Commentary on the Book of Fiqh al-Sunnah ". . . . . And from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: (I used to drink while menstruating
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The Shaykh : He cited a hadith here to indicate part of the topic, which is the saliva of a menstruating woman. He cited a hadith to argue for a part of this chapter, which is: Is there anything wrong with the saliva of a menstruating woman? The answer is that there is nothing wrong with it, and the evidence is what was reported from the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: "I used to drink while menstruating, and I would hand it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he would place his mouth on the spot where my mouth had been" narrated by Muslim.
So the Lady Aisha would take the cup of drink and drink from it, and then the Messenger (peace be upon him) would take that cup in turn and place his mouth on the spot where the Lady Aisha’s mouth had been. So not only did he drink her saliva, but he also touched the place where her saliva had been. And inevitably, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would place his noble, pure mouth on the spot from which the Lady Aisha had drunk from the cup. This clearly indicates that the saliva of a menstruating woman is pure, just as her saliva is pure when she is not menstruating. Then, in this hadith, there is an etiquette of good conduct with one’s wife and family. And this etiquette, as you see, is a very high etiquette that, in my opinion, most husbands, most married Muslim men, have overlooked. They do not treat their wives with the gentle treatment that the Messenger (peace be upon him) treated his wife, the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), with. And this etiquette of good conduct has not been reached by these Europeans who claim that they respect women with a respect beyond which there is no respect. They respect them in a way that we see is not respect for them, but rather entangling them and misleading them. And yet, with such gentleness in good conduct with the wife, the Europeans do not do it. For example, if they want to enter or exit, you see them giving way to the woman, even if she is a stranger and not just a wife, and boarding the plane and the car and the like. These are formalities... So when we read the Book of Fiqh al-Sunnah and similar books of hadith that combine hadith in fiqh, we are actually aiming for two things. If we read such a book and turn away from the many fiqh books that have been written, we do this because fiqh books, in general, in the technical sense of today, are dry, as if a person were reading the law, or reading chemistry, or physics, or the difficult sciences for people except those with special purposes or temporary inclinations... Similarly, the old Islamic fiqh, unfortunately, is read with difficulty and hardship. Why? Because it has no Qur'an, and it has no hadith. It has no life, no encouragement and warning, no etiquette of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and no character and biography. Unlike Fiqh al-Sunnah and similar books, where the author argues for the fiqh issue with what came in the Book and the Sunnah. So while you, the one studying Fiqh al-Sunnah, are researching the saliva of animals in general, and then you naturally move to an etiquette of good conduct, and with a hadith mentioned by the author, this author immediately connects you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and to his Sunnah, and his guidance, and his biography, whereas the other jurists cut you off from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by limiting themselves to mentioning opinions only without their evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So we... The research on saliva: the author argues with the hadith of the Lady Aisha that when she placed her mouth on the cup to drink, the Messenger (peace be upon him) would take that cup and place his mouth on the spot of the Lady Aisha. So if we benefit from this hadith, we get two benefits. The first benefit is the direct topic, which is that the saliva of a menstruating woman is pure. The second benefit is how we should improve our conduct with our wives and be gentle with them, because they are, as the Messenger (peace be upon him) rightly described them, The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described them as glass vessels. Glass vessels means glass that breaks quickly. So the nature of this type of human being is delicate and very sensitive. Therefore, the husband should treat his wife well, not treat her with harshness, but treat her with gentleness and softness. And this does not mean that he should overlook her violation of the Shari'ah, or look away from her tabarruj (display of adornment) and her leaving her husband’s house without the permission of the Shari'ah. That is not the meaning. Rather, he is gentle with her within the limits of the Shari'ah, in matters that do not involve violation of it, such as food and drink. This is an etiquette of the Messenger (peace be upon him) with his wife in drink, and also in food. So the Lady Aisha, when she took a bone with meat on it, which is linguistically called ariq (a bone with meat), she would bite it, and of course a little meat would remain. Then the Messenger would come and place his mouth on the spot where the Lady Aisha had bitten and where the remainder was. This is also part of his (peace be upon him) etiquette with his wife. We must follow him (peace and blessings be upon him) in all aspects of his life, in his treatment of people, and in his treatment of his wives. This is what the author mentions regarding the saliva of humans of all types: Muslim or disbeliever, pure or in a state of major ritual impurity, or menstruating. And incidentally, it should be noted that we are discussing the saliva of humans, and there is a common saying among people: "The saliva of a believer is a cure". Our research was to dispel a doubt that may arise in some minds that the saliva of a person might be impure. We dispelled this doubt by citing the consensus of Muslims that the saliva of a human is pure, as detailed previously. But there is a superstition contrary to this topic, which is that this saliva is not only pure, but it is a cure if it is from a specific type of the human species, namely the believer. "The saliva of a believer is a cure" This is a hadith that has no basis. This hadith is not authentic. It was never reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), nor with a fabricated chain. So it is something that has no basis at all. Therefore, it is not permissible to describe the saliva of a believer with a characteristic that has not been established scientifically, neither in the science of Shari'ah nor in the science of medicine. Otherwise, if we say that, we have said and attributed to Allah what we have no knowledge of. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: [Al-Isra 17:36] So it is not permissible for us to attribute to Allah and say that the saliva of a believer is a cure. And unfortunately, this is a prevailing superstition, the superstition that the saliva of a believer is a cure. We often hear it on some occasions. On the contrary, some people who are obsessive, or if you like, obsessive-compulsive, those who have some selfishness or arrogance, or who have knowledge of some rules of medicine, have exaggerated these rules, and that led them to refrain from drinking from a cup from which a person has drunk, even if he is a Muslim believer, for fear that there might be a germ in it.
The questioner : All the Westerners.
The Shaykh : The Westerners are a group of disbelievers, so there is no surprise in that... But some Muslims have fallen into this; they do not drink from a cup from which a believer has drunk, especially if he is a poor peasant or a poor man, and their bodies and hair are disgusted by drinking from that cup... This is arrogance on earth, and this is also not permissible. And their matter has reached more than that; they did not stop at refraining from drinking the saliva of a believer. This is one of the misfortunes of humans: excess and deficiency. It was said that the saliva of a believer is a cure, and then it becomes a disease. For some, it is a cure, and then the matter is reversed and it becomes a disease. It is neither this nor that. So the matter did not stop at this, but...
So the Lady Aisha would take the cup of drink and drink from it, and then the Messenger (peace be upon him) would take that cup in turn and place his mouth on the spot where the Lady Aisha’s mouth had been. So not only did he drink her saliva, but he also touched the place where her saliva had been. And inevitably, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would place his noble, pure mouth on the spot from which the Lady Aisha had drunk from the cup. This clearly indicates that the saliva of a menstruating woman is pure, just as her saliva is pure when she is not menstruating. Then, in this hadith, there is an etiquette of good conduct with one’s wife and family. And this etiquette, as you see, is a very high etiquette that, in my opinion, most husbands, most married Muslim men, have overlooked. They do not treat their wives with the gentle treatment that the Messenger (peace be upon him) treated his wife, the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), with. And this etiquette of good conduct has not been reached by these Europeans who claim that they respect women with a respect beyond which there is no respect. They respect them in a way that we see is not respect for them, but rather entangling them and misleading them. And yet, with such gentleness in good conduct with the wife, the Europeans do not do it. For example, if they want to enter or exit, you see them giving way to the woman, even if she is a stranger and not just a wife, and boarding the plane and the car and the like. These are formalities... So when we read the Book of Fiqh al-Sunnah and similar books of hadith that combine hadith in fiqh, we are actually aiming for two things. If we read such a book and turn away from the many fiqh books that have been written, we do this because fiqh books, in general, in the technical sense of today, are dry, as if a person were reading the law, or reading chemistry, or physics, or the difficult sciences for people except those with special purposes or temporary inclinations... Similarly, the old Islamic fiqh, unfortunately, is read with difficulty and hardship. Why? Because it has no Qur'an, and it has no hadith. It has no life, no encouragement and warning, no etiquette of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and no character and biography. Unlike Fiqh al-Sunnah and similar books, where the author argues for the fiqh issue with what came in the Book and the Sunnah. So while you, the one studying Fiqh al-Sunnah, are researching the saliva of animals in general, and then you naturally move to an etiquette of good conduct, and with a hadith mentioned by the author, this author immediately connects you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and to his Sunnah, and his guidance, and his biography, whereas the other jurists cut you off from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by limiting themselves to mentioning opinions only without their evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So we... The research on saliva: the author argues with the hadith of the Lady Aisha that when she placed her mouth on the cup to drink, the Messenger (peace be upon him) would take that cup and place his mouth on the spot of the Lady Aisha. So if we benefit from this hadith, we get two benefits. The first benefit is the direct topic, which is that the saliva of a menstruating woman is pure. The second benefit is how we should improve our conduct with our wives and be gentle with them, because they are, as the Messenger (peace be upon him) rightly described them,
Be gentle, for you are dealing with glass vessels.
رويدك سوقك بالقواريرAnd do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.
ولا تقف ما ليس لك به علم إن السمع والبصر والفؤاد كل أولئك كان عنه مسؤولاThe questioner : All the Westerners.
The Shaykh : The Westerners are a group of disbelievers, so there is no surprise in that... But some Muslims have fallen into this; they do not drink from a cup from which a believer has drunk, especially if he is a poor peasant or a poor man, and their bodies and hair are disgusted by drinking from that cup... This is arrogance on earth, and this is also not permissible. And their matter has reached more than that; they did not stop at refraining from drinking the saliva of a believer. This is one of the misfortunes of humans: excess and deficiency. It was said that the saliva of a believer is a cure, and then it becomes a disease. For some, it is a cure, and then the matter is reversed and it becomes a disease. It is neither this nor that. So the matter did not stop at this, but...