Implicature of the generally applicable issues

Abstract

This paper discusses the implicature of the generally applicable issue; a term which is not common among theoreticians of Fiqh.  It refers to the implications of a term classified under another. In other words, a term is introduced to give the basic meaning “denotation”; however, some elements of the meaning could be directly or indirectly implied. Directly implied elements of the meaning are called “verbal generality”, while the indirectly implied elements are called “the generality of implicature”. The latter is discussed in detail in this paper. There are two types of  the generality of implicature:

(1) The associated meanings of the word such “women” can be included in the masculine plural.

(2) The word field that includes all elements of the word network in a given context such as the word “land” includes all related elements like construction and plant, when sold for instance.  

The methods to identify implicature are diverse, of which four are only discussed in the paper: the Islamic law, language, custom, and evidence /context.   Two conditions should be met to include an element into another: convincing evidence and absence of reasons that prevent it.