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Practical Laws of Islam

  • Rules of Taqlīd
  • Rules on Purity
    • Rules Concerning the Different Types of Water
    • Rules of the Lavatory
    • Rules of Wuḍū’
    • The Rules for Touching the Names of Allah, the Glorious, and the Verses of the Qur’an
    • Rules of the Ghusl of Janābah
    • Rules of an Invalid Ghusl
    • Rules of Tayammum
    • Rules Pertaining to Women
    • Rules of the Dead
    • Rules of Najis Substances
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      Rules of Najis Substances

       

      Q 265: Is blood pure?
      A: The blood of an animal, whose blood gushes out when its body is cut, is najis.
       
      Q 266: During a mourning ceremony for Imam Ḥusayn (a.) a person strikes his head forcefully against the wall and blood gushes out splashing on the heads and faces of other participants in the ceremony. Is this blood pure?
      A: Human blood is najis in all circumstances.
       
      Q 267: If a faint bloodstain remains on the dress after it has been washed, is that faint-colored stain najis?
      A: If it is not the blood itself and only the color remains, it is pure.
       
      Q 268: What is the rule pertaining to a spot of blood present in an egg?
      A: It is considered pure, but eating it is ḥarām.
       
      Q 269: What rule applies to the sweat of a person who has become junub by a forbidden act, and, similarly, to the sweat of an animal that is used to eating human excrement?
      A: They are pure according to the strong opinion, although it is based on obligatory caution to abstain from praying with them.
       
      Q 270: Are the drops of water, that fall from the dead body before its ghusl with pure water (the third ghusl) but after its ghusl with water mixed with lotus leaves and camphorated water, pure?
      A: Until the third ghusl is not completed, the dead body is considered najis.
       
      Q 271: Are the dead cells of the skin that at times fall off from the hands, lips and feet, pure or najis?
      A: The fine skin that separates by itself from the hands, lips, feet or any other part of the body, is pure.

       

      Q 272: A person on the war front faces a situation in which he is compelled to kill and eat a pig. Are the sweat on his body and his saliva considered najis?
      A: The sweat and saliva of a person who has eaten ḥarām and najis meat is not najis. However, anything which comes in contact with pork in the presence of moisture is considered najis.
       
      Q 273: In view of the use of brushes in painting and sketching, and considering that good quality brushes are imported from non-Islamic countries and are often made of pig’s hair and are accessible to all, especially in cultural and propagational centers, what is the legal rule regarding using such brushes?
      A: Pig’s hair is najis and its use is not permissible in situations where purity is required by Islamic law; but there is no problem in using it where purity is not necessary. Further, if it is not known whether the brush is made of pig’s hair or not, there is no problem in its use even in cases where purity is required.
       
      Q 274: Is it permissible to eat meat which is imported from non-Islamic countries? And what is the ruling regarding its purity?
      A: Unless its ritual slaughtering is known for sure, eating it is ḥarām. However, as far as purity is concerned, if one is not certain that it has not been slaughtered ritually, it is considered pure.
       
      Q 275: Would you mind clearing up for us your respected opinion regarding leather and other animal parts that are imported from non-Muslim countries?
      A: If you think that the animal may have been slaughtered ritually, it is pure. But in case you are sure of its not having been ritually slaughtered, it is ruled to be najis.
       
      Q 276: If the clothes of a junub person become najis with semen, what is the rule if a hand touches the clothes when there is moisture in any one of them? Secondly, is it permissible for the junub person to give this dress to another for washing it? Is it obligatory for him to inform the person who wants to wash the dress about its najāsah?
      A: Semen is najis, and if it comes into contact with something with transmitting moisture, it makes the latter najis. It is not necessary to inform the person washing the dress about its najāsah. However, unless the owner of the clothes becomes certain about their purity, he could not apply rules of purity to them.
       
      Q 277: After urination I did istibrā’, but after that a liquid smelling like semen was discharged. Is this liquid najis? Please explain the rule applicable to me for performing prayers?
      A: If you are not sure that it is semen, and the shar‘ī signs for the discharge of semen do not accompany it, then the semen rule does not apply to it and it is ruled to be pure.
       
      Q 278: Are the droppings of a bird whose meat is not ḥalāl, like that of a crow or an eagle najis?
      A: They are not najis.
       
      Q 279: Scholars mention in their treatises on practical laws of Islam that the droppings of the animals and birds whose meat is religiously not eaten are najis. If this is true, then are the droppings of the religiously edible animals and birds, such as the cow, sheep and chicken, najis or not?
      A: Droppings of religiously edible birds and animals and that of religiously non-edible birds, as well, are pure.
       
      Q 280: If there is a najāsah [such as excrement] in or around a lavatory, and there still remain some traces of the najāsah after the place is washed with kurr or qalīl water, is the place where there is no najāsah but the water has certainly reached, najis or pure?
      A: The place where najis water has not reached is considered pure.
       
      Q 281: If a guest makes any household appliance of his host najis, is it obligatory for him to inform the host about it?
      A: If it is used in eating and drinking, he must inform the host. If it is something that lack of knowledge about its being najis invalidates wuḍū’ or ghusl, one must inform the host by obligatory caution. Otherwise, informing is not required.
       
      Q 282: Something comes in contact with an extrinsically najis object. Does it become najis? And if it becomes najis, does it make anything else najis? What about the subsequent things in this chain?
      A: The object, which contacts an intrinsically najis material and becomes najis, makes another thing najis if they come into contact with each other when one of the two is wet. The latter makes, by obligatory caution, another thing najis on contact. However this third extrinsically najis object does not make anything najis.

       

      Q 283: When using leather shoes, the leather for which was made from an animal that was not ritually slaughtered, is it obligatory to wash one’s feet every time before performing wuḍū’? Some say: It is necessary to do so if the feet perspire in the shoes. And I have observed that the feet do sweat, either slightly or profusely, in all kinds of shoes. What is your opinion on this issue?
      A: If a person is sure that his shoes are made of an animal’s skin which was not slaughtered ritually or he is sure that his feet have perspired in such shoes, it is obligatory for him to wash his feet for the purpose of praying. But in case of doubt about the sweating of the feet or whether or not that leather is obtained from a ritually slaughtered animal, the feet are ruled to be pure.
       
      Q 284: What is the rule concerning a child’s wet hand, his saliva and leftover food if he regularly makes himself najis? What is the rule applicable to children who place their wet hands on their feet?
      A: As long as it is not certain that they have become najis, they are considered pure.
       
      Q 285: I am suffering from a gum disease and in the doctor’s opinion I must constantly massage it. But doing so leads to parts of the gums turning black and it looks as if blood has collected inside them. Is the water that enters the mouth and is spitted out from the mouth after passing over these parts considered najis?
      A: It is considered pure.
       
      Q 286: I want to ask if the food which I eat and comes into contact with the particles of blood coagulated in the gums becomes najis or not? If it does, does the oral cavity remain najis after the food is swallowed?
      A: The food, in question, is not considered najis and there is no problem in swallowing it. The mouth also remains pure.

       

      Q 287: For some time it has been rumored that cosmetics are made from the placenta when a fetus is delivered or from the dead fetus itself. We use these materials at times, rather some lipstick is swallowed, is it najis?

      A: Rumors do not constitute shar‘ī proof that cosmetics are najis, and there is no objection to using them unless their najāsah is confirmed by a reliable shar‘ī method.

       

      Q 288: Minute hair-like fibers fall off from every dress and pieces of cloth, and we find these minute fibers if we observe the water in a washtub while washing clothes. Accordingly, when the washtub is full of water and connected with tap water, by immersing clothes in it the water overflows from its sides. Due to the presence of these minute fibers in the overflowing water, as a caution I clean the whole place. Or when I take off the children’s najis clothes I wash the place where these clothes were taken off even if it is dry, because I think those minute fibers have fallen there. Is observing such cautions necessary?
      A: If a cloth is put into a washtub for washing and a tap water flows on it until it is completely soaked with water and then the water separates from the cloth or moves within the cloth, the water in the washtub, the cloth, and the washtub are pure, as well as the minute fibers that have fallen from the clothes, in the question, and overflow along with the water. Also dust and minute fibers that are separated from a najis cloth are considered pure unless you are sure that they have been separated from the najis parts of the cloth and it is not necessary to observe caution in case of doubt whether they originally had been separated from najis clothes or not and whether or not their place is najis.
       
      Q 289: What is the degree of wetness that causes najāsah spread from one object to another?
      A: The criterion for transmitting moisture is that the wetness should spread from a wet body to another body when they contact each other.
       
      Q 290: What is the rule pertaining to clothes given to laundries and dry-cleaners as far as purity is concerned? It needs to be mentioned that religious minorities (Jews, Christians etc.) also have their clothes washed and dry-cleaned at these places, and it is also known that the owners of these shops use chemicals for washing clothes.
      A: Clothes given to laundries and dry-cleaners, if they were not najis, are considered pure, and their coming into contact with the clothes of the minorities from the People of the Book does not make them najis.
       
      Q 291: Do the clothes washed in a fully automatic domestic washing machine become pure or not? The mode of functioning of this machine is as follows: Initially when the clothes are washed in it with detergent, some water and foam of the detergent spreads on the glass door of the machine and the rubber surrounding it. After this, the used water is drawn while the foam of the detergent remains on the glass door and the rubber surrounding it. And, at later stages, the machine washes the clothes thrice with qalīl water and then the used water is driven out. Please explain whether the clothes washed in this manner are pure or not?
      A: As far as purifying clothes in a washing machine is concerned, if, after removal of the inherently najis material, the clothes are washed once with water connected to kurr, they are purified. The same ruling applies if you use qalīl water provided that the inner part of machine is pure before putting clothes inside the machine, clothes are washed twice with qalīl water and the used water is drained to the normal extent after each washing.
       
      Q 292: If water is poured on the ground or in a pool or a bath in which clothes are washed, and then drops of this water fall on one’s clothes, do they become najis or not?
      A: If water is poured on a pure spot or ground, the drops that splash from it are also pure. If we doubt whether that place is pure or najis, the splashed drops are ruled to be pure, as well.
       
      Q 293: Is the water which flows on the streets from municipal garbage vans and at times splashes on people’s clothes, due to strong wind, considered pure or najis?
      A: It is considered pure unless one is sure of its being najis due to contact with something najis.
       
      Q 294: Is the water that gathers in potholes in the streets pure or najis?
      A: Such water is ruled to be pure.
       
      Q 295: What is the rule concerning exchanging family visits with persons who do not pay attention to the rules of purity and najāsah in matters of food, drink, etc.?
      A: In general, the ruling of religion of Islam is that everything, about whose najis state one is not certain, is considered pure from the shar‘ī viewpoint.
       
      Q 296: Please elucidate the legal rule concerning the following from the point of view of purity and najāsah: The vomit (a) of a breast-fed child; (b) of a breast-fed child that is also given supplementary diet; (c) of an adult.
      A: It is pure in all these instances.
       
      Q 297: What is the rule applicable to something that comes into contact with some objects one of which is najis?
      A: If it comes into contact with only some of them, it is not treated as najis.

       

      Q 298: In an Islamic country a foreign person, whose religion is unknown, sells food items and touches it in the presence of transmitting moisture. Is it obligatory to ask him about his religion, or will the principle of presuming a state of purity apply?
      A: It is not obligatory to ask about his religion and the principle of presuming state of purity will be applicable in respect to him as well as the food he touches in the presence of transmitting moisture.
       
      Q 299: A member of a family or someone who regularly visits them does not care about purity rules and makes the house as well as its furniture najis to such an extent that it is not possible to wash and clean them. In such a case, what is the duty of the residents of the home? And how is it possible for a person to remain clean, especially for prayers in which a state of purity is a necessary condition for validity? What is the rule in this regard?
      A: It is not necessary to purify the whole house. The purity of the clothes of the person praying and the place of resting the forehead during prayer is sufficient for the validity of prayer. The najāsah of the house and its furnishings does not give rise to any additional duty apart from observing a state of purity during prayers and in eating and drinking.
    • Ruling of Intoxicants
    • Obsession and Its Treatment
    • Rules of Non-Muslims
  • Prayer
  • Fasting
  • Khums
  • Jihad
  • Enjoining the Good and Forbidding Evil
  • Ḥarām Gains
  • Chess and Gambling Instruments
  • Music and Ghinā’
  • Dancing
  • Clapping
  • Non-maḥrams’ Pictures and Films
  • Satellite Television Equipment
  • Theatre and Cinema
  • Painting and Sculpture
  • Magic, Conjuring, and Evocation of Spirits and Jinn
  • Hypnosis
  • Lottery
  • Bribery
  • Medical Issues
  • Teaching, Learning and Their Proprieties
  • Copyrights
  • Dealing with non-Muslims
  • Working for Oppressive States
  • Rules on Clothing and Conspicuous ones
  • Treating the West
  • Smoking and Narcotics
  • Shaving the Beard
  • Attending Gatherings of Debauchery
  • Writing Supplications and Istikhārah
  • Religious Events
  • Hoarding and Extravagance
  • Buying and Selling
  • Miscellaneous Issues in Business
  • Rules Concerning Ribā
  • Right of Pre-emption
  • Hiring, Renting, and Lease
  • Surety
  • Pawning and Mortgaging
  • Partnership
  • Presents and Gifts
  • Debt and Loan
  • Ṣulḥ
  • Power of Attorney
  • Mustaḥabb Alms
  • Deposits and Loaned Properties
  • Leaving a Will
  • Usurpation
  • Placement under Guardianship and Signs of Maturity
  • Silent Partnership
  • Banking
  • State Property
  • Endowments
  • Rules Concerning Graveyards
  • Glossary
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