Purification
Purity is half of the faith !
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You should know that the bringer of the legislation, who made us aware that a thing is impure, or causes other things to become impure, has also made us aware of how we are able to purify it. So what is obligatory upon us is to follow his saying and to comply with his command. So whatever it is reported about that it must be washed until no colour, smell, or taste remains from it, then that is its purification; and whatever it is reported about that water must be poured upon it, or sprinkled upon it, or that it should be scraped, or wiped upon the earth, or merely walking upon pure earth, then that is its purification. Furthermore you should know that water is the basic substance for purifying impurities, since the bringer of the Legislation described it with his saying:
Allaah created water as being pure and purifying
so nothing else besides it is turned to, unless that is established from the bringer of the legislation; otherwise not, since it would be a case of turning aside from something known to be a purifier towards something which is not known to be a purifier, and this would be a departure from what the legislated manner of proceeding demands.
So when you know this, then here is what occurs in the legislation regarding the manner of purifying substances which are impure or which cause impurity:
1. Purifying the animal through tanning:
From Ibn `Abbaas -radiyallaahu `anhumaa- who said: I heard Allaah’s Messenger (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) say:
Whichever animal skin is tanned, then it becomes pure.
2. Purifying the vessel which a dog has licked:
From Aboo Hurayrah- radiyallaahu `anhu- that Allaah’s Messenger (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) said:
The purification of the vessel of one of you when a dog has licked it is that he washes it seven times, the first of them being with the earth.
3. Purifying a garment which menstrual blood has fallen onto:
From Asmaa· bint Abee Bakr -radiyallaahu `anhaa- who said: A woman came to the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) and said:
“If menstrual blood falls onto the garment of one of us, what should she do?” So he said:
She should scrape it off, then she should rub it with water, then she should wash it (all). Then she can pray whilst wearing it.
If a trace still remains after that, then there is no harm: From Aboo Hurayrah -radiyallaahu `anhu- that Khawlah bint Yasaar said,
“O Messenger of Allaah! I have only a single garment, and I menstruate whilst wearing it.”
He said:
When you become clean wash the place of the blood, then pray whilst wearing it.
She said: “O Messenger of Allaah! If its trace is not removed?” He said:
The water will suffice you, and its trace will not harm you.
4. Purifying the trailing hem of the woman’s garment:
From a slave-girl who gave birth to a child of Ibraaheem ibn `Abdir-Rahmaan ibn `Awf, that she asked Umm Salamah -the wife of the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم )
I am a woman who makes the hem of my garment long, then what if I walk upon a filthy place?”
So Umm Salamah said: “The Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) said:
What comes after it will purify it.
5. Purifying the garment from the urine of a suckling baby: (i.e. the baby who is still breast-fed and has not been weaned onto solid food)
From Abus-Samh, the servant of the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) who said: “The Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) said:
It should be washed ; from the urine of a girl, and sprinkled with water; from the urine of a boy.
6. Purifying the garment from pre-seminal fluid (madhee):
From Sahl ibn Hunayf who said: I used to experience difficulty and trouble on account of pre-seminal fluid, and I used to frequently take a bath from it. So I mentioned that to Allaah’s Messenger (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) and he said:
The wudoo· would suffice you for that.”
I said: “What about that which fall upon my garment from it?” He said:
It will suffice you to take a handful of water, and to rub your garment with it wherever you see it has fallen upon it.
7. Purifying the underneath of the shoe:
From Aboo Sa`eed -radiyallaahu `anhu- that the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) said:
When one of you comes to the mosque, then let him turn his shoes over and examine them. So if he sees some filth, then let him wipe it upon the earth, then let him pray whilst wearing them.
8. Purifying the earth:
From Aboo Hurayrah -radiyallaahu `anhu- who said:
“A Bedouin stood and urinated in the mosque. So the people began raising their voices against him. So the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) said to them:
Leave him, and pour a bucket of water upon his urine; for you were sent as people who make things easy, and you were not sent as people who make things difficult.
And the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) commanded that in order to quickly purify the earth. So if it had been left until it became dry, and then the trace of the impurity departed, then it would have become pure, because of the hadeeth of Ibn `Umar -radiyallaahu `anhumaa- who said:
“Dogs used to urinate in the mosque, and come and go, in the time of Allaah’s Messenger (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) and they had not used to sprinkle anything upon it.”
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