Chapter: The water used to wash human hair, and 'Ata' did not see any harm in making threads and ropes from it.
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The Reciter: 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 and bestow favor upon His servant and our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the Book of Ablution in his Sahih:
"Chapter: The water used to wash human hair"
And 'Ata' did not see any harm in making threads and ropes from it, and the leftovers of dogs and their passing through the mosque.
The Shaykh : ...
The Reciter: "And al-Zuhri said: If a dog licks in a vessel and one has no other water for ablution, he performs ablution with it. And Sufyan said: This is the very jurisprudence, for Allah the Exalted says:[An-Nisa 4:43]. And this is water, but there is something in the soul about it; he performs ablution with it and performs dry ablution".
The Shaykh : These are reports mentioned by al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him). Is the water used to wash human hair impure or pure?
It is pure, because human hair is pure, and what is changed by a pure thing is pure. And this indicates to us that al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) does not see a third category in the chapter of waters, and that the categories of water are only two: purifying and impure, contrary to those who said that there is a third category between them, which is pure but not purifying. So water is either pure and purifying, or impure and defiling, or pure but not purifying according to the opinion of some scholars.
And the correct view is that there are only two categories: pure and purifying, and impure and defiling. So what is changed by impurity is impure and defiling, and what is not is pure and purifying. This is the correct view.
And he said: "And 'Ata' did not see any harm in making threads and ropes from it", meaning from human hair. And the hair in that era used to grow long, meaning a man would have long hair. So he says there is no harm in making threads and ropes from it, fine threads and thick ropes.
But there is something in the soul about this, because in this is a type of degradation of the human being, making his hair into ropes and threads. And then, what are these ropes used to tie?
They can be used to tie a goat or a dog, and there is a problem with this, so there is something in the soul about it.
He said: "And the leftovers of dogs and their passing through the mosque". The leftovers of dogs, their remaining drink and food, is it impure or not impure?
We say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 73, and this implies that it is impure, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered it to be washed, and there is no washing except from impurity. Indeed, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and this indicates the severity of its impurity.
But some scholars see that this is from the category of purification, the purification of what is not impure. And that is because the water may not be changed by the dog licking in it, so it is not changed by impurity. If it were for the sake of impurity, it would suffice if it were purified even with three washes, and if it were purified even with something other than earth, it would suffice. But it is something beyond impurity, as comes in the reports.
But the majority of scholars are of the opinion that it is impure and that its impurity is severe. For this reason, they said that impurities are three categories: severe, light, and moderate. So the severe is the impurity of the dog, and the light is the urine of a small child who does not eat food, and also, according to the stronger opinion, pre-seminal fluid, for its impurity is light and sprinkling suffices for it. And the moderate is everything else.
As for his saying: "And their passing through the mosque", it refers to what is established that dogs in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would go in and out of the mosque and urinate. But the word "urinate" means that they urinate, and yet they were not prevented. And the meaning is not that they urinate in the mosque, because if they urinated in the mosque, the purification of it would have been mentioned. So dogs passed through the mosques in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), going and coming, and there is no harm in that. Do we say that this indicates their purity, as Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) held?
The answer is no, we do not say this. Why? Because they pass through the mosque dry, so nothing of their impurity sticks to the mosque. And the mosque is also dry, so nothing of their impurity sticks to the mosque. For this reason, the common people stated a useful jurisprudential rule, which is: There is no impurity between two dry things. It is a common rule circulated among old women, but it is entirely jurisprudential. There is no impurity between two dry things, meaning if two dry things meet, even if one of them is impure, there is no impurity.
Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the Book of Ablution in his Sahih:
"Chapter: The water used to wash human hair"
And 'Ata' did not see any harm in making threads and ropes from it, and the leftovers of dogs and their passing through the mosque.
The Shaykh : ...
The Reciter: "And al-Zuhri said: If a dog licks in a vessel and one has no other water for ablution, he performs ablution with it. And Sufyan said: This is the very jurisprudence, for Allah the Exalted says:
and find no water, then seek clean earth
فلم تجدوا ماءا فتيممواThe Shaykh : These are reports mentioned by al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him). Is the water used to wash human hair impure or pure?
It is pure, because human hair is pure, and what is changed by a pure thing is pure. And this indicates to us that al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) does not see a third category in the chapter of waters, and that the categories of water are only two: purifying and impure, contrary to those who said that there is a third category between them, which is pure but not purifying. So water is either pure and purifying, or impure and defiling, or pure but not purifying according to the opinion of some scholars.
And the correct view is that there are only two categories: pure and purifying, and impure and defiling. So what is changed by impurity is impure and defiling, and what is not is pure and purifying. This is the correct view.
And he said: "And 'Ata' did not see any harm in making threads and ropes from it", meaning from human hair. And the hair in that era used to grow long, meaning a man would have long hair. So he says there is no harm in making threads and ropes from it, fine threads and thick ropes.
But there is something in the soul about this, because in this is a type of degradation of the human being, making his hair into ropes and threads. And then, what are these ropes used to tie?
They can be used to tie a goat or a dog, and there is a problem with this, so there is something in the soul about it.
He said: "And the leftovers of dogs and their passing through the mosque". The leftovers of dogs, their remaining drink and food, is it impure or not impure?
We say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
When a dog licks a (thing contained in a) utensil you must wash it seven times
إذا ولغ الكلب في الإناء فاغسلوه سبعاAnd the eighth with earth
عفروه الثامنة بالترابBut some scholars see that this is from the category of purification, the purification of what is not impure. And that is because the water may not be changed by the dog licking in it, so it is not changed by impurity. If it were for the sake of impurity, it would suffice if it were purified even with three washes, and if it were purified even with something other than earth, it would suffice. But it is something beyond impurity, as comes in the reports.
But the majority of scholars are of the opinion that it is impure and that its impurity is severe. For this reason, they said that impurities are three categories: severe, light, and moderate. So the severe is the impurity of the dog, and the light is the urine of a small child who does not eat food, and also, according to the stronger opinion, pre-seminal fluid, for its impurity is light and sprinkling suffices for it. And the moderate is everything else.
As for his saying: "And their passing through the mosque", it refers to what is established that dogs in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would go in and out of the mosque and urinate. But the word "urinate" means that they urinate, and yet they were not prevented. And the meaning is not that they urinate in the mosque, because if they urinated in the mosque, the purification of it would have been mentioned. So dogs passed through the mosques in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), going and coming, and there is no harm in that. Do we say that this indicates their purity, as Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) held?
The answer is no, we do not say this. Why? Because they pass through the mosque dry, so nothing of their impurity sticks to the mosque. And the mosque is also dry, so nothing of their impurity sticks to the mosque. For this reason, the common people stated a useful jurisprudential rule, which is: There is no impurity between two dry things. It is a common rule circulated among old women, but it is entirely jurisprudential. There is no impurity between two dry things, meaning if two dry things meet, even if one of them is impure, there is no impurity.