Commentary on the Book "Fiqh al-Sunnah," The Residue of Humans and the Residue of Cats.

The Shaykh : ... and I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, , , , As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Our discussion tonight in the book "Fiqh al-Sunnah" is about "al-su'ur" (residue). As you know, al-su'ur is the water from which an animal drinks, whether it is a human or an animal, and then some remains. So what is the ruling on this al-su'ur? This is our discussion tonight.
The discussion is divided into chapters. It says: Chapter One. It says: The al-su'ur of humans.
It says: It is pure, whether from a Muslim, a disbeliever, one in a state of major ritual impurity, or a menstruating woman. There is no difference in the al-su'ur of a human, whether he is a Muslim or a disbeliever, and whether the drinker is menstruating, pure, or an associate of partners with Allah. All these residues are pure and permissible to drink. Evidence is cited for this, or the doubt that may arise regarding it is refuted, by the saying of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - : . It says: As for the saying of Allah - the Exalted - : , the intended meaning is their spiritual impurity due to their false beliefs and their lack of caution regarding filth and ritual impurities, not that their physical selves and bodies are ritually impure. They used to mix with the Muslims, and their messengers and delegations would come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they would enter his mosque, and he did not order anything that their bodies touched to be washed.
This chapter is, in reality, a matter agreed upon by the Muslims; that is, the al-su'ur, whether from a believer or a disbeliever, from one who is pure or a menstruating woman or one in a state of major ritual impurity; this al-su'ur is pure by the consensus of the scholars of the Muslims, with no disagreement among them. Therefore, the author limited himself to presenting a doubt that may occur to the minds of some people, along with the answer to it, which is the saying of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - : . He answered that the impurity of the polytheist is not a physical impurity, but rather a spiritual impurity; this is due to the false beliefs and polytheistic, pagan opinions that exist in their hearts. For this reason, Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He - described them as impure, not because their physical selves are impure such that if they touch something or step on the ground, that thing becomes ritually impure. The answer is: No.
He explains this verse in the sense for which the author cited it, with a hadith that appears in some books of hadith, but with a chain of narration that contains weakness. I mention it for two reasons: the first is to point out its weakness, and the second is because this hadith clarifies the meaning of this noble verse.
That hadith says, in its meaning: When the delegation of Najran entered the mosque, the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it seemed to be a great matter to his Companions, and it seemed that the apparent meaning of the saying of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - : , came to their minds, as if the apparent meaning came to their minds as the Shi'ah understood it. The Shi'ah interpret the verse on this apparent basis: that their physical selves are ritually impure. So this meaning seemed to occur to the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they were surprised by the entry of these impure ones, these polytheist Christians, into the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) noticed this from their faces, so he answered them by saying: .
So this story, despite its weakness in terms of the chain of narration, clarifies the intended meaning of the saying of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - : , meaning: their impurity is a spiritual impurity, not a material impurity. So if a disbeliever drinks from a vessel containing water or any drink; then this is al-su'ur, it is pure, and there is nothing wrong with it. Likewise, if they use the vessels in which they cook and pour in water and lawful drinks, it is permissible for us to use them. Except in one case: if the vessel is one that it is most likely they use for the forbidden khamr (intoxicants) in our religion, or if it is most likely that in that vessel they cook the impure, filthy, forbidden pork; in that case, it is not permissible for us to use these vessels except after washing them.
Then the author cited an authentic hadith.

The questioner- my teacher - : If this disbeliever eats or drinks khamr (intoxicants) or eats pork, and they drank from the vessel, what is the status of the remainder? Is the al-su'ur pure or impure?

The Shaykh : This is what we are discussing - may Allah bless you - perhaps you came after we mentioned the text from the book and we repeated it. The al-su'ur, whether it is the al-su'ur of a believer or a disbeliever, or one who is pure or a menstruating woman or one in a state of major ritual impurity, is all pure; because there is no evidence in the Book or in the Sunnah regarding the impurity of the al-su'ur of the polytheist, and we have understood the aspect of the verse. And I cited the previous detail regarding some of the vessels of the polytheists, fearing that it might be understood or occur to some minds that since the al-su'ur itself is permissible to drink, taking the vessels from them to pour water or food or drink into them is permissible a fortiori; so that this meaning does not occur, even in this specific detail, I cited the previous detail; if these polytheists drink khamr (intoxicants) and pour it into specific vessels, and we borrow them from them - for example - or we take them as spoils from them in Islamic wars - may they return, if Allah wills -; in that case, it is not permissible for us to use them except after purifying and washing them. Likewise, the vessels in which it is most likely they cook pork. As for the al-su'ur itself, there is no disagreement among the Muslims regarding its purity, and as we know, the original ruling for things is permissibility, with the consensus of the Muslims on this, so the matter is certain to be permissible.

Another questioner : Perhaps the brother means when they are drinking khamr (intoxicants) or eating pork, he is eating, he remains, for example, he is having lunch... meaning he intends this.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Okay, the answer is the same, even if it did not occur to me.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: And even if this meaning did not occur to me from his question, the answer does not differ; because this al-su'ur has the ruling of water in the general principle.

The questioner: Water that is ritually impure or not ritually impure... reason.

The Shaykh: Yes, or this has the ruling of the al-su'ur of the cat. The al-su'ur of the cat, according to some of the known schools of jurisprudence, has three rulings, but according to us, it has only one ruling. The three rulings are that it is definitely impure, pure, or doubtful. It is definitely impure if you see the cat caught a mouse from there, and it came, what? and lapped in the vessel; then this vessel is impure in that case. It is pure if the cat is in the house and you are watching it, it did not go out, it did not go or come, but it only eats the things that the people of the house provide for it; so its al-su'ur is pure. As for the third case, it is disliked if a person doubts that it may have eaten something impure, but he is not certain of that.
As for us, we have a hadith: , so its al-su'ur is pure. So the al-su'ur of the polytheist, therefore, is honored by being compared to the al-su'ur of the cat.