A verbal noun1 names an act without specifying its tense: for example, قِيَام means standing. Standing briefly or for longer describes its amount or extent; it does not itself count separate repetitions.
Similarly, water and honey can mean a little or a large amount. A drop and the water of a sea can both be called water. An amount and a count of separate acts are different ideas.
The command طَلِّقِي includes the meaning of طَلَاق. In this Hanafi explanation, its intended instance may be:
• the minimum instance: 1 divorce;
• the full instance: the complete available number, treated together as one whole.
For a free wife in this example, 3 is the full number; 2 is neither the minimum nor the full number. This explains the difference without turning one command into repeated exercises.
1. Verbal noun: a word naming an act, such as “standing,” without saying when it happens.
- An Amount Is Not a Repeated Act