Removing impurities and impure objects (2)

There are some pure exceptions:

1- A human dead body which is pure for the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "A believer never becomes impure." In another narration: "A Muslim."[1]

This includes a human body during life and death.

2- Animals which has no liquid soul such as small insects which have no blood such as flies, mosquitoes, butter flies, bees. All tiny insects which have no liquid soul are pure because most people may be touch these bloods, so it was overlooked, even if they fall into liquids, they will be pure.

3- Fish and grasshoppers are pure because of the Hadith of `Abdullah in `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Two dead things and two kinds of blood are made lawful for us. As for the dead things, they are whales and grasshoppers As for the two types of blood, they are the liver and the spleen."[2]

A benefit:

Spleen is an organ which falls between the stomach and diaphragm in the left part of the abdomen and its function is creating blood and consuming old blood corpuscles.

Sheikh `Abdur-Rahman As-Sa`dy (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said in his book "Manhaj As-Salikin": [As for edible animals' dungs and urine, they are pure. A human sperm is also pure because the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to wash wet sperm or rub off the dry sperm].

Explanation:

Pure objects which the author mentioned are:

1- Edible animals' dung and urine are pure.

The proof to that is the Hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) which was reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim about the people of `Aran whose bodies got sick and the Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded them to drink from the milk and urine of camels which were made for charity.[3]

It is well-known that it is unlawful to drink anything impure. If a person says that this is a necessity, we say: If that was necessary, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would command them to wash its traces.

Shaykh-ul-Islam (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: The urine and dung of edible animals are pure. There is no Companions ever declared it to be impure, however this view is new and has no origin from the Righteous Predecessors.

2- The human sperm is pure.

Sperm of males is white, whereas the sperm of females is yellow, and in general, it smells like the odor of pollen of date palm or dough which gushes out at intensive excitement. The sperm of males is thick, whereas the sperm of females is regularly thin.

The proof to its purity is the saying of `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "I used to rub off semen from the Messenger's garment and he would offer Salah thereafter."[4]

If it had been impure, she would rub it off then clean its trace which she did not do.

Accordingly, if a person took a ritual bath after the excretion of sperm then puts up his clothes which were touched by semen and offers Salah, his Salah shall be correct and valid because of the purity of sperm.

A benefit:

As for prostatic fluid, it is impure. Prostatic fluid is a whitish secretion that is one of the constituents of the semen which is found at the top of penis without having the odor of semen and comes out in excitement or non-excitement. The proof to its impurity is the Hadith of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: "I used to get the emotional urethral discharge frequently, and I felt shy to ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) because the status of his daughter to me (as being my wife). So, I requested Al Miqdad to ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) about it. Al Miqdad asked him and he replied: One has to wash his penis and perform ablution (thereafter)."[5]

Scholars have agreed on impurity of prostatic fluid, and it entails ablution unlike semen which entails ritual bath.

It shall be mentioned in the chapter on things that entail ritual bath.

The author (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: The urine of a young boy who has not been given ordinary food, it is enough to clean it by spraying water as the Prophet said: "It is only the urine of a female which should be washed; the urine of a male should be sprinkled over." [Reported by Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'y].

Explanation:

It was mentioned that the human urine whether a person is grown up or young is impure. There is one exception which is the young baby who has not been given ordinary food, so the urine of such baby is cleaned by sprinkling water unlike young female whose urine must be cleaned by washing.

The proof to that is:

A- The Hadith of `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: "Once an infant was brought to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and it urinated on his clothes. He asked for water and sprinkled it over the place of the urine and did not wash his clothes."[6] And the Hadith of Um Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) who reported: "He sparkled it without washing it.[7]"

B- The Hadith of Abu As-Samh (may Allah be pleased with him) which the author mentioned that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "It is only the urine of a female which should be washed; the urine of a male should be sprinkled over."[8]

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The urine of a male should be sprinkled over."

This excludes excrement which must be washed and cleaned and the urine of the baby who eats ordinary food is impure and the urine of human whether young or old is impure.

[Who has not been give ordinary food] Ibn Hajar (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said:  The meaning of ordinary food is regular food unlike suckled milk, the date which is used for Tahnik (putting a fresh chewed date on the lips of a young baby to suck its sweet taste), and honey which is given for treatment.

Accordingly, if a young baby starts to eat ordinary food, his urine shall be like the grown up which must be washed and cleaned, and it is not enough to sprinkle it.

The meaning of sprinkling is to sprinkle water on the spot of impurity to include it all without rubbing or squeezing the spot.

The wisdom behind the distinction between the urine of male and female babies:

It was said: Because a young male is frequently carried and hearts are attached easily with him, therefore its purification was made easy.

Others said: Because its urine spreads fast, so it is difficult to clean it unlike female babies whose urine is located in one spot. If these differences are wrong, it is important to know that this is a Sunnah that must be followed even without knowing the wisdom behind it.

Sheikh `Abdur-Rahman As-Sa`dy (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said in his book "Manhaj As-Salikin": [When impurity is removed, the spot will be pure even if there are some stains or the smell because of the Prophet's saying to Khawalah bint Yasar (may Allah be pleased with her) about the menstrual blood: "It is enough for you to use water and its trace will not harm you"].

Explanation:

The writer mentioned this issue to explain that washing all impurities is meant to remove impurity and when the impure object is removed, the place becomes pure even if the trace remains whether smell or stain which has no ruling. Hence, when a garment is touched by impure object such as menstrual blood and impurity is removed but leaving stains, there is no harm.

The proof to that is the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Khawlah bint Yasar (may Allah be pleased with her) when she complained of menstrual blood when it touches a garment, thereupon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Water is enough for you and its trace shall not harm you."[9]

What is intended is to remove impurity regardless the left over stains.

Taken from Bidayat Al Mutafaqqihin in the explanation of Manhaj As-Salikin (the book of purification).