Discover the meaning of the term Al-mfrd (مفرد) in Islamic vocabulary.
Contents :
Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThat whose expression's parts do not indicate parts of its meaning.
That whose coined expression's parts do not indicate parts of it. The difference between the mufrad (singular) and the wahid (one) is that the mufrad may be real or conventional, and may apply to all genera, whereas the wahid applies only to real unity.
It applies as an attribute to both the expression and the meaning; however, the singular expression (lafz mufrad) is the expression whose part does not indicate a part of its meaning, and the singular meaning (ma'na mufrad) is the meaning whose expression's part does not indicate a part of it. It is well known that ifrad is essentially an attribute of the expression among the grammarians; but the statement of the star of the imams, the distinguished one of the community, the Shaykh al-Radi al-Astarabadi, may Allah the Most High have mercy on him, proclaims that ifrad is an attribute of the expression among the logicians and of the meaning among the grammarians. The mufrad, among the arithmeticians, is the counterpart of the composite.
That whose part does not indicate a part of its meaning. (Lubb al-Usul, p. 36).
That whose part is not intended to indicate a part of its meaning.
That whose part does not indicate a part of its meaning (al-Ta'rifat, p. 240).
With fatha of the ra: that whose expression does not indicate a part of its meaning; with kasra of the ra: one who assumed ihram alone for the hajj.