Rules Regarding Purities and Impurities

Rules Regarding Purities and Impurities

1. At the time of threshing out the grain, an ox urinates on the grain. Because of necessity, this will be excused. In other words, the grain will not become impure. But if it urinates on it at some other time, the grain will become impure because there is no necessity now.
2. The food prepared by a disbeliever, his utensils, and his clothes will not be regarded as impure until and unless there is some proof or indication of its impurity. .
3. It is wrong of some people to use the fat of lions, etc. and to regard it as pure. However, if a religious-minded doctor says that there is no cure other than the fat, then in such a case, some Ulama say that it will be permissible. But it will be necessary to purify oneself from it when performing salaat.
4. Mud and dirty water that is on the roads is excused on condition that the impurity is not seen on the body or clothes. This is the fatwa on this matter. However, caution demands that the person who does not travel to the markets and on the roads very often, should always try and cleanse his body and clothes from this mud and dirty water even if he does not see any impurity.
5. When any impurity is burnt, its smoke becomes pure. If it becomes hard and something is made out of it, then it will also be pure. As has been said of sal ammoniac, 17 that it is made out of impure smoke.
6. Sand and dust that is on top of some impurity is pure on condition that the dampness of the impurity does not make them damp as well.
7. Gases that rise from impurities are pure. Worms that emerge from fruits are pure, but it is not proper to eat them if they are alive (or even dead). The same rule applies to the worms of wild figs, etc.
8. When edibles such as meat, sweetmeats, etc. get stale and begin to stink, they do not become impure. But when taking into consideration the harm that can be caused, it will not be proper to consume them.
9. Musk and the bag from which it is extracted are pure. The same applies to amber.
10. The saliva which comes out from a person's mouth while he is sleeping IS pure.
11. An egg whose colour has changed is pure as long as it is not broken.
12. The skin of a snake is pure.18
13. The water with which impure clothes were washed is also impure, irrespective of whether the water was used to wash the first, second or third time. However, the difference in these three waters is that if the water which was used to wash the first time falls on some clothing, this clothing will be purified after it is washed three times. If the water of the second time falls, then the clothing will be purified after it is washed twice. And if the water of the third time falls, then it will be purified after washing it once.
14. The water with which a dead person is given a bath is impure.
15. The skin of a snake is impure, i.e. the skin which is still attached to its body. The skin which it sheds is pure.
16. The saliva of a dead person is impure.
17. On one side of a cloth an excusable amount of impurity falls and seeps through the other side. The impurity that seeps through is also of an excusable amount. However, if both these excusable amounts are added together, they exceed the excusable limit. Even then it will be regarded as less and therefore excusable. But if the cloth is double-folded or two cloths have been placed together, and when added together they exceed the limit, it will not be excusable.
18. If one or two pieces of dung or excreta of a cow or goat fall into the milk while they are being milked, it is excusable as long as the dung or excreta is removed immediately. If it falls at some time other than the time of milking, the milk will become impure.
19. If a four to five year old boy who does not understand what Wudu is, makes Wudu; or an insane person makes Wudu, then the water will not be considered to be musta'mal (in other words that water can be used for Wudu by someone else).
20. Water that is used to wash clean clothes, utensils and other pure items can be used for Wudu and Ghusl as long as its density does not change and as long as it is still referred to as water in normal conversation. But if there was some food or drink in the utensils, then using that water for Wudu or Ghusl will only be permissible if at least two of the three qualities of water remain unchanged. If two qualities change, Wudu or Ghusl will not be permissible.
21. It is makruh to drink used water, or to use it in cooking. Wudu and ghusl with such water is not permissible. However, it can be used to wash impurities.
22. The one who is in need of Wudu should not make Wudu with Zam Zam water. Nor should it be used by the one who has to have a bath. To wash impurities with it and to make istinja with it is makruh. However, if one is compelled to use it, in the sense that water cannot be found within 1.6 kilometres, and one cannot purify one's self in any other way, then all these things will be permissible with zam zam water.
23. The water that is left behind by a woman after she made wudu or ghusl should not be used by a man to make his Wudu or Ghusl. Although this is permissible according to the Hanafi Mazhab, it is not permissible according to Imam Ahmad Hambal. It is therefore better to abstain from those matters in which there is difference of opinion.
24. To make wudu or ghusl with the water of those places where some nation was punished by Allah Ta'ala, such as the people of Thamud (samood) and Aad, is not proper. There is also difference of opinion in this matter. It is therefore better to abstain from this. But if one is compelled, then the same rule as that for zam zam water will apply.
25. An oven19 which has become impure can be purified by lighting a fire in it on condition that after it gets hot, no traces of the impurity remain. 26. If an impure piece of ground is covered with sand and the impurity gets concealed in such a way that even its smell does not come, then the surface of the sand will be pure.
27. Soap made with impure oil or fat will become pure.
28. If the place of venesection (cutting of veins) or any other wound from which blood or pus came out became impure and washing it will be harmful, then it will be sufficient to wipe it with a wet cloth. It will not be necessary to wash the place after it has healed.
29. If an impure dye falls on the body or clothes or the hair gets coloured with this dye, it will be sufficient to wash them until clear water begins to flow even if the colour is not removed.
30. If a tooth which broke off is refitted with some pure or impure substance; or a broken bone is replaced by an impure bone; or a wound is filled with some impure substance; and all these get healed; then they (i.e. the impure substances) should not be removed. They will automatically become pure.
31. If any sticky substance which is impure, such as oil, ghee, the fat of a dead animal, gets stuck to something and is washed until clear water begins to flow, it will be purified even if the stickiness of that impurity remains.
32. Some impurity falls into pure water. By its falling, the water splashes and a few drops fall on someone. These drops are pure on condition that there are no traces of that impurity on the person.
33. If a cloth having two folds or a cloth that is filled with cotton (such as duvets) becomes impure on one side and is pure on the other side, then the whole cloth will be regarded as impure and salaat on it will not be permissible. This is only if the impure area of the impure side is the area on which the musalli will stand or prostrate. Another condition is that both the cloths must be sewn together. If they are not stitched together, then impurity on one side will not render the other side impure. In fact, salaat will be permissible on the pure side on condition that the cloth is so thick that the traces and smell of the impurity underneath do not come on top.
34. If a chicken or any other bird is boiled in water before its stomach, intestines and other filth can be removed, as is the custom today, it can in no way be regarded as pure.





Footnotes

*17 ammonium chloride, a white crystalline salt.

**18 This refers to skin which it has shed.

***19 This does not refer to electric or gas ovens which are prevalent in modem society. Rather, it refers to a type of earthen or clay furnace that is made in the ground. It is normally round in shape with a round mouth at the top. Coal is placed at the bottom of this oven while the rotis that are made in it are stuck on the under-surface of the oven. Such an oven is also referred to as a tandoor.