Sarih (the explicit word in law: its meaning, its sources, the difference from the allusive word, and its rules across the chapters of law)

In language sarih is what is free of the attachments of others. As a term it is an utterance whose meaning is open through frequent use. The allusive word (kinaya) is one whose meaning is hidden in use, and the indirect hint (ta'ridh) conveys a meaning the hearer understands without stating it. The explicit word is understood on utterance without intention; the allusion leaves the hearer in doubt and so needs intention. ^{1 2}

Jurists differ on whether the explicit word comes from the law or from common use. al-Subki held there are grades: first, what recurs in the Quran and Sunna and is common among scholars and laymen, like the word for divorce, which is explicit beyond doubt; then what recurs but is not common; then what occurs once but is common; then what is common in the speech of the lawgivers without being attested; and finally what is neither attested nor common among scholars but is common among laymen, which the sounder view counts as allusive. ²

The first rule is that the explicit word carries an element of worship, so a man's claim that by "divorce" he meant freeing from bonds is not accepted. The second is that an explicit word can become allusive by verbal context. The third is that the explicit word needs no intention to take effect, while the allusion does; the compelled man's intention is an exception. The fourth is that explicit words operate by themselves without being prompted; the exception is an unbeliever asked to say the testimony of faith, which the schools dispute when he says it unprompted. The fifth is that any heading of a chapter of the law gives an explicit derivative, with exceptions such as ablution, dry ablution, partnership and release. The sixth is that an explicit word which takes effect in its own field is not an allusion in another, as divorce is not a dissolution or zihar by intention. ^{3 4 5}

Explicit and allusive wording occurs in all chapters of law, except that betrothal and marriage have no allusion; in slander the explicit, the allusive and the indirect all occur. ⁵ In sale the explicit form is "I sell to you" and "I buy" or "I accept". In endowment it is "I have endowed", "I have given in charity as a perpetual endowment" or "I have held back", which some Malikis and Shafi'is treat as allusive unless qualified. In gift it is "I give you", "I grant you", "I have given you" or "I made it yours". In betrothal the explicit form is stating the wish to marry, and any other form is an indirect hint. In marriage the explicit form is "I marry" or "I give in marriage". In release (khul') it is the word release or ransom. In divorce the explicit form is the word itself and its derivatives; the words "separation" and "release" are not explicit by the majority. In zihar it is "you are to me as the back of my mother". In slander the explicit form is the charge of unlawful intercourse, the allusion is "you wicked man", and the indirect hint is "I am not an adulterer". In vows it is "a vow to God for such-and-such", and the schools differ on "a thing is due to God" without the word vow. ^{5 6 7 8 9 10}