Impurities
What is impure and how to remove it
Core Principle
Impurity is what must be avoided and cleaned off; it is removed by washing with water after first removing the substance of the impurity and its traces
Why It Matters
What impurity has touched is not purified while its substance remains; many people pour water directly without first removing the substance of the impurity, so the impurity stays
Lesson
**Impurities (*najāsāt*)** are what a Muslim must avoid and wash away from his body, his clothes and his place.
What is impure:
- Everything that comes out of one of the two passages is impure: urine, *wadī*, *madhī*, *al-hādī*, and feces. - *Al-hādī*: a fluid that comes out of a pregnant woman near childbirth; it is impure, because everything that comes out of one of the two passages is impure. - Blood is impure. - The urine of animals whose flesh is forbidden to eat is impure, and likewise the urine of an animal that eats impure substances, for it is impure like the urine of what is forbidden to eat. - The dung of animals whose flesh is forbidden to eat is impure. - As for *al-ʿadhira* — that is, sheep droppings — from animals whose flesh is eaten, it is not impure. - As for *al-zaqq* — the droppings of animals and birds — the droppings of birds whose flesh is eaten, such as pigeons, are pure, except domestic chickens and ducks, for they eat impure substances, so their droppings are impure.
Parts of the dead animal (*mayta*):
A *mayta* is that from which life has gone out without a legal slaughter. Its flesh, its bone, its skin and its horns are impure, and its parts are impure. But that which has no life in it — such as hair, wool and fur — is pure.
Removing impurity:
Impurity is removed by washing, that is, by using water. One must first remove the substance of the impurity and its traces, and only then pour the pure, purifying water. It is not sufficient to remove it with a liquid other than water.
An example: the urine or the feces of a cat — many people pour water directly without first removing the substance of the impurity, and this is not enough.
Washing the vessel a dog has eaten from:
The vessel from which a dog has eaten is washed 7 times, one of them with soil.
Key Points
- 1
Everything that comes out of the two passages is impure, and blood is impure
- 2
The urine of animals whose flesh is forbidden is impure, as is the urine of an animal that eats impure substances; and the dung of what is forbidden to eat is impure
- 3
Sheep droppings (*al-ʿadhira*) are pure, and the droppings of pigeons are pure, except domestic chickens and ducks that eat impure substances, whose droppings are impure
- 4
The parts of a dead animal are impure; what has no life in it — hair, wool and fur — is pure
- 5
Impurity is removed by washing with water after first removing the substance of the impurity and its traces
- 6
Impurity cannot be removed with a liquid other than water
- 7
The vessel a dog has eaten from is washed 7 times, one of them with soil
Evidence
“Al-hādī: a fluid that comes out of a pregnant woman near childbirth; it is impure in the Maliki school, because everything that comes out of one of the two passages is impure.”
Islamweb fatwa 409285 (Dar al-Ifta), ahkam ma' al-hadi
“The droppings of birds whose flesh is eaten, such as pigeons, are pure, except domestic chickens and ducks, for they eat impure substances and their droppings are impure.”
Islamweb fatwa 543159 / 522759
Glossary
النجاسة
al-najāsa
What must be avoided and washed off the body, clothes and place
عين النجاسة
ʿayn al-najāsa
The substance of the impurity itself, which must be removed before pouring water
الودي والمذي
al-wadī wa-l-madhī
Two fluids that come out of one of the two passages, both impure
الهادي
al-hādī
A fluid that comes out of a pregnant woman near childbirth; it is impure, because everything that comes out of one of the two passages is impure
الميتة
al-mayta
That from which life has gone out without a legal slaughter
العذرة
al-ʿadhira
Sheep droppings from animals whose flesh is eaten; not impure
الزق
al-zaqq
The droppings of animals and birds; the droppings of edible birds such as pigeons are pure, except domestic chickens and ducks that eat impure substances, whose droppings are impure
الماء الطاهر المطهر
al-māʾ al-ṭāhir al-muṭahhir
Water that is itself pure and purifies others; it is what impurity is removed with
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