Islam > Glossary > Al-mṭlqa al-ʿama
Discover the meaning of the term Al-mṭlqa al-ʿama (مطلقة العامة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIt is the proposition in which the predicate's being affirmed of the subject, or denied of it, is judged as actual; the affirmation as when we say: every man is breathing (by the general absolute proposition); and the negation as when we say: no man is breathing (by the general absolute proposition).
It was named mutlaqa (absolute) because the proposition, when stated unrestricted by a condition of permanence, necessity, non-permanence or non-necessity, yields the understanding of actuality; this meaning being understood of the absolute proposition, it received the name. It is called 'amma (general) because it is broader than the non-permanent existential and the non-necessary existential, these being the two general absolute propositions restricted respectively by essential non-permanence and non-necessity; and there is no doubt that what is unrestricted is broader than what is restricted.
That in which the predicate's being established of the subject, or denied of it, is judged as actual.
That in which the predicate's being established of the subject, or denied of it, is judged as actual. (At-ta'rifat, p. 233).