rather what is deleted is the predicate, but it became a sentence. So the correct example now is to say: "Is Zayd standing?" and it is said: Yes, meaning Zayd is standing. So Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) gave us a rule, and illustrated it with only two examples: he illustrated the deletion of the predicate, and he illustrated the deletion of the subject, but he did not illustrate the deletion of both. So is it said that he—meaning Ibn Malik—was deficient in that?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : So the answer is: No, because the example is intended to clarify the rule, and the rule has preceded, which is: "Deleting what is known is permissible", so this includes what is known from a subject or a predicate or from a subject and predicate.