How can one reconcile the two rules: "Addition (al-idafa) necessitates specification" and "A singular noun, when added, signifies generality," and what is the implication of addition in examples such as "Zayd's servant attended" and his (PBUH) saying: "Then he sat in his prayer place"?

Some Usulis (scholars of legal theory) have held that a singular noun added to a definite noun (definite by al-) implies generality, citing the verse: "And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them." (Qur'an 14:34). Whereas the majority hold that it does not imply generality, and that "favor" (ni'mah) in the noble verse is a generic noun and not a singular noun, and that there is no evidence that a singular noun added to a definite noun implies generality.

The ramifications of this disagreement appear in jurisprudential issues such as: - Does the hadith "he glorifies with his hand" imply generality to include both hands? - Are all of a man's wives divorced if he says, "My wife is divorced," and he has four wives and did not intend a specific one? - Is it obligatory to sacrifice a number of sheep equal to the number of sons if he says, "I vowed to sacrifice my son"? - Does a bequest include all neighbors if he says, "I bequeathed to my neighbor Muhammad," and he has more than one neighbor?

Specification, according to the Usulis, is the restriction of a general term to some of its individuals, while according to grammarians, it is the distinguishing of the specific and its exclusion from the indefinite without reaching the degree of definite.