Explanation of the author's statement: "Water is of three types: that which is purifying (tahur) and does not remove the state of ritual impurity (hadath) nor remove the impurity (najasah) that has come upon it, and that which remains in its original state"

The Shaykh : He said, "Water is of three types," meaning its kinds are three. Water is the plural of water; its kinds are three. The first is *tahur* (purifying), with a fathah on the ta, on the pattern of *fa'ul*. *Fa'ul* is the name for the means by which one reaches that thing. So *tahur* with a fathah is the name for the means to purity. *Wudu'* with a fathah is the name for the water with which one performs ablution. *Suhur* with a fathah is the name for the food with which one eats the pre-dawn meal. As for *tuhur* with a dammah, *tuhur* and *wudu'* with a dammah on the ta, that is the action, meaning the act of purifying oneself. *Wudu'* with a dammah is the action, which is performing ablution. *Suhur* with a dammah is the action, which is eating the pre-dawn meal. Water is of three types. The author said, "It does not remove the state of ritual impurity, nor does it remove the impurity that has come upon it, other than it". We should know what *tahur* is before we know its ruling. *Tahur* is water that remains in its original state. This *tahur* is water that remains in its original state, whether in reality or by legal ruling. This is the definition of *tahur*. Water that remains in its original state, for example, if you draw water from a well in its natural state, hot, unchanged, and clean, what is this? This is *tahur*. If rain falls from the sky and you take it in its natural state, this is also *tahur* because it remains in its original state. We say it remains in its original state in reality or by legal ruling. The two examples we mentioned are in reality or by legal ruling, such as water that has changed without being mixed with anything, or water that has changed by something it is difficult to protect the water from. This is *tahur*, but it did not remain in its original state. Likewise, heated water. Heated water is not in its original state; it is hot, and yet it is *tahur* because it remains in its original state by legal ruling. He says, "It does not remove the state of ritual impurity other than it". Other than water, does benzene remove the state of ritual impurity? Benzene does not remove the state of ritual impurity. Gas does not remove the state of ritual impurity. Juice does not remove the state of ritual impurity. Everything other than water does not remove the state of ritual impurity. If a person performs ablution with milk, juice, gas, or benzene, his state of ritual impurity is not removed. What is the evidence? The evidence is the saying of Allah the Exalted: . So He commanded resorting to dry ablution (tayammum) if we do not find water, meaning even if we find other liquids and fluids. It is clear. Now, His saying "It does not remove the state of ritual impurity other than it": does the earth in tayammum remove the state of ritual impurity or not? According to the school of thought (madhhab), no. The earth in tayammum, according to the madhhab, does not remove the state of ritual impurity. But the correct view is that it does remove the state of ritual impurity, because Allah the Glorious and Exalted says: . And the meaning of purification is that the state of ritual impurity has been removed. And because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): and *tuhur* or *tahur* . So the earth is a purifier, and the meaning of that is that it removes the state of ritual impurity. This is the correct view: that it removes the state of ritual impurity. But if water is found, or the reason for which he performed tayammum ceases, such as a wound healing, then it is obligatory for him to perform ablution or to take a full ritual bath (ghusl) if he had performed tayammum for major ritual impurity (janabah). Now, his saying, "and it does not remove the impurity that has come upon it other than it" means that nothing removes impurity except water. The evidence is the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding menstrual blood that falls on a garment: . The point is his saying: . So this is evidence for the specification of water for removing impurity. And because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the Bedouin who urinated in the mosque: . And because it is . So this indicates that nothing removes impurity except water. Now, if we remove the impurity with something other than water, such as benzene, spirit, or another disinfectant, does it become pure or not? It does not become pure, according to the author's statement. It does not become pure; nothing removes impurity except water, just as nothing removes the state of ritual impurity except water. But this issue also has some consideration, and the correct view is that if the impurity is removed by any remover, it becomes pure, because impurity is a foul substance. So if it is removed, its ruling is removed. It is not a description like the state of ritual impurity, which is not removed except by what the Sunnah or the Shari'ah brought. This is a substance; whenever it is removed, its ruling is removed. The evidence for that is that the jurists themselves, may Allah have mercy on them, say that if the change in impure water disappears by itself, it becomes *tahur*, even if we did not add anything to it. And they say that if wine is diluted, and they consider wine impure, it becomes pure. And this is where water was not used; water was not used. So the correct view is that impurity is removed by every remover and purified by every remover. And it will come, if Allah wills, ... the discussion of it ... And the author's saying, "the impurity that has come upon it". Pay attention to this: "that has come upon it" means that the place was pure before this impurity came upon it. For example, if impurity falls on a garment, or on a carpet, or on a book, or something similar. It fell on a pure place, so it is "that has come upon it" and is removed. As for the intrinsic impurity, which is impure in its essence, this is never purified. Neither water nor anything else purifies it. For example, a dog. If you washed the dog seven times, one of which with earth, does it become pure?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : You washed it seven times, my brothers. The dog itself does not become pure. Why? Because its essence is impure. Did its essence go away when we poured water on it and applied earth?

The questioner : I mean the seventh time.

The Shaykh : No. If something becomes impure, if the dog's impurity falls on a pure thing, the dog itself cannot be purified at all, because its impurity is intrinsic; its essence is impure. Now, is donkey dung impure or not? A person came and poured water on it until he drowned it, and the water dried up. Does the dung become pure? How? Because its essence is impure. It is not possible to purify the impure. It is not possible to purify its essence, except that it will come to us, if Allah the Exalted wills, in the chapter on removing impurity, that some scholars say that if the impurity undergoes a transformation (istihalah), it becomes pure. Just as if one burns dung and it becomes ash, it becomes pure. And just as if a dog falls into a salt mine and becomes salt, it becomes pure. Yes, because it underwent a transformation and changed into something else, so it becomes pure. The original substance is gone. This dog that was originally flesh, sinew, bones, marrow, and blood, what has it become now? It has become salt. The form is the same, but now it is salt. The salt has overcome the original substance; it has overcome it. And it will come to us, if Allah the Exalted wills, two opinions on this issue: the ruling of impurity when it undergoes a transformation—does it become pure or not? The disagreement on this is well-known. The important thing is that we proceed according to the author's statement here. We say: "that has come upon it"—from where? From the impurity whose essence is impure. This is not purified by water because its essence remains. They say that the impurity that has come upon it is called "legal impurity" (najasah hukmiyyah), and the impurity that has not come upon it is called "intrinsic impurity" (najasah 'ayniyyah). He said, "and that which remains in its original state." This is its definition: that which remains in its original state, and this was mentioned previously.