Book E: Purification

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BOOK E: PURIFICATION

less than 216 liters of water (qullatayn) which is contaminated by filth (najasa), even when none of the water's characteristics (n: i.e. taste, color, or odor) have changed.
or 216 liters or more of water when one of its characteristics of taste, color, or odor have changed (n:through the effect of the filth. As for the purity of water that has been used to wash away filth, it is discussed below at e14.14).)

e1.5 It is not permissible (O: or valid) to lift a state of ritual impurity or remove filth except with plain water (O: not used water (def:(2) above), or something other than water like vinegar or milk), meaning purifying water as it comes from nature, no matter what quality it may have (O: of taste. such as being fresh or saline (N: including seawater); of color, such as being white, black, or red; or of odor, such as having a pleasant smell).

e1.7 It is not permissible to purify (def: e1.2 (O:)) with:

water that has changed so much that it is no longer termed water through admixture with something pure like flour or saffron which could have been avoided;
less than 216 liters of water that has already been used for the obligation (dis:c2.1(A:), end) of lifting a state of ritual impurity, even if only that of a child;
or less that 216 liters of water that has been used to remove filth, even if this resulted in no change in the water.

e1.8 It is permissible to purify with water:

(non-(1) above) that has been only slightly changed by saffron or the like;
that has been changed by proximity with something such as aloes or oil that are (O: i.e. even if) fragrant;
that has been changed by something impossible to prevent, such as algae, tree leaves falling in it, dust, or the effects of standing too long;
(non-(2) of the previous ruling) that has already been used for a nonobligatory use such as the sunnas of rinsing out the mouth, renewing ablution when there has been no intervening state of ritual impurity, or a sunna purificatory bath;
or water that has already been used (n: to lift a state of ritual impurity) and has now been added together until it amounts to 216 liters or more.

e1.9 With less than 216 liters, if a person performing ablution (after washing his face once) or the purificatory bath (after making intention for it) makes the intention in his heart to use his hands to scoop up the water, then the introduction of his hands into this amount of water does not make the water used. But if not (O: if he does not make this intention at all, or does so after putting his hands in the water, which is less than 216 liters), then the rest of the water is considered as already used (n: and no longer purifying. But in the Maliki school (dis: c6.4 (end)), it is valid (though offensive) to lift a state of ritual impurity with water that has already been used for that purpose (al-Sharh al-saghir'ala Aqrab al-Malik ila madhhab al-Imam Malik (y35), 1.37)).

e1.10 As for 216 liters or more of water, even if two or more persons in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba, def; e10) are immersed in it, whether simultaneously or serially, their impurity is lifted and the water does not thereby become used (n: but remains purifying).

e1.11 Qullatayn (lit. "two great jars") roughly equal five hundred Baghdad ritls, and their volume is one and a quarter dhira in height, width, and length. (n: The definition of qullatayn as being 216 liters is based on estimating the dhira' at fortyeight centimeters. Metric equivalents of Islamic weights and measures are given at w15.)

e1.12 Two hundred and sixteen liters of water does not become impure by mere contact with filth, but only becomes so by changing (n: in taste, color, or smell) because of it, even when (O: this change is) only slight.

e1.13 If such change (n: in 216 liters or more of water) disappears by itself (O: such as through standing at length) or by water is used or impure) then the water in again purifying.

e1.14 But the 216 liters of water does not become purifying if the change disappears by (O: putting) such things as musk (O: in it, or ambergris, or camphor, which mask the Scent ; or putting saffron and the like in which mask the color) or vinegar (O: which masks the taste) or earth.

e1.15 Less than 216 liters becomes impure by mere contact with filth, whether the water changes or not, unless filth falls into it whose amount (N: before it falls in is so small that it) is indiscernible by eyesight (A eyesight, here and for all rulings, meaning an average look, not a negligent glance nor yet a minute inspection), or if something dead falls into it of creatures without flowing blood, such as flies and the like, in both of which cases it remains purifying. This is equally true of running or still water.

e1.16 When less than 216 liters of impure water is added to (O: even if with impure water) until is amounts to 216 liters or more and no change (def: below) remains in it, then it is (O: has become) purifying.

e1.17 Change, resulting from something pure or impure, means in color, taste, or smell.

(N: But the least change caused by filth makes water (n: even if more than 216 liters) impure, while change caused by something pure does not hurt as long as it can still be termed water. For example, when sugar and tea, it has become pure but not purifying. As for a slight discoloration by tea leaves, or a slight sweetness from sugar, this does not negate water's being purifying.)

e2.0 CONTAINERS AND UTENSILS

e2.1 Purification is permissible with water from any pure container, except those of gold or silver, or those to which enough gold or silver has been applied that any of it could be collected from the vessel by heating it with fire (N: meaning that if the vessel were exposed to fire, the metallice coat would melt and separate from the container, even if not drop by drop). Such containers or utensils are unlawful for men or women to use in purification, eating, drinking, or other use (O: of any type whatever). It is unlawful to acquire such a container or utensil even if one does not use it. Even a small eye-liner stick of silver is unlawful.

e2.2 Vessels soldered with gold are absolutely unlawful.

It is unlawful to use a vessel to which much def:f4.5) silver solder has been applied by way of decoration; permissible to use a vessel to which only a little silver solder has been applied by way of a needed repair; and offensive but not unlawful to use a vessel to which only a little silver has been applied for decoration, or much out of necessity.

Solder means that a part of the vessel has been broken and then silver is put there to hold it together.

e2.3 It is offensive to use the vessels of non-Muslims (N: before washing them) (O: to be certain of the purity of the vessels used, since non-Muslims are not as concerned about purity as Muslims are) or wear their clothers (O: for the same reason).

e2.4 It is permissible to use a vessel made of any precious gem, such as a ruby or emerald.

e3.0 USING A TOOTHSTICK (SIWAK)

(O: In Sacred Law it refers to the use of a twig or the like on the teeth and around them to remove an unpleasant change in the breath or similar, together with the intention (n: of performing the sunna).)

e3.1 Using a toothstick is recommended any time, except after noon for someone who is fasting, in which case it is offensive. (A: Using toothpaste is also offensive then, and if any reaches the stomach of someone fasting, it is unlawful (n: if the fast is obligatory, as this breaks a fast).)

e3.2 It is especially desirable to use the toothstick for every prayer, for reading (O: the Koran, hadith, or a lesson), ablution, yellowness of teeth, waking from sleep, entering one's house, and for any change of breath from eating something with a bad odor or from not eating.

(A: When there exists a demand for an act, such as using the toothstick before reading the Koran, and an equal demand not to, as when it is after noon on a fast-day, then the proper course is not to do it.)

e3.3 Anything coarse is adequate (n: to fulfill the sunna) except rough fingers, though the best is a twig from the arak (n: a desert shrub) that is dried (N: meaning previously cut from the shrub long enough to have dried) and then moistened.

e3.4 It is best to clean the teeth laterally, beginning on the right and paying particular attention to the bases of the back teeth, and to intend the sunna thereby.

e4.0 THE BODY

e4.1 It is sunna:

to trim the fingernails and toenails;
to clip one's mustache (O: when it grows long. The most one should clip is enough to show the pink of the upper lip. Plucking it out or shaving it off is offensive.) (A: Shaving one's beard is unlawful according to all Imams except Shafi'i, who wrote two opinions about it, one that it is offensive, and the others that it is unlawful. A weak chain of narrators ascribes an opinion of offensiveness to Imam Malik. It is unbelief (kufr) to turn from the sunna in order to imitate non-Muslims when one believes their way to be superior to the sunna);
for those used to it, to pluck away the hair of the underarms and nostrils, though if plucking the underarms is a hardship, then shaving them; and to shave the public hair;
and to line the eyes with kohl (n: an antimonic compound that one should be careful to see contains no lead), each eye an odd number of times, preferably three.

e.4.2 It is offensive to shave part of the head and leave part unshaven (A: though merely cutting some of the hair shorter than another part is not objectionable). There is no harm in shaving it all off (O: but it is not recommended except for the rites of hajj and umra (n: the greater and lesser pilgrimages)).

e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)

e4.4 It is unlawful for men or women to dye their hair black, except when the intention is jihad (O: as a show of strength to unbelievers). Plucking out gray hair is offensive. It is sunna to dye the hair with yellow or red. (N: It is unlawful for a woman to cut her hair to disfigure herself (n:e.g. for mourning), though if done for the sake of beauty it is permissible.) It is sunna for a married woman to dye all of her hands and feet with henna (n: a red plant dye). but it is unlawful for men to do so unless it is needed (N: to protect from sunburn, for example).

e5.0 ABLUTION (WUDU)

(N: Meaning to wash certain parts of the body with water, with the intention of worship.)

(O: The legal basis for ablution, prior to scholarly consensus, is the word of Allah Most High.

"O believers, when you go to pray, wash your faces, and wash your forearms to the elbows, wipe your heads, and [wash] your feet to the two anklebones" (Koran 5.6)

and the hadith related by Muslim.

"A prayer is not accepted without purification.")

THE INTEGRALS OF ABLUTION

e5.1 Ablution has six obligatory integrals:

to have the intention when one starts washing the face;
to wash the face;
to wash the arms up to and including the elbows;
to wipe a little of the head with wet hands;
to wash the feet up to and including the anklebones;
and to do these things in the order mentioned.

The sunnas of ablution are all its actions besides the above. (N: The obligatory minimum is to perform (b), (c), (d), and (e) once, though the sunna is to perform them each three times.)

THE INTENTION

e5.2 The person performing ablution intends:

to lift a state of lesser ritual impurity (hadath) (O: since the purpose of ablution is to eliminate that which prevents prayer and the like);
to purify for the prayer;
or to purify for something not permissible without purification, such as touching a Koran, or something else.

(N: The simple intention to perform the obligation of ablution suffices in place of all the above.)

e5.3 The above intentions are not used by three types of people when performing ablution:

a woman with chronic vaginal discharge (def:e13.6);
a person unable to hold back intermittent drops of urine coming from him (n: or with some similar state of chronic annulment of ablution (e13.7));
or a person intending to perform dry ablution (tayammum,def:e12).

Such people merely intend permission to perform the obligation of the prayer as they begin their ablution.

(O: The intention to lift a state of minor ritual impurity is inadequate for these people because their state of impurity is not lifted.) (n: Rather the Sacred Law gives them a dispensation to perform the prayer and so forth without lifting it.)

e5.4 The necessary condition of ablution is that the intention for it exist in the heart and that it accompany one's washing the first part of the face.

It is recommended to pronounce it aloud, and that it be present in the heart from the first of ablution (O: during the preliminary sunnas before washing the face, so as to earn their reward). It is obligatory that this intention persist in the heart until one washes the first part of the face (O: as that is the first part of the face (O: as that is the first integral). If one confines oneself to making the intention when washing the face, it suffices, but one is not rewarded for the previous sunnas of rinsing the mouth and nostrils and washing the hands (N: provided that one merely intended cleanliness or something else by them and the intention of worship did not come to one's mind).

HOW TO PERFORM ABLUTION

e5.5 It is recommended to begin ablution by mentioning (n: in Arabic, like the other invocations in this volume (def:w1)) the name of Allah Most High (O: by saying "In the name of Allah," which is the minimum. The optimum is to say, "In the name of Allah. Most Merciful and Compassionate," Before this, it is sunna to say, "I take refuge in Allah from the accursed Devil," and to add after the Basmala: "Praise to Allah for Islam and its blessings. Praise to Allah who made water purifying and Islam a light. My Lord, I take refuge in You from the whispering of devils and take refuge in You lest they come to me." It is sunna to say all the above to oneself.)

If one internationally or absentmindedly omits saying the name of Allah (n: at the first of ablution), then one pronounces it during it (O: by saying, "In the name of Allah, first to last").

e5.6 It is recommended to wash the hands three times.

(O: By saying "three times," the author indicates the sunna character of performing such acts thrice, and that it is an independent sunna (N: rewarded apart from the sunnas it is conjoined with).)

If one has doubts as to whether or not one's hands are free of filth, it is offensive to dip them into less than 216 liters of water without first washing them three times. (O: When sure they are pure, it is not offensive to immerse them. When sure they are impure, it is unlawful to dip them into this amount of water (N: since it spoils it by making it impure).)

e5.7 One next uses the toothstick (def:e3), and then rinses the mouth and nose out three times, with three handfuls of water. One takes in a mouthful from a handful of water and snuffs up some of the rest of the handful into the nostrils (n: swishing the water around the mouth, and expelling the water of the mouth and the nose simultaneously), then again rinses the mouth and then the nostrils from a second handful of water, followed by rinsing the mouth and then the nostrils from the third handful of water.

One lets the water reach as much of the mouth and nostrils as possible, unless fasting, when one goes lightly.

c5.8 Then one washes the face three times, face meaning from the point where the hairline usually begins to the chin in height, and from ear to ear in width.

e5.9 It is obligatory to wash all facial hair-inner, outer, and the skin beneath, whether the hair is thick or thin or thin-such as eyebrows, mustache, and so forth; except for the beard, since:

if it is thin its inner and outer hair and the skin beneath must be washed;
but if thick, then the outer hair is enough, though it is recommended to saturate it by combing it from beneath with wet fingers.

It is obligatory to cause the water to flow over the outer (O: hair of the ) part of the beard that hangs below the chin (O: though not its inner hair).

It is obligatory to wash part of the head in every direction beyond the bounds of the face, to make sure everything has been completely covered.

It is sunna to use new water to saturate one's beard (O: if it is thick) by combing it from beneath with the fingers.

c5.10 Then one washes the hands up to and including the elbows three times.

(If the arm has been amputated between the hand and elbow, it is necessary to wash the remaining forearm and the elbow, If amputated at the elbow, then the end of the upper arm must be washed. If it has been amputated between the elbow and shoulder, then it is recommended to wash the rest of the upper arm.)

c5.11 Then one wipes the head with wet hands, beginning at the front of the head, sliding the paired hands back to the nape of the neck, and then returning them to where one began. (O: This is an explanation of the best way, for otherwise, fulfilling the obligation does not depend on starting at the front, but may be from any part of the head.) One does this three times.

If one is bald, or one's hair never grew, or is long, or braided, then it is not recommended to slide the hands back to the front.

Each of the following suffices as wiping the head:

to place the hand on the head without moving it so that one wets any of what is referred to by "wiping the head," the minimum of which is part of a single hair, provided this part does not hang below the limits of the head;
to drip water on the head without making it flow over it;
or to wash the head

(If it is difficult to remove one's turban, then after wiping the minimum of the head required, one may finish by wiping the turban.)

c5.12 One then wipes the ears inside and out with new water, three times, and then the ear canals with one's little fingers with more new water, three times (O: though this second sunna is not separately mentioned in the more well known books, which speak of the two sunnas together, making "wiping the ears" include the ear canals).

c5.13 Then one washes the feet up to and including the anklebones three times.

c5.14 If one does not know whether one washed a particular limb or the head three times (N: as is sunna), then one assumes one has washed it the least number that one is sure of, and washes as many additional times as it takes to be certain one has reached three.

c5.15 One begins with the when washing arms and legs, but not the hands, cheeks, and ears, which are washed right and left simultaneously.

c5.16 One washes more than is obligatory of the face by adding part of the head and neck, and likewise with the arms and legs by washing above the elbows and ankles, the maximum of which is the whole upper arm or lower leg.

c5.17 One washes the parts of the body successively and without pausing between them (O: such that in normal weather the last part would not dry before one began the next), though if one pauses between them, even for a long time, one's ablution is still valid without renewing the intention.

c5.18 After finishing, one says: "I testify that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and messenger. O Allah, make me one of the oftrepentant, one of the purified, one of Your goodly slaves. O Allah, I declare Your exaltedness above every imperfection and Your Praise. I testify ther is no god but you. I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance."

There are supplications said for each limb washed, but these are not authenticated as being of the sunna.

OTHER RECOMMENDED MEASURES

e5.19 Other recommended measures (adab) include:

facing the direction of prayer;
not to talk during ablution for other than a necessity;
and to begin with the top of the face and not slap water upon it.

e5.20 If another person is pouring one's water (N: or if using a tap) one begins washing the arms from the elbows, and the feet from the anklebones. If pouring one's own water (N: from a jug, for example), one begins washing the arms from the fingers and the feet from the toes.

e5.21 One should take care that water reaches the inner corners of the eyes, and the heels (N: up to the level of the anklebones) and similar places it is feared one may neglect, especially during the winter.

e5.22 One moves one's ring when washing the hand to allow water to reach the skin beneath. (O: If the water cannot otherwise get under it, it is obligatory to move the ring.)

e5.23 One saturates between the toes using the little finger of the left hand. One begins with the little toe of the right foot, coming up through the toes from beneath, and finishes with the little toe of the left.

THINGS OFFENSIVE IN ABLUTION

e5.24 It is offensive:

to have another person wash one's limbs, unless there is some excuse (O: such as old age or the like);
to wash the left before the right;
or to waste water.

e5.25 It is recommended:

not to use less than 0.51 liers (mudd) of water for ablution;
not to use less than 2.03 liters (sa') of water for the purificatory bath (ghusl);
not to dry off the parts washed in ablution (N: unless there is an excuse such as illness or cold weather) or shake the water off one's hands;
not to ask another to pour water for one's ablution;
and not to wipe the neck.

OTHER PROVISIONS

e5.26 If dirt under the nails prevents the water (O: of ablution or the purificatory bath from reaching the skin beneath) then the ablution (O: or bath) is not valid.

(N: The same is true of waterproof glue, paint, nail polish, and so forth on the nails or skin: if it prevents water from reaching any part of the nails or skin, no matter how small, one's ablution or purificatory bath is not valid.)

e5.27 If one has doubts during the course of the ablution that one has washed a particular limb or the head, then it is obligatory to wash it again and everything that follows it in the ablution sequence.

But if these doubts arise after one has finished ablution, one need not repeat anything. (A: The same is true of the purificatory bath (ghusl).)

e5.28 It is recommended to renew the ablution (N: when there has been no intervening state of minor ritual impurity) when one has performed any prayer, obligatory or nonobligatory, will it.

e5.29 Ablution is recommended for someone in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) who wishes to eat, drink, sleep or make love again.

And Allah knows best.

e6.0 WIPING FOOTGEAR

(N: Wiping one's footgear (Ar. khuff) with wet hands is a dispensation that can take the place of the fifth ablution integral of washing the feet. The footgear Muslims generally use for this are ankle-high leather socks that zip up and are worn inside the shoes.)

e6.1 Wiping footgear is permissible for 72 hours (lit. "three days and nights") to a traveller on a lawful trip (N: one not undertaken for purposes of disobeying Allah) that fulfills the conditions permitting one to shorten prayers on journeys (def:f15.1-5).

Wiping them is permissible to a nontraveller for 24 hours (lit. "a day and a night"). (n: At the end of these periods, one removes the footgear to perform ablution, or, if one has ablution at the time, to wash the feet, before putting them on again and starting a new period of permissibility, as at e6.7)

The beginning of the period is reckoned from the time of the first minor ritual impurity (hadath) that occurs after having put them on while in a state of ablution.

Wiping footgear is permissible for only 24 hours:

when one has wiped one has wiped both of a pair of footgear for ablution or just one of the pair (n: leaving the other for later) when not on a trip, and then begun travelling;
or (O: When one has wiped both of a pair of footgear or just one) when on the trip and then finished travelling;
or when one is in doubt as to whether one first wiped one's footgear for ablution while travelling or whether it was while not travelling.

Wiping footgear is permissible for 72 hours if one's ablution is nullified when not travelling and one then lifts that state of minor ritual impurity by wiping them for the ablution while travelling.

e6.2 When one doubts as to whether or not the permissible period for wiping them has expired, then one may not wipe them while the doubt exists. (A: Because dispensations cannot be taken unless one is certain (N: of their necessary conditions).) If one has doubts (n: when near the end of the permissible period for wiping them, for example, and uncertain exactly when it began) about whether one nullified one's ablution at the time of the noon prayer, or whether it was at the time of the midafternoon prayer, then one proceeds on the assumption that it was at the time of the noon prayer.

e6.3 If a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) occurs during the permissible period for wiping footgear, then one must take them off for the purificatory bath (ghusl).

e6.4 The conditions for the permissibility of wiping footgear are:

that one have full ablution when one first puts them on;
that they be free of filth;
that they cover the whole foot up to and including the anklebones;
that they prevent water (N: if dripped on them drop by drop from directly) reaching the foot (O: if water reaches the foot through the holes of a seam's statues, it does not affect the validity of wiping them, though if water can reach the foot through any other place, it violates this condition);
and that they be durable enough to keep walking around upon a travellers do in attending to their needs (O: when encamping, departing, etc.);
no matter whether they are of leather, felt, layers of rags (N: including thick, heavy wool socks that prevent water from reaching the foot (A: not modern dress socks (n:due to non (d) and (e) above), which are not valid to wipe in any school, even if many are worn in layers)), wood, or other; nor whether they have a cleavage laced up with eyelets (O: provided none of the foot shows).

One may not wipe footgear if wearing just one of a pair, washing the other foot. Nor if any of the foot shows through a hole in them.

e6.6 It is sunna to wipe the footgear on the top, bottom, and heel in lines (N: as if combing something with the fingers), without covering every part of them or wiping them more than once.

One puts the left hand under the heel and the right hand on top of the foot at the toes, drawing the right hand back towards the shin while drawing the left along the bottom of the foot in the opposite direction towards the toes.

It is sufficient as wiping the footgear to wipe any part of their upper surface 9n: with wet hands), from the top of the foot up to the level of the anklebones. It is not sufficient to only wipe some of the bottom, heel, side of the foot, or some of the footgear's inner surface that faces the skin.

e6.7 When on an ablution that was performed by wiping the footgear, and then some part of the foot shows because of taking them off, or through a hole, it's sufficient (N: to complete one's ablution) to merely wash the feet again (O: without repeating the ablution).

e7.0 THE FOUR CAUSES OF MINOR RITUAL IMPURITY (HADATH)

(N: Meaning the things that nullify one's ablution.)

ANYTHING THAT EXITS FROM THE PRIVATE PARTS

e7.1 The first is anything that exits from the front or rear private parts, whether a substance (O: such as urine or feces) (N: or the mucus that exits from the vagina with or without sexual stimulation, though not a woman's sexual fluid that appears through orgasm, discussed below) or wind, and whether something usual or something uncommon such as a worm or stones. But not a male's sperm or female's sexual fluid (Ar. maniyy, that which exits with orgasmic contractions, whether a man's or a woman's (def:e10.4)), which necessitates the purificatory bath (N: as it causes major ritual impurity) but does not necessarily nullify ablution, an example of this being someone firmly seated (dis: e7.2 second paragraph) who sleeps and has a wet dream, or someone who looks at something lustfully and sperm or sexual fluid come. Otherwise, if one makes love to one's spouse, or has an orgasm while lying asleep, ablution is nullified (n: respectively) by touching the spouse's skin (e7.3) or by sleep (below).

LOSS OF INTELLECT THROUGH SLEEP ETC.

e7.2 The second cause of minor ritual impurity is loss of intellect (O: meaning the loss of the ability to distinguish, whether through insanity, unconsciousness, sleep, or other. Loss of intellect excludes drowsing and daydreaming, which do not nullify ablution. Among the signs of drowsing is that one can hear the words of those present, even if uncomprehendingly).

Sleep while firmly seated on the ground (A: or any other surface firm enough to prevent a person's breaking wind while seated on it asleep) does not nullify ablution, whether riding mounted, leaning on something which if removed would cause one to fall, or otherwise seated.

If one sleeps when firmly seated and one's rear moves from its place before one awakens, this nullifies one's ablution. But not if:

one's rear moved after or during awakening, or if one is uncertain about whether it happened before awakening or during;
one's arm dropped to the ground while one was firmly seated;
or when one drowses while not firmly seated, hearing but not comprehending, or if one is uncertain as to whether one drowsed or slept, or uncertain as to whether one slept while firmly seated or not firmly seated.

CONTACT OF MAN AND WOMAN'S SKIN

e7.3 The third cause of minor ritual impurity is when any, no matter how little, of the two skins of a man and woman touch (N: husband and wife, for example) when they are not each other's unmarriageable kin (Ar. mahram, def: m6), even if they touch without sexual desire, or unintentionally, and even if with tongue or a nonfunctional or surplus limb; though touching does not include contact with teeth, nails, hair, or a severed limb.

Ablution is also nullified by touching AN AGED person or a corpse (N: of the opposite sex) but not by touching a member of one's unmarriageable kin, or a child who is younger than the age that usually evokes sexual interest.

One's ablution is not nullified when one is uncertain about:

whether one touched a male or female;
whether one touched hair or skin;
or whether the person one touched was one's unmarriageable kin or not.

TOUCHING HUMAN PRIVATE PARTS WITH HAND

e7.4 The fourth cause of minor impurity is touching human private parts with the palm or inner surface of the fingers only (N: i.e. those parts which touch when the hands are put together palm to palm), whether one touches the private parts:

absentmindedly;
without sexual desire;
in the front or rear;
of a male or female;
of oneself or another, even if deceased, or a child;
but not if one touches them with one's finger tips, the skin between the fingers, with the outer edge of the hand, or touches the corresponding parts of an animal.

e7.5 Ablution is not nullified by vomiting, letting blood, nosebleed, laughing during the prayer, eating camel meat, or other things (N: not discussed above).

e7.6 When certain that a minor ritual impurity has occurred, but uncertain whether one subsequently lifted it (N: with ablution), then one is in a state of minor ritual impurity (A: because in Sacred Law, a state whose existence one is certain about does not cease through a state whose existence one is uncertain about).

When certain that one had ablution, but uncertain that it was subsequently nullified, then one still has ablution.

e8.0 ACTIONS UNLAWFUL DURING MINOR RITUAL IMPURITY

e8.1 The following are unlawful for someone in a state of minor ritual impurity:

to perform the prayer;
to prostrate when reciting the Koran at verses in which it is sunna to do so (def; f11.13);
to prostrate out of thanks (f11.19);
to circumambulate the Kaaba (j5);
or to carry a Koran, even by a strap or in a box, or touch it, whether its writing, the spaces between its lines, its margins, binding, the carrying strap attached to it, or the bag or box it is in.

(n: Other aspects of proper manners (adab) towards the Book of Allah are treated below at w16.) (A: The opinion expressed in Fiqh al-sunna that it is permissible to touch the Koran without ritual purity is a deviant view contrary to all four schools of jurisprudence and impermissible to teach (dis:r7.1(3), except to explain that it is oberrant)(n:Though in the Hanifi school. it is permissible for someone in a state of minor ritual impurity to touch or carry a Koran that is inside a cover not physically attached to it, such as a case or bag, as opposed to something joined to it, like a binding (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.43). And Allah knows best.)

e8.2 It is also unlawful (n: when without ablution) to touch or carry any of the Koran written for the purpose of study, even a single verse or part of one, as when written on a slate or the like.

(O: But this is permissible for non-study purposes such as when the Koran is intended to be an amulet (def:w17). It is not prohibited to touch or carry such an amulet even if it contains whole suras, or even, as Sheikh (N: Shirbini) al-Khatib has said, if it contains the whole Koran.)

It is permissible to carry a Koran in one's baggage and to carry money, rings, or clothes on which Koran is written.

It is permissible to carry books of Sacred Law, hadith, or Koranic exegesis which contain Koran, provided that most of their text is not Koran (O: because the non-Koranic part is the purpose, though this is unlawful if half or more is Koran).

Boys who have reached the age of discrimination (def:f1.2(O:)) may touch or carry the Koran while in a state of minor ritual impurity (O: because of the need to learn it and the hardship of their keeping ablution, and likewise for young girls, though this is for study alone, as opposed to non-study, when it is unlawful. As for children under this age, their guardian may not give a Koran to them) (A: as this is an insult to it. Also, teachers should remind children that it is unlawful to moisten one's fingers with saliva to turn its pages).

Someone in a state of minor or major impurity may write Koran if he does not touch or carry what he has written.

e8.3 When one fears that a Koran may burn, get soaked, that a non-Muslim may touch it, or that it may come into contact with some filth, then one must pick it up if there is no safe place for it, even if one is in a state of minor or major ritual impurity, though performing the dry ablution (tayammum, def:e12) is obligatory if possible.

e8.4 It is unlawful to use a Koran or book of Islamic knowledge as a pillow (O: except for fear of theft, when it is permissible to do so).

And Allah knows best.

e9.0 GOING TO LAVATORY

e9.1 It is recommended when one intends to use the lavatory:

to put something on one's feet, unless there is an excuse (O: such as not having shoes);
to cover the head (O: even if only with a handkerchief or other);
to set aside anything on which there is the mention of Allah Most High. His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), or any revered name (O: like those of prophets or angels). If one enters with a ring (O: on which something worthy of respect is written), one closes one's hand around it;
to ready stones (N: or other suitable material (def:e9.5)) (O: if one uses them) to clean oneself of filth (N: though water alone is sufficient);
to say before entering:
"In the name of Allah. O Allah, I take refuge in You from demons, male and female,"
and after leaving,
"[O Lord,] Your forgiveness: Praise be to Allah who rid me of the hurt and gave me health";
to enter with the left foot first and depart with the right foot first (and this, together with (3) and (5) above, are not only for indoors, but recommended outdoors as well);
not to raise one's garment until one squats down to the ground (O: to keep one's nakedness covered as much as possible) and to lower it before one stand up;
to put most of one's weight on the left foot while squatting;
not to spend a long time;
not to speak;
when finished urinating, for men to squeeze the penis with the left hand from base to head (O: recommended because this is where the urethra is, and for women to squeeze their front between thumb and forefinger) (N: so urine does not exit later and nullify one's ablution) pulling lightly three times (O: this being recommended when one thinks the urine has stopped, though if one thinks it has not, this is obligatory);
not to urinate while standing (O: which is offensive) unless there is an excuse (N: such as when standing is less likely to spatter urine on one's clothes than sitting, or when sitting is a hardship);
not to clean oneself with water in the same place one relieved oneself, if it might spatter, though if in a lavatory one need not move to a different place;
to distance oneself from others if outdoors and to screen oneself;
not to urinate into holes, on hard places, where there is wind, in waterways, where people gather to talk, on paths, under fruit trees, near graves, in still water, or in less than 216 liters of running water;
and not to relieve oneself with one's front or rear facing the sun, moon, or the Sacred Precinct in Jerusalem.

e9.2 It is unlawful to urinate on anything edible, bones, anything deserving respect, a grave or in a mosque, even if into a receptacle.

e9.3 It is unlawful to urinate or defecate with one's front or rear towards the direction of prayer when outdoors and there is no barrier to screen one, though this is permissible when one is indoors within a meter and a half of a barrier at least 32 cm. high, or in a hole that deep. When one is not this close to such a barrier at least 32 cm. high, or in a hole that deep. When one is not this close to such a barrier, it is not permissible except in a lavatory, where, if the walls are farther from one than the maximal distance or are shorter than the minimal height, relieving oneself with front or rear towards the direction of prayer is permissible, though offensive.

e9.4 It is obligatory to clean oneself of every impure substance coming from one's front or rear, though not from gas, dry worms or stones, or excrement without moisture.

e9.5 Stones suffice to clean oneself, though it is best to follow this by washing with water. Anything can take the place of stones that is a solid, pure, removes the filth, is not something that deserves respect or is worthy of veneration, nor something that is edible (O: these being five conditions for the validity of using stones (N: or something else) to clean oneself of filth without having to follow it by washing with water).

But it is obligatory to wash oneself with water if:

one has washed away the filth with a liquid other than water, or with something impure;
one has become soiled with filth from a separate source;
one's waste has moved from where it exited (n: reaching another part of one's person) or has dried;
or if feces spread beyond the inner buttocks (N: meaning that which is enfolded when standing), or urine moved beyond the head of the penis, though if they do not pass beyond them, stones suffice.

It is obligatory (N: when cleaning oneself with a dry substance alone) to both remove the filth, and to wipe three times, even when once is enough to clean it, doing this either with three pieces (lit. "stones") or three sides of one piece. If three times does not remove it, it is obligatory to (N: repeat it enough to) clean it away (O: as that is the point of cleaning oneself. Nawawi says in al-Majmu' that cleaning oneself (N: with a dry substance) means to remove the filth so that nothing remains but a trace that could not be removed unless one were to use water) (N: and when this has been done, any remaining effects of filth that could have been done, any remaining effects of filth that could have only been removed with water are excusable). An odd number of strokes is recommended. One should wipe from front to back on the right side with the first piece, similarly wipe the left with the second, and wipe both sides and the anus with the third. Each stroke must begin at a point on the skin that is free of impurity.

It is offensive to use the right hand to the oneself of filth.

e9.6 It is best to clean oneself of filth before ablution, though if one waits until after it to clean, the ablution is nevertheless valid(N: provided that while cleaning, the inside surface of the hand (def: e7.4 does not touch the front or rear private parts).

If one waits until after one's dry ablution (tayammum, def:e12) to clean away filth, the dry ablution is not valid (A: because lack of filth is a condition for it).

e10.0 MAJOR RITUAL IMPURITY (JANABA)

e10.1 The purification bath (ghusl, def:e11)

is obligatory for a male when:

sperm exists from him;
or the head of his penis enters a vagina;

and is obligatory for a female when:

sexual fluid (def: below) exits from her;
the head of a penis enters her vagina;
after her menstrual period;
after her postnatal lochia stops or after a child is born in a dry birth.

(n: The Arabic term maniyy used in all these rulings refer to both male sperm and female sexual fluid, i.e that which comes from orgasm, and both sexes are intended by the phrase sperm or sexual fluid wherever it appears below.)

e10.3 When a woman who has been made love to performs the purificatory bath, and the male's sperm afterwards leaves her vagina, then she must repeat the ghusl if two conditions exist:

that she is not a child. but rather old enough to have sexual gratification (A: as it might otherwise be solely her husband's sperm);
and that she was fulfilling her sexual urge with the lovemaking, not sleeping or forced.

e10.4 Male sperm and female sexual fluid are recognised by fact that they:

come in spurts (n: by contractions);
with sexual gratification;
and when moist, smell like bread dough, and when dry, like egg-white.

When a substance from the genital orifice has any one of the above characteristics, then it is sperm or sexual fluid and makes the purificatory bath obligatory. When not even one of the above characteristics is present, it is sperm or sexual fluid. Being white or thick are not being yellow or thin are not necessary for it to be considered female sexual fluid.

e10.5 The purificatory bath is not obligatory:

when there is an unlustful discharge of thin, sticky, white fluid (madhy) caused by amorous play or kissing;
or when there is a discharge of the thick, cloudy white fluid (wady) that exits after urinating (O: or carrying something heavy).

e10.6 If one does not know whether one's discharge is sperm or whether it is madhy (def:(1) above), then one may either:

consider it sperm, and perform the purificatory bath (O: in which case washing the portions of clothes and so forth affected with it is not obligatory, a it is legally considered a pure substance);
or consider it madhy, and wash the affected portions of the body and clothes (N: which is obligatory, as it is legally considered filth), and perform ablution, though not the purificatory bath.

The best course in such cases of uncertainity is to do all of the above(O: of bathing, washing the affected portions, and ablution, so as to take due precaution in one's worship).

e10.7 All things unlawful for someone in minor ritual impurity (def: e8.1) are also unlawful for someone in a state of major ritual impurity (N: or menstruation). In addition, it is likewise unlawful for such a person:

to remain in a mosque;
or to recite any of the Koran, even part of a single verse, though it is permissible to use its invocations (dhikr) when the intention is not koran recital (O: such as saying in disasters, "Surely we are Allah's, and unto Him we will return," and the like). If one intends Koran recital, it is disobedience, but if one intends it primarily as invocation (dhikr), or as nothing in particular, it is permissible.

It is permissible to pass through a mosque (A: though not to enter and leave by the same door (Ar. taraddud), which is unlawful) when one is in a state of major ritual impurity, but this is offensive when there is no need.

e11.0 HOW TO PERFORM THE PURIFICATORY BATH (GHUSL)

e11.1 When performing the purificatory bath, one:

begins by saying, "In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate";
removes any unclean matter on the body (O: pure or impure);
performs ablution (wudu) as one does before the prayer;
pours water over the head three times, intending the purificatory bath, or to lift a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) or menstruation, or to be permitted to perform the prayer, and running the fingers through one's hair to saturate it;
and then pours water over the body's right side three times, then over the left side three times, ensuring that water reaches all joints and folds, and rubbing oneself.
If bathing after menstruation, a woman uses some musk to eliminate the afterscent of blood (O: by applying it to a piece of cotton and inserting it, after bathing, into the vagina as far as is obligatory (def: (b) below) for her to wash). (N: What is meant thereby is a substance that removes the traces of filth, by any means, and it is fine to use soap.)

Two things (N: alone) are obligatory for the validity of the purificatory bath:

having the intention ((4) above) when water is first applied to the parts that must be washed;
and that water reaches all of the hair and skin (N: to the roots of the hair, under nails, and the outwardly visible portion of the ear canals, though unlike ablution the sequence of washing the parts is not obligatory), even under the foreskin of the uncircumcized man, and the private parts of the non-virgin woman which are normally disclosed when she squats to relieve herself.

(n: In the Hanafi school, rinsing out the mouth and nostrils (def: e5.7) is obligatory for the validity of the purificatory bath (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88) 1.14) It is religiously more precautionary for a Muslim never to omit it, and Allah knows best.)

e11.2 If one begins the purificatory bath while on ablution (wudu) but nullifies it (def:e7) before finishing, one simply completes the bath (N: though one needs a new ablution before praying).

e11.3 If there is filth (najasa) on the body, one washes it off by pouring water on it and then performs the purificatory bath, though washing oneself a single time suffices for both removing it and for the purificatory bath.

e11.4 When a woman who is obliged to both lift a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) and purify after menstruation performs the purificatory bath for either of these, it suffices for both.

Whoever performs the bath one time with the intention to (n: both ) lift a state of major ritual impurity and fulfill the sunna of the Friday prayer bath has performed both, though if he only intends one, his bath counts for that one but not the other.

e11.5 The purificatory bath is sunna:

for those who want to attend the Friday prayer (def:f18) (O: the bath's time beginning at dawn);
on the two 'eids (f19) (O: the time for it beginning from the middle of the night);
on days when the sun or moon eclipse;
before the drought prayer (f21);
after washing the dead (O: and it is sunna to perform ablution (wudu) after touching a corpse);
after recovering one's sanity or regaining consciousness after having lost it;
(N: before) entering the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram, def:j3), when entering Mecca, for standing at 'Arafa (j8), for circummambulating the Kaaba (j5) and going between Safa and Marwa (j6), for entering Medina, at al-Mash'ar al-Haram (j9.2), and for each day of stoning at Mina (j10) on the three days following 'Eid al-Adha.

e12.0 DRY ABLUTION (TAYAMMUM)

(N: When unable to use water, dry ablution is a dispensation to perform the prayer or similar act without lifting one's minor or major impurity, by the use of earth for one's ablution.)

e12.1 Three conditions must be met for the legal validity of performing dry ablution.

The first is that it take place after the beginning of the prayer's time if it is for an obligatory or a nonobligatory one that has a particular time. The act of lifting earth to the face and arms (N: the first step of dry ablution) must take place during that time. If one performs dry ablution when unsure that the prayer's time has come, then one's dry ablution is invalid, even if it coincides with the correct time (dis e6.2(A:)). If one performs dry ablution in midmorning for the purpose of making up a missed obligatory prayer, but the time for noon prayer comes before one has made up the missed obligatory prayer, then one may pray it (N: the noon prayer) with that dry ablution (N: because one did not perform dry ablution for it before its time, but rather performed dry ablution for a different prayer in that prayer's time, which clarifies why this does not violate the conditions of praying with dry ablution), or one could pray a different missed prayer with it (O: as one is not required to specify which obligatory prayer the dry ablution is for).
The second condition is that dry ablution must be performed with plain, purifying earth that contains dust, even the dust contained in sand; though not pure sand devoid of dust; nor earth mixed with the likes of flour; nor gypsum pottery shards (O: which are not termed earth), or earth that has been previously used, meaning that which is already on the limbs or has been dusted off them.
The third condition is inability to use water. The person unable to use water performs dry ablution, which suffices in place of lifting all forms of ritual impurity permitting the person in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) or woman after her menstrual period to do everything that the purificatory bath (ghusl) permits them to do. If either of them subsequently has a minor ritual impurity (hadath), then only the things prohibited on minor impurity are unlawful for them (def:e8.1) (N: not those prohibited on major impurity (e10.7), that is, until they can again obtain water to life their state of major impurity, when they must, for the dry ablution is only a dispensation to pray and so forth while in states of impurity and is nullified by finding water).

e12.2 Inability to use water has (O: three) causes (n: lack of water, fear of thirst, and illness).

LACK OF WATER

e12.3 The first is lack of water. When one is sure there is none, one performs dry ablution without searching for it. If one thinks there might be some, one must look through one's effects and inquire until one has asked all of one's party or (N: if too numerous) there is no time left except for the prayer. One does not have to ask each person individually, but may simply call out, "Who has water, even for a price?" Then one looks around, if on level ground. If not level, one checks on foot within the range at which one's group could be expected to respond to a cry for help, provided there is no threat to life or property. Or one may climb a nearby hill.

The search for water must occur after the particular prayer's time has come.

When one checks, does not find water, performs dry ablution, (N: prays an obligatory prayer with it,) and remains at the place, one need not search again before performing dry ablution for another obligatory prayer (N: when the next prayer's time comes), provided one made sure there was no water the first time, and nothing has happened to change one's mind. But if one did not make sure, or if something has happened to suggest that there might now be water, like the appearance of rain clouds or riders, one is obliged to check again for water.

e12.5 When sure that one can obtain water by waiting until the last of a prayer's time, then it is better to wait. But if one thinks otherwise, then it is better to perform dry ablution (n: and pray) at the first of the time.

e12.6 (N: This entry's rulings apply equally to obtaining water for purification and to obtaining clothing to fulfill the prayer's condition of covering one's nakedness (def:f5).)

If a person gives or loans one water, or loans one a bucket (O: when it is the sole means of the water) then one must accept it; though not if the person loans or gives one the price of these things (O: because of the burden of accepting charity that it involves.

If one finds water or a bucket for sale at the usual price for that locality and time, then one is obliged to buy it, provided one's money is in excess of one's debts, even if they are not due until a future date; and provided one's money exceeds the amount required for the journey's expenses, round trip.

When someone has water he does not need but will not sell, one may not simply take it from him by force, except when compelled by thirst (N: provided the water's owner is not also suffering from thirst, and provided one pays him the normal price for it in that locality and time, because one's need does not eliminate another's rights).

e12.7 If one finds some water, but not enough to complete purification, one must use it as far as it will go, and then perform dry ablution in place of the rest. For minor ritual impurity, one uses the water on the face, then the arms, and so forth, in the usual ablution sequence. For major ritual impurity (janaba), one begins wherever one wishes, though it is recommended to start at the top of the body.

FEAR OF THIRST

e12.8 The second cause of inability to use water is fear of one's own thirst, or that of worthy companions and animals with one, even if in the future (O: worthy meaning those whose killing is unlawful, such as a trained hunting dog or other useful animal, while unworthy includes non-Muslims at war with the Muslims, apostates from Islam (def:o8), convicted married adulterers, pigs, and biting dogs).

Ablution (N: as well as the purificatory bath (ghusl)) is unlawful in such a case. One should conserve one's water for oneself and others, and may perform dry ablution for prayer with no need to make up the prayer later (A: provided lack of water predominates in that place (dis:e12.19(N))).

ILLNESS

e12.9 The third cause is an ailment from which one fears (N: that performing a normal ablution or purificatory bath would cause):

harm to life or limb;
disability;
becoming seriously ill;
an increase in one's ailment;
a delay in recovering from one's illness;
considerable pain;
or (n: a bad effect from the water such as) a radical change in one's skin color on a visible part of the body.

One may depend on one's own knowledge (N: as to whether one of the above is to be apprehended) (O: if one is knowledgeable in medicine) (N: though it is not a condition that one be knowledgeable in medicine, for one's own previous experience may be sufficient to establish the probability that one of them will occur if a full ablution or bath (ghusl) is performed). Or one may depend on a physician whose information concerning it is acceptable (A: meaning one with skill in medicine whose word can be believed, even if he is not a Muslim).

e12.10 (n: Rulings e12.11-13 below have been left in Arabic and deal with a person who has injuries that prevent a normal ablution or bath for one of the above reasons. Strictness on the question (`azima) is to follow the Shafi'is, while dispensation (rukhsa) is to follow the Hanafi school ((2) below).

The Shafi'i school is the hardest in this matter, insisting on a full ablution except for the injured part, where a full dry ablution must be performed at the proper point in the ablution sequence in place of washing the injured part, as at e12.11 below.
If someone has a cast or dressing harmful to remove, as at e12.12, it must be first applied when one has ablution, and thereafter one must wipe it with water when one comes to it in the ablution sequence in addition to performing a complete dry ablution at that point.
Finally, when someone with such a bandage on the members of dry ablution (the face or arms) recovers and has his cast or dressing removed, he is obliged to make up (repray) all the prayers he performed with such an ablution, as at e12.13(O:).
The Hanafi school requires someone with an injury who wants to pray to make a complete ablution (N: or bath, if needed). But if this would entail harm, such as one of the things mentioned above at e12.9. then when he comes to the injury in the ablution sequence, he is merely required to wipe it with wet hands so as to cover more than half of the injury. If this would also entail harm, or if he has a bandage that cannot be removed without harm or he cannot reapply the dressing by himself and has no one to help him to do so, then he simply wipes more than half the bandage when he comes to it in his ablution. He may pray with such an ablution and need not repeat the prayer later (al-Hadiyya al- 'Ala'iyya (y4) (43-44).
It is not necessary that he be free of minor or even major impurity (janaba) at the time the dressing is applied (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.41).
(N: There is strong evidence for performing dry ablution (tayammum) in place of washing such an injury. To add it at the proper point of the ablution sequence as a precautionary measure (dis: c6.5) would not interfere with the validity of following the Hanafi position just discussed.)

e12.14 If it is cold that one fears an illness or one of the things previously mentioned(e12.9) from the use of water and one lacks means of heating the water or warming one's limbs up afterwards, then one performs the dry ablution (N: prays), and repeats the prayer later.

e12.15 When one lacks both water and earth, one is obliged to pray the obligatory prayer by itself, and later make up the prayer when one again finds water or finds earth, if in a place where dry ablution suffices as purification for a prayer that need not be made up later (N: such as in the desert (dis:e12.19(N:))).

THE INTEGRALS OF DRY ABLUTION

e12.16 Dry ablution has seven obligatory integrals:

the intention, one intending permission to perform the obligation of the prayer, or that which requires dry ablution (N: such as carrying the Koran when there is no water for ablution). It is inadequate to intend to lift a state of minor ritual impurity (dis:e5.3 (O:)) or intend the obligation of dry ablution.
If one is performing dry ablution for an obligatory prayer, one must intend its being obligatory, though need not specify whether, for example, it is for the noon prayer or the mid-afternoon prayer. If one were to intend it for the obligation of performing the noon prayer, one could (N: instead) pray the mid-afternoon prayer with it (N: though not both, as at e12.20).
If one intends a dry ablution for both an obligatory prayer and a nonobligatory prayer, then both may be prayed with that same dry ablution. But if one's intention is merely for a nonobligatory prayer, a funeral prayer (janaza), or simply prayer, then one may not pray an obligatory prayer with that dry ablution. If one intends an obligatory prayer, one may pray nonobligatory prayers only, or pray them before and after an obligatory prayer during the obligatory prayer's time, or after the obligatory prayer's time has expired.
The intention must occur when one conveys the earth (O: meaning when one first strikes the earth) and must continue until one wipes part of the face;
that one's hands contact the earth and convey it (N: up to the face, after having shaken the excess dust from one's hands);
that one's hands contact the earth and convey it (N: up to the arms, after having shaken the excess dust from one's hands);
to wipe the face (N: not missing under the nose)
and to wipe the arms including the elbows;
to do the above in the order mentioned;
and that the dry ablution be performed by striking the earth twice, once for wiping the face, and a second time for wiping the arms.

It is not obligatory to make the earth reach under the hair (N: of the arms and face).

THE SUNNAS OF DRY ABLUTION

e12.17 The sunnas of dry ablution are:

to say, "In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate";
to wipe the upper face before the lower;
to wipe the right arm before the left;
and for wiping the arms, (N: holding the palms up,) to place the left hand crosswise under the right with left hand's fingers touching the backs of the fingers of the right hand, sliding the left hand up to the right wrist. Then, curling the fingers around the side of the right wrist, one slides the left hand to the right elbow, then turns the left palm so it rests on the top of the right forearm with its thumb pointed away from one before sliding it back down to the wrist, where one wipes the back of the right thumb with the inside of the left thumb. One then wipes the left arm in the same manner, followed by interlacing the fingers, rubbing the palms together, and then dusting the hands off lightly.

(N: This method is not obligatory, but rather any way will suffice that wipes all of both arms.)

e12.18 One separates the fingers when striking the earth each of the two times, and must remove one's ring for the second (N: before wiping the arms).

THINGS WHICH NULLIFY DRY ABLUTION

e12.19 Dry ablution is nullified by both the things which nullify ablution (def: e7) and by the mere belief that one can now obtain water when this belief occurs before one begins praying, such as by seeing a mirage or a troop of riders.

This belief also nullifies dry ablution when it occurs during one's prayer if the prayer is one which must be later made up, like that of someone at home who performs dry ablution for lack of water (N: because if one performs dry ablution in a place where water is generally available during the whole year, it is obligatory to make up one's prayer, in view of the fact that the dry ablution has been performed for a rare excuse. The rule is that whoever performs the prayer without full ritual purity because of a rare excuse is obliged to make up his prayer, as when the water of a city or village is cut off for a brief period of time during which those praying perform dry ablution, while if one has performed it in a place where water is seldom available during the year, it is not obligatory to make up one's prayer, as when one performs dry ablution in the desert). But if not of those prayers that must be made up later, such as that of a (N: desert) traveller who has performed dry ablution, then it(N: the belief that one can now obtain water, when it occurs during prayer) does not (N: nullify one's dry ablution) and one finishes the prayer, which is adequate, though it is recommended to interrupt it in order to begin again after one has performed ablution.

e12.20 One may not perform more than one obligatory prayer with one dry ablution, whether one of the prescribed obligatory prayers or one vowed (def: j18), though one may pray any number of nonobligatory prayers or funeral prayers with it.

e13.0 THE MENSTRUAL PERIOD

e13.1 The minimal age for menstruation is about 9 full years. There is no maximal age for the end of it, as it is possible until death.

The minimal mentrual period is a day and a night. It generally lasts 6 or 7 days. The maximal period is 15 days.

The minimal interval of purity between two menstruations is 15 days. There is no maximal limit to the number of days between menstruations.

e13.2 Whenever a woman who is old enough notices her bleeding, even if pregnant, she must avoid what a woman in her period avoids (defL e13.4). If it ceases in less than 24 hours (lit. "the minimum"), then it is not considered menstruation and the woman must take up the prayers she has omitted during it. If it ceases at 24 hours, within 15 days, or between the two, then it is menstruation. If it exceeds 15 days, then she is a woman with chronic vaginal discharge (dis:e13.6).

Yellow or dusky colored discharge is considered menstrual flow.

If a woman has times of intermittent bleeding and cessation during an interval of 15 days or less, and the times of bleeding collectively amount to at least 24 hours, then the entire interval, bleeding and nonbleeding, is considered menstruation.

e13.3 Postnatal bleeding (nifas) lasts at least a moment, generally 40 days, and at most 60. If it exceeds this, the woman is considered to have chronic vaginal discharge (dis:e13.6)

e13.4 All things unlawful for someone in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) (dis:e10.7) are unlawful for a woman during her menstruation and postnatal bleeding. It is also unlawful for her to fast then, and the (N: obligatory) fast-days she misses must be made up later, though not missed prayers.

It is unlawful for her:

to pass through a mosque when she thinks some of her blood might contaminate it (N: and it is unlawful for her to remain in the mosque under any circumstances (n: when menstruating or during postnatal bleeding)):
to make love, or take sexual enjoyment from what is between her navel and knees;
to be divorced;
or to perform purification with the intention to raise a state of ritual impurity.

When her bleeding ceases, then fasting, divorce, purification, and passing through the mosque are no longer unlawful for her, though the other things remain unlawful for her until she performs the purificatory bath (ghusl, def:e11).

e13.5 If a woman claims to be having her period, but her husband does not believe her, it is lawful for him to have sexual intercourse with her.

e13.6 A woman with chronic vaginal discharge (N: preparing to pray) should wash her private parts, apply something absorbent to them and a dressing, and then perform ablution (N: with the intention discussed above at e5.3). She may not delay (N: commencing her prayer) after this except for reasons of preparing to pray such as clothing her nakedness, awaiting the call to prayer (adhan), or for a group to gather for the prayer. If she delays for other reasons, she must repeat the purification.

She is obliged to wash her private parts, apply a dressing, and perform ablution before each obligatory prayer (N: though she is entitled, like those mentioned below, to perform as many nonobligatory prayers as she wishes, carry and read the Koran, etc. until the next prayer's time comes (n: or until her ablution is broken for a different reason), when she must renew the above measures and her ablution).

e13.7 People unable to hold back intermittent drops of urine coming from them must take the same measures (def: above) that a woman with chronic vaginal discharge does. (N: And likewise for anyone in a state of chronic annulment of ablution, such as continually breaking wind, excrement, or madhy (def:e10.5) though washing and applying an absorbent dressing are only obligatory when filth exits.)

(A: If a person knows that drops of urine will not stop until the time for the next prayer comes, then he takes the above measures and performs the prayer at the first of its time.)

e14.0 FILTH (NAJASA)

e14.1 Filth means:

urine;
excrement;
blood;
pus;
vomit;
wine;
any liquid intoxicant (n: including, for the Shafi'i school, anything containing alcohol such as cologne and other cosmetics, though some major Hanafi scholars of this century, including Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i Egypt and Badr al-Din al-Hasani of Damascus, have given formal legal opinions that they are pure (tahir) because they are not produced or intended as intoxicants.(N: Other scholars hold they are not pure, but their use is excusable to the extent strictly demanded by necessity.) While it is religiously more precautionary to treat them as filth, the dispensation exists when there is need, such as for postoperative patients who are unable for some time after their surgery to wash away the alcohol used to sterilize sutures. And Allah knows best.)
(N: As for solid intoxicants, they are not filth, though they are unlawful to take,eat, or drink);
dogs and pigs, or their offspring;
wady and madhy (def:e10.5);
slaughtered animals that (N: even when slaughtered) may not be eaten by Muslims (def:j16);
unslaughtered dead animals other than aquatic life, locusts, or humans (A: which are all pure, even when dead, though amphibious life is not considered aquatic and filth when dead);
the milk of animals (other than human) that may not be eaten:
the hair of unslaughtered dead animals;
and the hair of animals (other than human) that may not be eaten, when separated from them during their life (N: or after their death. As for before it is separated from them, the hair is the same as the particular animal, and all animals are pure during their life except dogs and swine).

(n: In the Hanafi school, the hair of an unslaughtered dead animal (other than swine), its bones, nails (hoofs), horns, rennet and all parts unimbued with life while it was alive (A: including its ivory) are pure (tahir). That which is separated from a living animal is considered as if from the unslaughtered dead of that animal (Hashiya radd al-muhtar ala al-Durr al-mukhtar sharh Tanwir al-absar(y47, 1.206-7).)

e14.2 Rennet (n: a solidifying substance used in cheese-making) is pure if taken from a slaughtered (def:j17) suckling lamb or kid that has eaten nothing except milk.

e14.3 That which comes from the mouth of a sleeping person is impure if from the stomach, but pure if from the saliva ducts.

e14.5 The following are pure:

seminal fluid that has reached the stages of gestation in the womb, becoming like a bloodclot and then becoming flesh;
the moisture (N: mucus) of a woman's private parts (O: as long as it remains inside the area that need not be washed in the purificatory bath (def: e11.1(b). end) though if it exit, it is impure);
the eggs of anything;
the milk, fur, wool, or feathers of all animals that may be eaten, provided they are separated from the animal while living or after properly slaughtered;
human milk, male sperm, and female sexual fluid (def:e10.4).

e14.6 No form of filth can become pure, except:

wine that becomes vinegar;
the hide of an unslaughtered dead animal that is tanned;
new animate life that comes from filth (O: such as worms that grow in carrion);
(n: and for the Hanafis, filth which is transformed [molecularly changed] into a new substance, such as a pig becoming soap, etc. (al-Hadoyya al-Ala'iyya (y4), 54)). Wine that becomes vinegar without anything having been introduced into it is pure, as are the sides of the container it touched when it splashed or boiled. But if anything was introduced into the wine before it became vinegar, then turning to vinegar does not purify it. (A: In the Hanafi school it is considered pure whether or not anything has been introduced into it.)

Tanning means removing from a hide all excess blood, fat, hair and so forthby using an acrid substance, even if impure. Other measures such as using salt, earth, or sunlight, are insufficient. Water need not be used while tanning, though the resultant hide is considered like a garment affected with filth, in that it must be washed with purifying water before it is considered pure. Hides of dogs or swine cannot be purified by tanning. Any hair that remains after tanning has not been made pure, though a little is excusable.

e14.7 Something that becomes impure by contact. (def: below) with something from dogs or swine does not become pure except by being washed seven times, one of which (recommended not to be the last) must be with purifying earth (def: e12.1 (b)) mixed with purifying water, and it must reach all of the affected area. One may not substitute something else like soap or glasswort in place of earth.

(n: The contact referred to is restricted, in the Shafi'i school, to contamination by traces of moisture from dogs or swine, whether saliva, urine, anything moist from them, or any of their dry parts that have become moist (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa alfaz al- Minhaj (y73), 1.83). (A: If something dry such as the animal's breath or hair touches one's person, it need only be brushed away.) In the Maliki school, every living animal is physically pure, even dogs and swine (al-Fiqh 'ala al-madhahib al-arba'a (y66), 1.11) (A: and they consider the above sevenfold washing as merely a sunna). While more precautionary to follow the Shafi'i school, the dispensation exists for those who have difficulty in preventing contamination from dogs, provided their prayer with its prerequisites is considered valid in the Maliki school (dis:c6.4(end) and w14.1(6)). And Allah knows best.)

e14.9 The urine of a baby boy who has fed on nothing but human milk can be purified from clothers by sprinkling enough water on the spot to wet most of it, though it need not flow over it. The urine of a baby girl must be washed away as an adult's is.

WASHING AWAY FILTH

e14.10 As for kinds of filth that are "without substance" (N: i.e. without discernible characteristic (najasa hukmiyya) such as a drop of dry urine on a garment that cannot be seen), it is sufficient (N: to purify it) that water flow over it.

But if it is a substance (N: with discernible characteristic (najasa 'ayniyya)). it is obligatory to remove all taste of it, even if difficult, and to remove both color and odor if not difficult. If the odor alone is difficult to remove, or the color alone, then the fact that one of these two remains does not affect a spot's purity, though if both the odor and color of the filth remain in the spot, it is not considered pure.

e14.11 When using less than 216 liters of water to purify a spot affected by filth, it is obligatory that the water flow over it (N: and it may not be simply immersed in the water (dis: e1.15), though this would be permissible with more than 216 liters), but is not obligatory to wring it out. After one purifies it is recommended to wash it a second and third time.

e14.12 When the ground (A: or floor, or carpet) is affected with liquid filth (A: like wine or urine), it is enough to drench the place with water and is not necessary that the filth sink into the ground. If the effects of sun, fire, or wind remove the traces of the filth, the ground is still not pure until one drenches it with water.

e14.13 Liquids other than water, such as vinegar or milk, cannot be purified after they become affected with filth. But if a solid is affected, such as shortening, one discards the filth that fell into it and the shortening around it, and the remainder is pure.

e14.14 Water used to wash away filth is impure when:

it changes (def: e1.17);
its weight increases;
(O: or if neither of the above have occurred, but some trace (N: i.e. an inexcusable amount (def: e14.10, second par)) of filth remains on the place to be purified);
-but if none of the above occurs, then it is not impure (O: i.e then the water is pure but not purifying to other things); though if it amounts to (N: or is added to until it amounts to ) 216 or more liters (dis e1.16), then it is purifying. If less, it is considered the same as the spot it washed: if the spot is pure (N: i.e an inexcusable trace does not remain) then the water is pure, but if the spot is still impure, then the water is impure.

e14.15 (n: the Hanafi school, if a garment's damp spot of filth, whose quantity is too slight to wring out any drops, touches another dry, pure garment, the latter does not become impure (Maraqi al-falah sharh Nur al-idah(y126), 31).)

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