Uṣūl al-Fiqh Lesson 17: The Designation of Words PDF

Uṣūl al-Fiqh Lesson 17: The Designation of Words Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi  THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS There are two major views on how the connection between words and their meanings should be understood. It is the second view mentioned in the previou...

Uṣūl al-Fiqh Lesson 17: The Designation of Words Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi  THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS There are two major views on how the connection between words and their meanings should be understood. It is the second view mentioned in the previous lesson than is prominent amongst scholars and true. This opinion says that there was a person or a group of people who began designating words to particular meanings during the formation, evolution or development of that language. As the knowledge of that designation spread within that community, this became a part of their language. When that word would be uttered, the meaning of that word would spring into their minds. This designation is the cause of the relationship between a word and its meaning. This is called ‫الوضع‬. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 2  QUESTIONS ABOUT DESIGNATION How does the designator or the originator of the language create a bond between a word and a meaning, a bond that never existed before? Is the designation itself sufficient to create this bond whereby the mind instantly moves from the word to the meaning, simply on hearing or reading that word? Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 3  THE HUMAN MIND We see in our day-to-day life that where the conceptualisations of two things are attached to one another, a causal connection is created in the mind, whereby the conceptualisation of one will lead to the conceptualisation of the other. This ‘attachment’ of the two must have strength, either in quantity or in quality. A quantitatively strong attachment is where the accompaniment of the two is repeated numerous times, even if it is by chance, such that the conceptualisation of one will cause the conceptualisation of the other. For example, two friends that are always seen together. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 4  THE HUMAN MIND A qualitatively strong attachment is where the accompaniment of the two may occur once or twice, but the context of it is so important in our lives that the conceptualisation of one will cause the conceptualisation of the other. For example, if one becomes ill with malaria while journey in a particular country, whenever the thought comes of that country, he will also remember his malaria. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 5  THE HUMAN MIND AND LANGUAGE Before language, some words may have been spontaneously associated with specific meanings on numerous occasions or on an impressionable occasion, producing a lexical connection between the two. For example, “ah!” was repetitively used to express pain. This method would have continued in a more formal and intentioned manner to begin the creation of languages. This is also how a child would learn a language. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 6  THE HUMAN MIND AND LANGUAGE One clear example of the designation of words to specific meanings is the naming of a child. A word is assigned to that child as the proper noun to refer to him/her. The same is the case with all other proper nouns, e.g. names of rivers, mountains, cities, etc. This naming on momentous occasions or in a repetitive manner would give rise to designation, i.e. al-waḍʿ. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 7  TWO TYPES OF DESIGNATION There are two types of designation: َ (1) Immediate designation (‫)الوضع الت ْع ِي ْي ِ ِن‬: where a decision has been made to assign a word for a particular meaning, and that is how the designation occurs. َ (2) Gradual designation (‫)الوضع الت َع ُّي ِ ِن‬: where an abundance of usage of a word for a particular meaning leads to a designation. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 8  ESTABLISHING DESIGNATION One of the major results of designation is insibāq or tabādur. That is, the immediate movement of the mind to the designated meaning of a word, simply on hearing it. This occurs even if that meaning was not intended or that sound is coincidentally created. Therefore, al-tabādur reveals and indicates designation. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 9  ESTABLISHING DESIGNATION Kashf (the revelation and indication of something) occurs in one of two ways: 1. One looks to the effect, which reveals the cause – al-kashf al- innī. For example, one looks at the smoke, which reveals its cause – the fire. 1. One looks to the cause, which reveals the effect – al-kashr al- limmī. For example, one looks at the fire, which reveals its effect – the heat and smoke. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 10  ESTABLISHING DESIGNATION We understand al-tabādur to be the effect of designation. Therefore, when we sense al-tabādur, the meaning that comes immediate to the mind on hearing a word is its designated meaning (provided that the circumstances are free of such context that would take the mind to a non-designated meaning, e.g. a figurative meaning). There are other ways mentioned by scholars through which we can establish Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 11  ESTABLISHING DESIGNATION There are other ways mentioned by scholars through which we can establish whether a particular meaning is designated or not. For example, the fallacy of negation: that is, if the word cannot be negated for a particular meaning, this indicates that this meaning is designated for that word. For example, if I point to a glass of water and say, ‘this is not water’, I will realise the fallacy of this statement, and will thus know that this substance is what the word indicates through designation. Or if I point to a glass of milk and say, ‘this is not water’, I will find the truth in this statement, and thus know that the word ‘water’ does not indicate this substance. However, this method or other methods, all revert to al-tabādur. Hawza Online | Module: Usul al-Fiqh | Ali Abbas Malik Yusufi 2022 12