خُلِقَ الْمَاءُ طَهُوْرًا، يُطَهِّرُ مِنَ الأَحْدَاثِ وَالنَّجَاسَاتِ، فَلاَ
The Book of Purification
Rulings on the Types of Water
أَحْكَامِ الْمِيَاهِ
The book of purification
The book of prayer
Importance of Prayer & Ruling of its Abandonment
Facing the Qiblah & Intention in the Prayer
Etiquettes of Walking to Prayer and its Description
Description of Prayer Continued
Description of Prayer Continued
Description of Prayer Continued
Pillars and Mandatory Acts of Prayer
Two Prostrations of Forgetfulness
Supererogatory (Voluntary) Prayers
Supererogatory (Voluntary) Prayers Continued
Times of Prohibition of (Supererogatory) Prayer
Congregational Prayers & Latecomers
Jumu'ah (Congregational Friday) Prayer
The Book of Funerals
The Book of Fasting
Rulings on the Types of Water
The Rulings on the Types of Water
[General Rulings Concerning Water for Purification] 15
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful
15. Islam is a religion of purification. It purifies the body from filth; it purifies the mind from misconceptions, confusion, and all falsehood; and, most importantly, it purifies the soul from its evil inclinations. It does this while mercifully acknowledging humankind’s inherent weaknesses and susceptibility to error. Besides, Islam is about balance and moderation. While recognizing the primacy of the spirit, it does not aim to elevate any one of the elements of which man was created at the expense of another of those elements. It seeks to unite one’s exterior and interior in complete harmony. It asserts that the relationship between them is one of mutuality, and that it is not possible for one to be corrupt while the other continues to be virtuous and correct. There are three types of purification:
Physical purification: cleansing the body (as well as one’s garment and place of prayer) from all physical filth.
Ritual purification: attaining, through certain acts, a special state of purity that allows one to perform certain acts of worship, most notably the prayer.
Spiritual purification: cleansing the soul and mind from the diseases that afflict them, and instilling in them good qualities; its ultimate objective is sincere devotion to Allah (ST).
The first and second types are addressed in this chapter; the third type, which is by no means less important, is usually addressed in special books about the ‘heart softeners’ and manners (akhlâq), traditionally included under the discipline of sulook/taṣawwuf/tazkiyah.
16. Types of Water
Water, according to Sharia, is divided into four types:
1. Plain water, which includes that of seas, rivers, rain, snow, hail, and wells.
2. Used water (that is, water used to remove ritual impurity – assuming it was collected after dripping from someone who was performing ritual ablution).
3. Water mixed with pure substances.
4. Water mixed with impure substances.
17. Types of Water in Reference to Purity
What is pure is not necessarily purifying. For example, tea and ink are considered pure but, by consensus, you cannot use them to perform ablution and attain ritual purity. This applies to substances in general, but what about water?
Most scholars divide water into three categories:
1. Pure and purifying
2. Pure but not purifying
4. Impure
Some scholars, including (t), argue that as long as you call it water, without qualifying it, it is either 1) pure and purifying or 3) impure. If its characteristics were overwhelmed by a pure substance, then it would not be called water anymore but instead would be called tea or ink, for example.
Keep in mind throughout this chapter that impure/filthy does not refer to simply being unclean. Mud and tar, and even spittle and mucus, may be called ‘unclean,’ but, by consensus, they are not impure. On the other hand, pig flesh and human urine, feces, and menstrual blood are all impure by consensus.
18. Ritual impurities nullify the state of ritual purity. To regain that state, wuḍoo’ (ablution) or ghusl (a ritual bath) may be required.
19. This is because Allah (ST) said:
[Water Mixed with Impure Substances: Flowing versus Stagnant - Large versus Small Amount]
When the water amounts to qullatayn (two
فَإذا بَلَغَ الْمَاءُ قُلَّتَيْنِ أَوْ
{…And if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes after answering the call of nature, or you have been in contact with women (having sexual relations), and you find no water, perform tayammum (dry ablution) with clean earth…} (an-Nisâ’ 4: 43)
وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لَامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا
* The translations of the meanings of the verses of the Qur’an in this book (unless otherwise stated) are taken (with some changes to the text) from Saheeh International, The Qur’an: Arabic Text with Corresponding English Meanings. (Editor)
Notice that Allah (ST) did not mention any other liquid before mentioning ablution with soil. This indicates that when it comes to ritual purity, there is no replacement for water except by tayammum. The report about making ablution with nabeedh (which means here water sweetened with raisins and the like) is weak.
There is a consensus that only water, when present and possible to use it without harm, will remove ritual impurities. (A) + (+M, +S): only water removes physical filth (najâsah) from the body, garments and the like.
(a) + (-H, -t): if the filth is effectively removed by anything, it is sufficient.
You may find this information pertinent to modern applications when confronted by the issue of dry cleaning.
(a) + (-H, -t): It is enough if it effectively removes the filth; the same applies to removing filth with stain removers and other chemical substances. They argued that after the filth is removed, if there are no traces left of it (such as smell, taste, or color), then the object may not be said to have najâsah anymore.
large containers) or is flowing, 20 then nothing can render it impure except something that changes its color, taste, or odor. [Water] less than that would be rendered impure by any mixing with impurities. 21 [The weight of]
كَانَ جَارِيًا، لَمْ يُنَجِّسْهُ شَيْءٌ، إِلاَّ مَا غَيَّرَ لَوْنَهُ، أَوْ طَعْمَهُ، أَوْ رِيْحَهُ، وَمَا سِوَى ذٰلِكَ يَنْجُسُ بِمُخَالَطَةِ النَّجَاسَةِ،
20. (A/SM): the flowing water is like the stagnant; if it is less than qullatayn, it becomes impure upon mixing with impurity, even without a change in its color, taste, or odor.
21. When Does Water Become Impure?
The Qullatayn
The above position is the position of the madh-hab: (A) + (+H, +S). It is based on the mafhoom al-mukhâlafah (divergent implication) in the statement of the Prophet (SA):
“When the water is an amount that fills qullatayn, it will not be rendered impure.” (D, T, N, Ma, Ḥib – from Ibn ‘Umar. Ḥib:S)
“When the water is an amount that fills qullatayn, it will not be rendered impure.” (D, T, N, Ma, Ḥib – from Ibn ‘Umar. Ḥib:S)
إذا كان الْمَاءُ قُلَّتَيْنِ لم يَحْمِلْ الْخَبَثَ.
Many scholars, including (a) + (-M, -s, -t) maintain that all water – small or large in amount – is rendered impure only if its taste, color, or odor changes with the impurity.
The hadith of the qullatayn, for those who consider it sound, would then imply more caution in examining a smaller quantity of water. Their proof is the Prophet's statement:
“Verily water is pure and purifying, and nothing may render it impure.” (D, T, N – from Abu Sa‘eed. A:S)
إِنَّ الْمَاءَ طَهُورٌ لَا يُنَجِّسُهُ شَيْءٌ.
There is a consensus that any amount of water is rendered impure if the impurity changes its color, taste, or smell. This was reported as an addition to this hadith, but the addition is weak. However, the consensus itself is sufficient to qualify the absoluteness of the Prophet’s statement above.
qullatayn is approximately 108 Damascene pounds. 22
والقُلَّتانِ ما قَارَبَ مائة وثَمَانِيَة أرْطالٍ بِالدِمَشْقِي.
22. The two containers hold approximately 190 liters, or about 50 gallons.