Definition of kinaya (metonymy):A word used to mean the necessary implication of its meaning, while the original meaning remains possible — it is more eloquent than direct statement because it proves the meaning through its evidence.
Types of kinaya:
- Metonymy of attribute — "They assign daughters to Allah... while they dislike them" (16:57) — metonymy for their double standard: elevating daughters for Allah while demeaning them for themselves.
- Metonymy of described thing — "Do not make your hand chained to your neck" (17:29) — metonymy for miserliness.
- Metonymy of attribution — "The hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of fire" — metonymy for the severity of their punishment.
Example of delicate metonymy in the creation verse:"He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth, then turned to the heaven." (2:29) — "for you" is a metonymy indicating that the human is the focus and purpose of creation — the entire earth with all it contains was created in service of the human. This meaning, if stated explicitly, would require sentences — the metonymy compressed it into a preposition.
Metonymy for intercourse: "Or you have touched women" — a delicate metonymy that preserves modesty while conveying the meaning.
Question: What are the three types of kinaya? What is the metonymy in "Do not make your hand chained to your neck"?
Answer: Of attribute — of described thing — of attribution. "Hand chained to neck": metonymy of the described thing (the miser) because the chained hand cannot spend.