What is the impure in islam? What are the najis things in islam? What is the najasat in islam?
Things that are unanimously accepted by all schools as impure (najis) are Human urine, human excrement, wadi (the white thick fluid emitted by males due to illness or exerting too much pressure while defecating), madhi (a thin pre-coital fluid that comes out due to sexual arousal), carrion of all land animals, the blood that pours forth from a land animal when it is slaughtered, all parts of the pig, menstrual and post-partum blood, istihādha blood (blood coming from women after menstruation – a prolonged flow of blood), and wine.
As for the controversial impurities, we can mention the following:
- Dog’s saliva: In contrast to the Maliki view, according to the Ḥanafi, the Shafiʿi, and the Ḥanbali schools, dogs’ saliva is impure.
- Sperm: According to Ḥanafis and Malikis semen is impure but pure according to Shafiʿi and Ḥanbali view.
- Human vomit: According to all four schools, it is impure but some jurists consider human vomit as pure.
- Human blood and the blood of terrestrial animals: According to all four schools, it is impure.
- Urine and feces of animals whose meat is permissible to eat: According to the Ḥanafis and some Shafiʿis, they are impure. According to Malikis, Ḥanbalis, and some Shafiʿis, they are pure.
According to the Ḥanafis impurities in Islamic law in terms of their materials are divided into two types ghalīz (dire) and khafīf (mild) in terms of the amount that will prevent the validity of the prayer. If the ghalīz (dire) type impure substance is solid and weighs approximately four grams (1 dinar), it prevents the validity of the prayer; if it is in liquid form and spreads over an area more than the palm of the body or clothing, then it prevents the validity of the prayer. In case of mild impurity, less than one-fourth of the body or clothing that is contaminated by it does not prevent the validity of the prayer.
The ghalīz (dire) impurities are:
1) Out of the things that come out of human beings; Urine, feces, semen, wadi, madhi, mouthfuls of vomit, flowing blood coming out of any limb, and pieces of flesh and skin cut from the body. The blood that comes from women during menstruation, post-partum, or during the extended flow of menstruation blood is also of this nature.
2) The urine of animals whose meat is not permissible to eat, their saliva, the feces of such animals other than birds, and the flowing blood of all animals.
3) The feces of chickens, geese, ducks, and the animals whose meat it is permissible to eat.
4) An animal that dies by itself without being properly slaughtered is impure. So are their untanned skins.
According to the Malikis, like the meat of carrion, its skin, bones, and nerves are not clean. However, hair, wool, and feathers are clean. Whereas, according to Shafiʿis all parts of a dead animal, including hair, feathers, wool, and nails, are impure.
5) Wine. It is prohibited to drink and use, and if it spills on clothes or body, it will make that place impure unless it is washed.[1] According to the preferred view of the Ḥanafis, other intoxicating liquids are also like wine.
According to the Shafiʿis, all intoxicating liquids are impure, whether more or less.
Things that are considered khafīf (mild) impurities include the following:
1) The urine of horses, mules, and donkeys as well as the urine and feces of domestic or wild animals such as sheep, goat, deer, or roe deer, whose meat is permissible to eat, are light impurities according to Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad. This is the preferred view of the Ḥanafi school. According to Abu Ḥanīfa, they are classified as a dire impurity.
2) The wastes of the wild birds whose flesh may not be eaten such as hawk, falcon, sparrow hawk, and eagle.
3) The gall bladder of an animal has the same ruling as the wastes of that animal.[2]
[1] See al-Mā’ida, 5: 90.
[2] See Ibn al-Humām, ibid, I, 135 ff.; al-Maydanī, ibid, I, 55; Ibn Rushd (Averroes), ibid, I, 73; al-Shirazī, ibid, I, 46; Ibn Qudāmah, Mughnī, I, 52; al-Zuhaylī, ibid, I, 150.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ʿilmi ḥāl) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications