As-salaam alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu, this thread is aimed at discussing the issues of fiqh and it will use the book "ad-durarul bahiyyah" of Imam Ash-shawkaaniy, the book will be translated bit by bit and comments will be made on the text insha Allaah, actually the comment isn't from me but will be lifted from classes of shaykh Ali ar-ramliy(one of the students of shaykh muqbil). So when there is a question that can't be answered, it will sent to the shaykh insha Allaah.

You can download the Arabic text online.....search for "الدرر البهية"

So you can follow up the translation......


We ask Allaah to make this solely for his face and to make it beneficial for the Muslims Aameen.....

OK I realised downloading the book might be difficult while searching in Arabic, so here is a link

https://archive.org/download/FP118156/118156.pdf

I will skip the preface...

Imam Ash-shawkaaniy says: book of purification

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Comment:

Purification is defined as being pure from hadath and removal of khabath or whatever carries their meaning
Hadath is anything that prevents you from performing acts of worship, such that without taking it away, you are not allowed to perform some acts of worship like praying, like tawaf(going round the ka'bah), and so on.


Hadath is removed either by being Muslim(saying the shahadatain truthfully) – if the hadath is caused by a nullifier of Islam – or by wudhu(minor ablution) – if caused by a nullifier of wudhu(to be discussed soon insha Allaah) – or by ghusl(major ablution) – if caused by a nullifier of ghusl(to be discussed soon) – or by tayammum(dry ablution) – if the conditions for tayammum are satisfied.


Our statement that hadath can be caused by a nullifier of Islam is as a result of the saying of Allaah: "verily they(disbelievers) are impure" (surah at-tawbah verse 95)


Thus the deeds of a disbeliever is not accepted, and this is why studying the nullifiers of tawheed is important lest you fall into them taking you out of Islam, may Allaah save us from that Aameen.


There are two types of hadath, minor hadath and major hadath.

As for minor hadath, its any hadath that requires only wudhu to be removed, like urinating, excreting, farting and so on. While major hadath is anything that calls for ghusl like menstruation, postnatal bleeding, bathing the dead and so on.


As for khabath, its an impurity found on the body or the cloth or place of worship that must be removed before the act of worship will be accepted, like excretal on ones cloth or urine and so on. We can as well call khabath "najas". It should however be noted that nothing can be called" najas" except with proof from the book of Allaah or the sunnah of the prophet sallallaahu alayhi was sallam or the consensus of the scholars, something might be irritating to the human but is not najas in the shariah like mucus, and something might not be irritating and is najas in the shariah like the meat of a pig...


Therefore it is an issue of tawqeefiy to declare something najas, i.e keep shut about it except you see proof of its najaasah(impurity) from book of Allaah or the sunnah of his messenger or the consensus of the scholars, the consensus of the scholars is added because the prophet said Allaah will protect his ummah from agreeing on misguidance.


By the way, for simplicity sake you can call "hadath" internal impurity and "najas" external impurity...

Imam Ash-shawkaaniy says:

Water should be pure such that it removes impurity, nothing takes it from these two descriptions except what changes it's odour or it's color or its taste from the impure things.

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Comment:

This part wants to deal with the issue of water used for purification, this is so because generally water is what should be used for purification except we see proof for, giving us another means. So we need to know the kind of water to be used, so he mentions that water that we want for purification must be pure and should be able to remove impurity from someone or something that is impure, be it hadath of khabath. So from here water is divided into two:

1. Pure water that can be used for removing impurity

2. Impure water

So he mentions that water generally is pure until any of its three characteristics changes, which are: ODOUR, COLOR and TASTE, not just changing but changing with something impure, in order words a water is considered pure if mixed with something pure(we will soon talk on this), like soap, rose flower, palm oil, and so on, all these things are pure, so there is no harm if they mix with our water, that water is still pure. Again it also means when something impure enters a water and any of these three characteristics don't change, then the water is still pure, like urine, if it enters the water and any of these three don't change, in the shariah, that water can still be used for purification.

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Ash-shawkaaniy says: and as for the second description, nothing can change it except something that takes it from the general name "water" from the pure things.

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Comment:

Now he wants to tell us that water can be mixed with something pure yet we can't use it for purification again, so he says, "and for the second description" that is, it being able to remove impurity from other things, it will stop having that property when something pure mixes it AND changes the name from water to something else. Like for instance, tea is made from water, and pure things, chocolate, sugar and milk were added to the water which obviously changed its name from water to "tea", thus we can't use a tea for purification because the name "water" is lost, same as "eba", it is made from water and something pure " garri" was added which took it from "water" to garri, and so on. So the criteria for our water to have the things needed for purification are, it should retain its three characteristics or if any is changing, then it should change with something pure and while changing the name "water" is not lost.

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Ash-shawkaaniy says: There is no difference between small body of water and large body of water, no difference between what is above "two qullas" and what is below that, no difference between moving water and stagnant water, neither is there a difference between used water and unused water.

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Comment:

Now he is saying – unlike some scholars – that there is no difference between small body of water or large body of water, they all have the same ruling which is, they are pure until what happens to water that makes it impermissible for usage happens to it. He mentioned this because some scholars say if the water is below two qullahs, then any impure thing that enters it makes the water impure even if none of its characteristics changes. The hadeeth depended on to make that verdict is not authentic. What is a qullah? Problem is, scholars who say if it is less than 2 qullahs then the ruling changes to what we've mentioned previously, they have between themselves long debates as to the real measurement of the prophetic qullah, some say 150litres, some say 250litres and so on. No agreed upon measurement, anyways we won't be needing that because there is no difference between a small body of water and a large body of water.

He also mentions, no difference between a stagnant water and a moving water. I don't intend making this too long and boring, so I'll withhold the proof for this, so in short, stagnant water and a moving water carry the same ruling. And lastly, a used water and an unused water, they also carry the same ruling, what does he intend by used water? That is, if you were to be performing wudhu and you were gathering the water you used, can you use that water for wudhu for a second time? Yes, you can use the water for wudhu, so the next time you see used water in a kettle, don't waste the water by pouring it out, use it.

May Allah bless you brother.

iamgenius:
May Allah bless you brother.

Aameen ya rabbal aalameen

JazakaLlaahu khairan sir, Ustadh Abu Naasir Ibraheem bn Abdur Rauf is currently explaining this book at his weekly halqah at alekuwondo mosque, Oshogbo.

Imam Ash-shawkaaniy says: Chapter of najaasaat(impurities)

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Comment:

What are najasaat? Najasaat is the plural for najaasah which means impurity, now it is important to talk about najaasah because? We've talked about tohaarah(purification) so we should know the opposite so we can beware of it, the salafs would say: we learn evil not because we want to do evil, but to stay away from it. This is why it is also incumbent upon us to learn things that can spoil our Islam so we stay aware from them, like shirk ....Anyway, we've mentioned previously that najaasah is anything that with its presence, some acts of ibadaah can't be correct, either it is on the position intended to perform that act of worship, or its on the body or the cloth, so what are the things that are considered najasaat? They are not known by our intellects, either we get a clearcut proof from the Qur'an or the hadeeth of the prophet or through consensus of the scholars. Anything gotten from sources other than these three can't be accepted as najaasah.

Ash-shawkaaniy says: najasaat are: The faeces of a human, his urine as well – except a boy still being suckled – the saliva of a dog, animal dung, menstrual blood, the meat of a pig, and anything other than these, there is khilaaf(difference of opinions) in it, the basic thing is everything is pure, nothing takes something from being pure except a reliable narration that is not contradicted by another narration equal to it in strength or even stronger than it.

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Comment:

So, he mentions the first thing that according to him there is no khilaaf in its filthiness, which is what? The faeces of a human, why didn't he just say faeces, why must he specify it that it must be that of human, because that's what we have proof for, there is a principle with the people of fiqh which has proof in the shariah and that is "the excretal of anything that is permissible to eat is pure" in other words, things that are not permissible to eat, their faeces(which is an excretal) are not pure. So what exactly are we saying here? We are saying that, if for instance you have a goat's faeces on your cloth, you don't have to wash it off before you pray because it is considered pure, the only faeces we consider impure is that of a human and things impermissible to eat like a domestic donkey, a dog, a pig and so on. When their faeces is on our body or cloth or position where worship is to be done there in, then we have to take it off.

Then he mentions the second thing which is urine of a Human, again the same thing we've mentioned for faeces applies to this, and the principle also follows this because urine is an excretal as well, therefore the urine of things permissible to eat are pure, so you wouldn't be surprised when you hear that the prophet told us that the urine of a camel is a medication and it is recommended to drink, don't listen to those whom intend to cast doubts to your religion, the Christians and Jews can make fun of it all the want, no one cares, they are misguided and astray, we pray to Allaah that their hearts get enlightened by the light of guidance, ameen. Barakallaahu feekum, don't pay attention to the mockings from them, salmaan al-faarisee the honourable companion was asked by someone who intended to make fun of Islam that "your prophet taught you every single thing even how to answer the call of nature?" As if he was telling him, can't you use your sense here? The likes of what we here in nairaland from them, when we open threads they will be mocking saying we can't use our sense even in things that need "common sense" except what the prophet tells us, so what did salmaan say? He said "in fact he taught us what to say while entering the toilet" as if he was replying that, make fun of it all you want, we don't care, barakallaahu feekum, Islam is a complete way of life, so Muslims are urged to learn their religion and not try to sugarcoat your religion for some disbelievers because no matter how you sugarcoat they will never be pleased with you until you follow their path as Allaah mentioned in the Qur'an, na'am. So he went further to exempt the urine of a boy who is still being suckled, the correct thing as shaykh Ali mentions is, its still najaasah and there is proof for that which is available on request...

He also mentions that the saliva of a dog is impurity, well shaykh Ali ramly also mentions that its not actually impurity, and as for the hadeeth that says, the purity of a vessel licked by a dog is to wash it 7 times and the first with sand, it is due to germs not because it is impure, why do we say this? That statement don't mean – in a clearcut way – that it is impure if that's the proof those who say it is impure want to use, then what will they say about the statement of Allaah "if you are in state of janaabah, purify yourselves" does this mean human(Muslims) are impure? Isn't it because of a reason we were asked to purify ourselves and once the reason is gone then it is gone, again Allaah made it permissible for us to eat what was hunted for us by a trained dog for hunting, when the dog hunts don't you eat from it? Had it been it is impure Allaah wouldn't have allowed it, imam Maalik says "They made its saliva impure but eat from what it has killed for them" so basically we are saying you are not obliged to wash a cloth that has on it the saliva of a dog before you pray or any other act of worship that requires tohaarah...

Then he went further to mention that the dung of an animal is impurity, it should be clarified that what is intended is the dung of an animal impermissible to eat as we've mentioned previously. He also mentions that menstrual blood is impure, yes this is so because the prophet ordered the washing of a cloth with such blood before salaah. Also the meat of pig, this is because Allaah called it filth, so if you have its meat on the place you want to pray for instance, you'll have to remove it first. Then he says anything other than these, there is difference of opinions on them, like madhiy(the watery mucus that comes out from the private part, the brother to sperm), some scholars say it is impure, some say its not, but the correct thing is, it is impure because when Ali asked the prophet indirectly about it, the prophet asked him to wash his manhood and perform wudhu.

Then he says "the basic thing is everything is pure..." Like we've mentioned we don't declare anything impure except with proof, so anyone who says something is impure, you'll say "what's the proof".

Ash-shawkaaniy says:

And the purification for whatever gets contaminated is to wash it until there is no trace of it, no trace of its color, no trace of its odour and no trace of its taste. A footwear can be purified by scrubbing on the ground. Alistihaalah purifies(as well) due to the absense of what was given the ruling of filthiness, and whatever we are unable to wash, then pouring water on it is a purification for it or by removing from it until there is no trace of the najaasah.

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Comment:

Something can be called najaasah for either of two reasons, either because it is najaasah in and of itself or it was pure originally but got contaminated, so something that is najaasah in and of itself cannot be removed from its state of impurity no matter the washing except through one way which we will soon talk about insha Allaah, so he mentions that something that gets contaminated can be made pour by washing, he intends something that is pure originally but got contaminated by one of the najaasaat. So when washing we must make sure the filth is gone, although the author says, the odour, taste and color must also go, even shaykh Ali ramly says the same, but the correct thing is, it's not a must that the odour, taste and color go before it is considered pure, washing it till the filth is gone suffices insha Allaah. Those who say odour, taste and color must go don't see a particular hadeeth that says removal of filth is the only requirement to be authentic, where the prophet said to a woman regarding menstrual blood "(Washing with) water suffices you, you are not affected by its trace(i.e taste, odour and color)" but in truth the hadeeth is authentic, shaykh Albaani authenticated it, even though ibn hajar and imam Ahmad weakened the hadeeth. If not for fear of making this too long and I would've explained why I go with the ruling of shaykh Albaani, anyway the hadeeth is reliable, in fact imam as-sa'di also made use of the hadeeth in his manhajus saalikeen to say only removal of filth is needed.

Then ash-shawkaaniy says that a contaminated footwear can be purified by scrubbing on the ground, this is because of a hadeeth of the prophet that actually alludes to this.

Then we move over to "Alistihaalah", if something is impure in and of itself, then the only way to purify it is to change its original form to something else, something we call in science "chemical change " the opposite of "physical change", chemical change as in, it is irreversible to it's original state after changing to something totally different, this is called " Alistihaalah". So for instance if, we have human faeces being burnt to ashes, looking at it, you can't call it anything other than ashes, then the ashes is pure such that if its on your cloth, your cloth is still considered pure, because the thing we gave the ruling of najaasah is no longer there, we have something totally new with us, so we have to give it its own ruling, reason why the author said it is a form of purification due to the absence of what was given the ruling of impurity.

As for what we are unable to wash, like the ground, we pour water on it until the filth is gone like the prophet ordered the companions to do when a man urinated in the masjid, the author mentions "or by removing from it" like for instance a contaminated well, we can remove the contaminated water until the water gets clean, or we can even pour water on it until the three natural characteristics are restored.

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Ash-shawkaaniy says:

Water is the basic thing used for purification and nothing can stand for it except with a permission from the lawgiver

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Comment:

So the basic thing used for purification is water except when we see a proof from the shariah sources that says we can use another means, like we saying scrubbing our footwear on the floor is enough, this is because we saw proof for it, or where the prophet said a skin considered impure can be made pure by tanning it, so in this case washing with water can never suffice you because the prophet has specified its own kind of purification. So you use water for purification until we see proof that specifies another method, once we do, we stop at the method specified.

Afwan ya ikhwaan, I've been busy..
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Will soon continue the thread insha Allaah...

Its amazing how busy I am these days