A cat fell into a well and no one removed it, and the smell of the water changed. After more than a month, we took water from it, performed wudu' with it, and prayed. Is this...
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The questioner : This is a questioner who says: It happened that a cat fell into a well and no one removed it, and the smell of the water changed. After more than a month, we took water from it and performed wudu' with it for prayer, and the smell is still changed. Is this water najasah (ritually impure) or not? And if it is najasah, are we required to repeat those prayers? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Yes. If a cat falls into a well and dies, and then the water changes due to its smell, then it has changed due to impurity. And if the water changes due to impurity, it is najasah (ritually impure) by consensus. And if it is najasah, it cannot purify; rather, the impure thing is purified from it, not by it. Accordingly, your wudu' from this water that changed due to impurity is fasid (defective) and not valid, and your prayers are not valid because you prayed without a valid wudu'. Your clothes that were stained with this water are najasah, so you prayed in najasah clothes. And your bodies that were stained with this water are also najasah, so you prayed while having impurity on your limbs.
Therefore, it is obligatory for you to count the prayers you performed with this wudu' that was from this najasah water, and to repeat those prayers.
And it should be known that carrion is of two types: carrion that is pure. If the water changes due to this, it is not najasah, such as the carrion of locusts, for example, or the carrion of fish, because the carrion of fish is pure. And if a human falls into water and the water stinks from its smell after his death, then the water is pure and not najasah, because the carrion of a human is pure.
And accordingly, we say: if the water changes due to najasah carrion, it is najasah; and if it changes due to pure carrion, it is pure and purifying.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes. If a cat falls into a well and dies, and then the water changes due to its smell, then it has changed due to impurity. And if the water changes due to impurity, it is najasah (ritually impure) by consensus. And if it is najasah, it cannot purify; rather, the impure thing is purified from it, not by it. Accordingly, your wudu' from this water that changed due to impurity is fasid (defective) and not valid, and your prayers are not valid because you prayed without a valid wudu'. Your clothes that were stained with this water are najasah, so you prayed in najasah clothes. And your bodies that were stained with this water are also najasah, so you prayed while having impurity on your limbs.
Therefore, it is obligatory for you to count the prayers you performed with this wudu' that was from this najasah water, and to repeat those prayers.
And it should be known that carrion is of two types: carrion that is pure. If the water changes due to this, it is not najasah, such as the carrion of locusts, for example, or the carrion of fish, because the carrion of fish is pure. And if a human falls into water and the water stinks from its smell after his death, then the water is pure and not najasah, because the carrion of a human is pure.
And accordingly, we say: if the water changes due to najasah carrion, it is najasah; and if it changes due to pure carrion, it is pure and purifying.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.