The Meaning of Used Water and the Ruling on Using It for Purification

Question:
We return at the beginning of this episode to a message sent to the program from listener Sa'd 'Abd al-'Aziz Muhammad, an Egyptian. We presented some of Sa'd's questions in a previous meeting, and in this meeting he asks Your Eminence, Shaykh Salih, saying: We ask Your Eminence to shed light on the meaning of used water, and whether it is possible to purify oneself with it, like pure water that purifies others, or not? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions. As for used water in purification, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars regarding whether it removes the state of ritual impurity. Some scholars hold that it does not remove the state of ritual impurity because it has become used water, thus changing from pure water (that purifies) to purified water (that is pure) due to its use.
The second opinion is that there is no objection to purifying oneself with it because it is pure water, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . The scholars have agreed that if one of the properties of water changes due to impurity, it becomes impure. However, if none of its properties change due to impurity, the default is that it is pure; the default is that it is pure water that purifies, due to the generality of the texts. Allah the Exalted said: , and He said: "And We sent down ," which indicates that the default for water is that it is pure water that purifies, unless one of its properties changes due to impurity. This is the stronger of the two opinions of the scholars. Yes.