Mules that are domesticated donkeys are impure [Part 32]

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Mules that are domesticated donkeys are impure. [end of text]

Meaning, mules that are born from a hybrid of domesticated donkeys are also impure.

However, if the mule is born from a wild donkey then the mule is pure.

This means, if the domesticated donkey drinks from a vessel or eats from a stockpile of food, then whatever it contaminates is impure. This is the view of the Madhab.

However, there is another view which is that the leftover of pure domesticated animals are pure. They argued that the ruling connected to domesticated animals is to create ease. 

Furthermore, some of the evidences used by those who say that such animals are impure sometimes contradict one another.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/461-464

End of Chapter

Domesticated Donkeys are Impure [Part 31]

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Domesticated donkeys are impure. [end of text]

This doesn’t include wild donkeys (like zebras) because they are permitted to eat, thus being pure.

Domestic donkeys are Haram to eat, thus are impure as it appears in the Hadith of Anas, as the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] told Abu Talha to make the announcement on the Day of Khaybar, ‘Allah and His Messenger have forbidden you from eating the meat of donkeys, because they are impure’.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/460-461

Wild Birds are Impure [Part 30]

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Wild birds are impure. [end of text]

Birds which are predators, such as eagles, and are bigger than cats are all impure.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/460

Wild Animals are Impure [Part 29]

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Wild animals are impure. [End of text]

Predators, such as wolves, tigers, leopards etc. are predators which are bigger than cats are all impure.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/460

Leftovers After Eating from a Vessel from Domesticated Animals are Pure [Part 28]

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Leftovers of cats and anything lesser than it, in domesticated animals, are pure. [End of text]

Leftovers refers to anything that the animal has eaten and has left over or shared a vessel to eat from.

The proof for this is the Hadith, ‘They are not impure, they are animals that are domesticated around you.’

The word ‘around you’ refers to humans frequently sharing vessels with them.

The statement here also shows that there is an analogy between cats and anything smaller than it in domesticated animals, as the Prophet told us that this was the reason for lenience in the ruling, thus any other animal which lives amongst us also takes the same ruling.

However, whatever the Shariah has not included then they don’t carry the same ruling, such as dogs. Dogs are domesticated however their leftovers are impure.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/458-460

Female Discharge is Pure but Nullifies the Wudhoo [Part 27]

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Female discharge is pure. [End of text]

The scholars differed on this.

Some of them said it is impure, so if it spreads on to a garment then the area must be washed. They stated that anything that comes out of the private parts is impure except if there is evidence to say it doesn’t.

However, this view involves a great deal of difficulty for women, as sometimes it’s a permanent state for women. Some women experience this problem a lot when they are pregnant.

Others from the scholars stated that this discharge is pure and this is the view of the Hanbali Madhab.

They stated that a man can have relations with his wife even if she has discharge and had it been impure he wouldn’t have been allowed to do so or would have been commanded to wash his private parts.

If we argue that stating it to be impure would lead to a great deal of difficulty for women, then we can also argue that a small amount is overlooked.

However, the first view is that female discharge is pure and the proof for this includes:

-The discharge is connected to the womb and not waste of food or drink, thus it carries a different ruling.

-There is no evidence to suggest it being impure.

However we need to establish, does it nullify Wudhoo?

As it comes out of the private parts then it nullifies the Wudhoo. However, if the discharge is excess from the womb and discharges itself from the vagina then the majority of the scholars state this nullifies the Wudhoo also.

However, Ibn Hazm was of the view that it doesn’t nullify Wudhoo as its not urine and not Madhiy and for us to establish it as a nullifier of Wudhoo then this would require evidence.

The view that it nullifies Wudhoo is safer however, if there inconsistence then she only makes Wudhoo for every Salat at the beginning of every prayer time and protects any contamination as much as possible.

However, if there is a lot of discharge but its not inconsistence (i.e. there is a period where the discharge will stop) then she must wait for that period and clean herself and make Wudhoo when there is no discharge.

A person may ask, how can it be pure but nullify Wudhoo?

In response we say its possible that something is pure but nullifies the Wudhoo, such as passing wind from the backside – that gas is pure but it nullifies the Wudhoo.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/456-458

Semen of Human is Pure [Part 26]

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Semen of human is pure. [End text from Zaad al-Mustaqni’]

Semen is what is ejaculated from humans with desire. Allah, the Most High, describes it:

‘Have we not Created you from thick water?’ [al-Mursalat: 20]

Meaning, it is thick and is a not a runny liquid. Through this semen humans are created, Allah, the Most High says:

‘And indeed We created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth). 13. Thereafter We made him (the offspring of Adam) as a Nutfah (mixed drops of the male and female sexual discharge) (and lodged it) in a safe lodging (womb of the woman).’ [al-Mu’minoon: 12-13]

So from semen Prophets, righteous servants, the truthful, martyrs and all the pious were created.

So to affirm the purity of human semen we have three angles:

1) In origin, all things are permissible and pure except with evidence.

2) The Hadith of ‘Aisha [may Allah be Pleased with her] that she used to scratch off the semen of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings be upon him] and wash it only when it was wet on the garment. Had semen been impure, scratching alone wouldn’t have purified the garment, and we know this because the Prophet [Peace and Blessings be upon him]  commanded that the woman going through al-Istihaadah must wash off any blood on her garment.

3) Through semen there have been many pious and pure people been created, so how can the origin of their creation be sourced from something impure?

Ibn al-Qayyim talks about this in his book Badai’ al-Fawai’d in which two people men debated on the origin of man (i.e. semen), is it pure or impure?

He says:

If a person argues that semen takes the same ruling as all other human waste, such as urine and defecation etc.

We say in response:

-Not everything that comes out of the human body is impure, such as phlegm and sweat is also another example of pure liquid.

-There's a huge difference between urine and defecation and semen as the former are waste products of food and drink. However, semen stems from blood and then changes into semen as desires grow. So comparing the two is not correct hence, rulings connected to them would also be different.

From this we have established that animals that are permissible to eat are pure in their waste – urine and defecation – as well as urine.

For humans, their semen is pure but urine and defecation are impure.

Animals that are not permitted to eat are not pure in their semen, urine and defecation.

As a result, some of the scholars have stated that whatever is pure in life is pure in its semen.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti', 1/453-455 

Semen of Animals that We are Allowed to Eat [Part 25]

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Its semen is pure. [End text from Zaad al-Mustaqni’]

Meaning, all animals that are permitted to eat, their semen is pure.

The evidence for this is the Ayah:

‘Allah has Created all animals from semen.’ [an-Noor 24:45]

Rationally, if their stool and urine is pure then the very origin of their creation, i.e. semen, will also be pure. 

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/453

The Semen of Halal Animals are Pure [Part 24]

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The semen of animals, which we are allowed to eat, is pure [end of Zad al-Mustaqni’].

Al-Uthaymeen states that the evidence for this includes:

‘Allah has created every moving (living) creature from water’ [24:45]

And,

‘And We have made from water every living thing’ [21:30]

So if the urine and feces of the animal is pure then its semen must even more appropriately pure because what is pure must be created from something pure.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/453

And Allah Knows best

Purity of Urine and Feces of Animals Which are Halal to Eat [Part 23]

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Animals which are allowed to be eaten are pure, so is their urine and faeces [end of text from Zaad al-Mutaqni’].

Al-Uthaymeen said such animals include camels, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits etc.

The evidence for this includes:

-The Prophet commanded the ‘Urayniyoon to benefit from camel urine and milk and didn’t command them to wash their utensils after drinking. If their urine was impure, he would have commanded them to wash it.

-The Prophet allowed us to pray in the goat pens where urine and feces of the animal are dense.

-A principle of ‘al-Baraa al-Usliyyah’ (i.e. in origin, there is no command). So whoever claims them to be impure would need to present evidence otherwise they remain pure.

As for those who state that all forms of urine and feces are impure because of the Hadith of the person who will be punished in the grave because he didn’t protect himself from urine.

In response we say that urine refers to his own urine, as some of the narrations of different wordings state.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/450-453

Offspring of Impure Objects are Not Impure [Part 22]

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Anything which dies and doesn’t have a following Nafs and is a offspring of something pure, is pure [end of text from Zaad al-Mutaqni’].

Al-Uthaymeen explains that a ‘Nafs’ refers to blood and ‘produced’ refers to it bleeding, if injured or killed.

Therefore, anything that is an offspring of such a being, is pure.               

But this is on two conditions:

1) that the being doesn’t have flowing blood

2) that the being is an offspring of something pure in origin

Then they are not impure in neither life nor death.

For example, cockroaches and other insects that don’t have blood within them. If they were to fall into water, then the water wouldn’t become impure.

But if a lizard was to fall into water, then Imam Ahmad regarded lizards as animals which have flowing blood within them, thus if it dies it takes the ruling as carryon (Maytah), this is similar to mice. When these animals die, they become impure.  

Thus, if it is born from something impure then the offspring is also impure, but this is assuming that entities don’t change due to Istihaalah (the process of changing).

If we were to say that some entities become pure due to Istihaalah, then in this case its possible that something which may be impure may become pure once dying. Based on this opinion, the second condition above is not necessarily binding.

For example, threadworms (which come from feces) is impure in the Madhab – as it’s an offspring of something Najis – whereas others said its not impure.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 449-450

And Allah knows best

The Kuffaar are Not Physically Impure [Part 21]

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Al-Uthaymeen states that Kuffaar are not physically impure.

If a person asks about the Aayah:

‘Verily, the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, and in the Message of Muhammad  ) are Najasun (impure)’ [9:28]

Then the answer is: impurity here refers to figurative impurity, because Allaah has permitted us to interact with the Kuffar and even marry from the People of the Book, and we haven’t been commanded to purify ourselves after interacting with them.

Some of the scholars stated that the Kuffar become impure at death, they argued:

-the generality of the Aayah above.

-The Hadith quoted above refers to believers alone.

-Their deceased are not washed because the entity of humans cant be purified by washing; if 

an impurity and the object cant be detached then washing it wont benefit it, so the Kaafir being figuratively impure isn’t correct rather impurity refers to the Kaafir human entirely.

In response we can say:

-impurity refers to figurative impurity because the body of the Kaafir is not physically impure, as previously exampled above.

-As for stating the Hadith above only refers to the believers, then this is not true either practically as exampled above.

-Not washing the deceased is not because they are impure but because out of rebuke towards them.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti 1/448

And Allah knows best

Humans Never Become Impure [Part 20]

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Humans don’t become impure due to death [end of text from Zaad al-Mustaqni’].

Al-Uthaymeen explains that this includes all humans; Muslims, Kuffaar, male, female etc.

The evidence for this includes:

-The generality of the Hadit, ‘The believer is never impure’.

-The Prophet said, ‘Wash the deceased with water and lotus leaves.’

-The command of the Prophet to wash his daughter when she passed away.

All of this shows that the body itself is not impure because if something was physically impure, then washing it wouldn’t purify it.

For example, washing a dog would never purify it.

Washing the deceased here is to remove anything impure off the body, but not that the body itself is impure.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/447-448

Small Forms of All Impurities are Overlooked [Part 19]

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However, the Hanbali Madhab say only 1) blood from animals and the 2) the traces of Istijmaar are two forms of impurity that are overlooked, anything else which is impure is not overlooked, such as urine or vomit etc.

However the scholars differed on this:

The first view is that all forms of impurities are never overlooked.

The second view is the view of the Hanbalis; it only includes animal blood and the place of Istijmaar.

The third view is that all forms of impurities are overlooked, this is the view of the Hanafis and Ibn Taymiyyah.

This is because Allaah, the Most High, Said:

“and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship” [22:78]

And this is the correct view because if we are to excuse some forms of impurities then to differentiate between what’s tolerated and not would evidence.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 446-447

And Allah Knows best

Istijmaar is a Purifier [Part 18]

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Small traces of Istijmaar (dry cleaning of impurity after relieving oneself) is overlooked of impurity in its place [end of text].

Al-Uthaymeen explains that the if Istijmaar has done correctly according to the Shariah, and all its conditions have been fulfilled (its details have already been posted) then traces of impurity that may remain are overlooked, however with the Hanbalis - it is not considered as being pure until washed properly.

The evidence for this is that the Prophet has been authentically been reported to being sufficed with Istijmaar when relieving himself after urine and defection.

So the impurity is not removed but is overlooked and the person must perform Wudhoo in order to pray and his Salat is correct. Even if he has traces of impurity left, this is overlooked.

A – the Hanbali Mahdab specified with the wording ‘in its place’ – meaning if the impurity transgressing its place from the place of origin, then this is not overlooked.

For example, if a person bled and the blood continued to spread further than the cut such as it going on to his clothes, then this is not overlooked.

This is because they didn’t view Istijmaar as being a form of purification, the traces remain impure but its overlooked.

The correct view is that if Istijmaar is completed properly, with its conditions, then it’s a form of purification and the evidence is that the Prophet said that bones and animal waste, ‘Don’t purify’.

So the fact that he prohibited in using bones and animal waste and stated that they don’t purify, shows that what is permitted to use for Istijmaar DOES purify.

Based on this, if the impurity spreads from its place and the person does Isjtimaar on it then its purified.

This is from the leniency of the Shariah upon the Ummah.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti, 1/446-447

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Istijmaar: Minor Traces of Impurities is Overlooked (Part 17)

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-The place of Istijmaar is pure (text of Zaad al-Mustaqni).

Al-Uthaymeen explains that Istijmaar refers wiping impurities.

The conditions for Istijmaar (including using stones or toilet paper) are:

            -It must be pure and permissible in and of itself.

            -It must be able to remove the dirt.

-It cannot be something that other people benefit by. So the Prophet forbade using bones as it is the food for the Jinn, so food for humans and animals is even more appropriate not to use. Also, this would be a form of wasting and showing of ingratitude.

-Something that is respected or sanctified in the religion.

-It is mustahab to wipe with a minimum of three wipes, either three stones or papers or three sides but wiping or using an odd number.

IF the above conditions are met, then the place of Istijmaar is pure even if a small amount of impurity remains:

-It is proven that the Prophet did Istijmaar after urinating and defecating.

Based on the above, if a person prays after making Istijmaar then his prayer is correct and cant be said that his Salaah is invalid as minor traces remain.

[TN: this issue faces many people in the west, especially when trying to purify themselves at work or in public places]

1/444-445

And Allah Knows best

Animals - Pure vs. Impure (Part 16)

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-Animals which are pure (text of Zaad al-Mustaqni)

Al-Uthaymeen explains that animals are either pure or impure or that which doesn’t have blood flowing within it, such as insects.

What is impure are animals which we are not permitted to eat, but other than that then they are pure. 

The only exception made are cats and kittens:

-The Hadith of Aboo Qatadah where he was going to preform Wudhoo from a bowl in which a kitten had drank from, and the Prophet said about this, “They are not impure, they are domestic animals.” [Ahmad (5/296), Abu Dawud (75), an-Nasaa’i (1/54), at-Tirmidhi (92) - classed as Saheeh by him and Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Uqayli, Ibn Hibban, al-Haakim and others.]

The Hadith gives guidance that any animal which is domesticated carries the same ruling, so if an animal is domesticated and live amongst humans (such as donkeys), although they may be Haram to eat, the animal is pure.

1/443-444

And Allah Knows best

Blood - Pure vs. Impure (Part 15)

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Al-Uthaymeen states that the correct opinion is that slight impurities is always overlooked.

A - What is defined as “small” is a issue of difference between the scholars, but as preceded “small” is left up to what is customarily.

B – Also, the author pointed out that blood may be pure and impure. Blood if of three types:

1-That which is always impure, such as blood that comes out of the private parts or blood in animals unless the animal is slaughtered properly (whatever remains is legal, see point #2).

2-Blood that is impure but a slight amount maybe overlooked such as blood left in an animal after sacrifice or human blood on ones clothes. The only exception given to human blood is the blood of a martyr, with the majority, as we are commanded not to wash this off.

3-Blood which is always pure, such as the blood of fish, the blood that remains in the organs of a sacrificed animal (veins, heart, brains, liver etc.) or insects. These never need washing and are pure as in the Hadeeth, “If a fly falls into one of your drinks then dip it in because one of its wings has a disease but the other has a cure.”

However, al-Uthaymeen is of the opinion that all types of blood are pure except if they come out of the private parts. He stated as evidence:

-There is no real evidence to suggest that blood as a substance is impure except for menses and Nifaas and the likes.

-The Prophet describes rules pertaining to menses, irregular bleeding (Istihaadah), injuries, Hijaamah and other issues connected to blood but never described blood as being always impure.

-The Muslims have always prayed Salaat whilst in battle and their clothes and weapons having blood on them.

-The body of a human is pure, so if a person has a cut on his hand and he bleeds, his hand is not considered as being impure all of sudden.

-If the blood in a dead fish is permitted then the blood of an alive human must be more so pure.

-Making blood impure by comparing to everything else that exits the body (urine, faeces, vomit etc,) is false, because that which you comparing it to is a product of bad smells and a process of waste.

-There’s a contradiction also – you say a small amount of blood is overlooked by other substances you have compared blood to isn’t overlooked!?

-Comparing blood and texts relating to menstruating blood is also false because menstruating blood comes out of the private parts, and again, is a product of waste and carries a bad smell.

So those who opined that blood is pure, other than which we have mentioned above, is a very strong view.

As for those who say blood is impure, they make two exceptions:

1.       It remains impure in all cases

2.       A small amount is overlooked

In response, al-Uthaymeen rejects this because there is no real evidence for the first exception then the second exception will be nullified by default, because impurities are not overlooked at all except with proof.

1/439-443

And Allah Knows best

Small Amounts of Impurities are Overlooked (Part 14)

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-Small amounts of impure blood, other than blood in liquids and foods, are overlooked (text of Zaad al-Mustaqni).

Al-Uthaymeen states that the correct opinion is that slight impurities is always overlooked. 

1/439

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Cleaning Urine and Faeces of Babies (Part 13)

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-Urine of baby boys (who are not weaning) can be sprinkled over with water (text from Zaad al-Mustaqni).

Al-Uthaymeen explains that faeces for boys and urine and faeces for girls must be cleaned as normal – washed until the impurities have been removed.

However, boys who have not begun weaning yet can have their urine sprinkled over:

-Hadeeth of A’aishah that Umm Qays bin Muhsan al-Asdiyyah gave her child to the Prophet and he urinated on his clothes so the Prophet called for water and he didn’t wash it. [al-Bukhaaree (222) and Muslim (286)]

If a person asks about why the boy has been specified then we may say in response:

                 

-The Wahy is sufficient for a reason.

-It is easier for the parents as urine from the penis spreads further and broader.

-Once he starts weaning, his urine changes in concentration and then must be washed.

ash-Sharh al-Mumti 1/437-438

and Allah Knows best