The Book of Purification

Vessels and Utensils

The Book of Purification

Vessels and Utensils

Glossary

Vessels and Utensils

[Forbidden Utensils]

It is not lawful to use ⁴¹ gold and silver vessels for purification or otherwise. ⁴² This is based on the statement of the Messenger of Allah (SA), “Do not drink from gold or silver vessels, and do not eat from dishes made of them, for they are for them [the unbelievers] in this life and for you in the hereafter.” ⁴³

لاَ يَجُوْزُ اسْتِعْمَالُ آنِيَةِ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ، فِيْ طَهَارَةٍ وَلاَ غَيْرِهَا ، لما رَوَى حُذَيفَةُ أن النبي قال: "لَا تَشْرَبُوا فِي آنِيَةِ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ، وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا فِي صِحَافِهَا فَإِنَّهَا لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَكُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ."

The ruling of vessels soldered ⁴⁴ with them [gold or silver] is the same, unless it is with a small amount of silver solder.

وَحُكْمُ الْمُضَبَّبِ بِهِمَا حُكْمُهُمَا، إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكُوْنَ الْضَبَّةُ يَسِيْرَةً مِنَ اْلفِضَّةٍ.

41. Other Uses of Gold and Silver Utensils

Their use as utensils for eating or drinking is prohibited by consensus. (-Z) allowed other uses. The majority prevented all uses, and their position is stronger. Any use would still break the hearts of the poor, and it could cause a shortage of the precious metals they use as currency.

(A/SM): Their mere possession is forbidden. The principle here is that if something is impermissible to use, it is impermissible to have in that impermissible form, such as musical instruments.

Other Tools of Gold and Silver
(A/SM): It is impermissible to use other tools and items of gold and silver, such as ink pots, combs, chairs, etc.

42. For example, for eating or storing makeup.

43. (Ag)

44. Gold and Silver Plating

The same applies to plating. However, if the amount used in plating is negligible, it may be fine.

(t): Gold or silver plating of ceilings is impermissible.

[Permissible Vessels and Those of the People of the Book]

It is permissible to use all [other] pure vessels ⁴⁵ and to possess them, and to use the vessels [and utensils] of the People of the Book ⁴⁶ and their clothes, unless they are known to be impure. ⁴⁷

وَيَجُوْزُ اسْتِعْمَالُ سَائِرِ الآنِيَةِ الطَّاهِرَةِ وَاتِّخَاذُهَا، وَاسْتِعْمَالُ أَوَانِي أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَثِيَابِهِمْ مَا لَمْ تُعْلَمْ نَجَاسَتُهَا.

45. Even if they are more expensive than silver and gold.

46. (A/SM): The ruling applies to all non-Muslims.

47. Utensils of the People of the Book

If the utensils are new, or you are certain of their purity, you may use them, by agreement.

If you are certain of their impurity, you may not use them before washing, by agreement.
If you are unsure,

(A) + (+s): You assume their purity, and you do not need to investigate it or wash the utensils before using them.
The Messenger of Allah (SA) ate the food of the People of the Book without asking them about the status of their utensils. His Companions also drank from the water-skin of a pagan woman after he made its water abundant for them. (B)
As for the saying of the Messenger of Allah (SA) regarding them:

“Do not eat from them unless you do not find others, then wash them and eat from them.” (Ag – from Abu Tha‘labah al-Khushani)

فَلَا تَأْكُلُوا فِي آنِيَتِهِمْ إلَّا أَنْ لَا تَجِدُوا بُدًّا، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَجِدُوا بُدًّا فَاغْسِلُوهَا وَكُلُوا.

The command to wash them is for preference or in the case where one becomes certain there was najâsah in them. What supports the second possibility is that in some of the narrations of the hadith, the Zoroastrians were mentioned with the People of the Book. Also, in the narration of Abu Dâwood, Abu Tha‘labah told the Prophet (SA) that the People of the Book cooked pork in their pots and put wine in their vessels.
(a) + (-H, -S): Using them before washing is disliked. They cite the hadith of Abu Tha‘labah.

(a) + (-M): Using them before washing is forbidden. They cite the hadith of Abu Tha‘labah.

[Pure and Impure Parts of Dead Animals]

The wool and hair of dead animals 48 is pure. 49

وَصُوْفُ الْمَيْتَةِ وَشَعَرُهَا طَاهِرٌ.

The skin of any non-slaughtered dead animal, whether it has been tanned or not, is impure 50 [najâsah], and so are their bones. 51

وَكُلُّ جِلْدِ مَيْتَةٍ دُبِغَ أَوْ لَمْ يُدْبَغْ فَهُوَ نَجِسٌ، وَكَذٰلِكَ عِظَامُهَا.

48. This refers to animals that have not been slaughtered or to those that are impermissible to eat, even if they have been slaughtered.
All parts of slaughtered animals that are permissible to eat are pure. (A/SM): The wool and hair of dead animals is pure if they were pure while alive, i.e., the animals permissible to eat as well as those the size of a cat or smaller.

49. Pigs’ Hair

The majority (A) + (+H, +S) considered the hair of pigs to be impure but allowed its use in making thread. (A/SM: Only to be used when dry, and this would still be disliked.)

(a) + (-M, -t): Pure. (The feathers of all birds are also pure, like hair.)

50. Skin

(A/SM): Only for those animals that are permissible to eat (if they died) and those the size of a cat or smaller, their skin becomes permissible to use upon tanning. It does not become pure, though, so they would allow its use in dry, not wet uses.
The majority of scholars (a) + (-H, -S, -Z) consider the skin pure after tanning:
(-H): Except for pigs. (-S):

Except for dogs and pigs. (-Z):

Including dogs and pigs.

Pigskin
Even though the consensus has been reported on the filthiness of pigs in their entirety, some of the scholars deem the skin pure after tanning; they include Ibn Ḥazm, (Z), Muhammad ibn al-Ḥakam and Abu Yoosuf. It is certainly the opinion of the majority that it is impure, and it is safer for one’s religious commitment to completely avoid it.
In the case of necessity, such as the need to have a heart valve replacement using a part of a pig, it is agreed that there is no harm, particularly when there are no alternatives.

51. Bones of Dead Animals
The scholars are split regarding the purity of these bones. (A) + (+M, +S): Impure.
(A/SM): in addition to the bones, also milk, secretions, enzymes, teeth, horns, nails, etc. All parts of dead animals are impure except wool, hair, and feathers of those permissible to eat (if they died) or those in the size of a cat or smaller.
(a) + (-H, -t): Pure. They argued that many of the righteous predecessors used ivory and allowed its trade. Ivory comes from the tusks, or upper incisors, of elephants. Teeth and bones should take the same ruling, and the same would apply to horns and claws.

Enzymes of Dead Animals and Pigs
(a) + (-H, -t): The enzymes of dead animals are pure.

(t), “As for the cheese that is made with their [the heretic baṭiniyah’s] enzymes, there are two famous positions of the scholars regarding it, like the rest of the enzymes of dead animals and of the animals slaughtered by the Zoroastrians and those slaughtered by the Franks about whom it was said that they do not slaughter their livestock: The madh-hab of Abu Ḥaneefah and Aḥmad (in one report) is that this cheese is permissible; according to this position, the enzymes are pure because they do not die with the death of the cattle [being just a liquid, not flesh], and their touching of the impure vessel [the organ containing them] does not render them impure. The madh-hab of Mâlik, ash-Shâfi‘i and Aḥmad (in a different report) is that this cheese is impure because they consider the milk and enzymes of all dead animals impure. As for those whose slaughtering is invalid, their slaughtered animals are considered dead. Each of the two groups cited reports from the Companions; those holding the first opinion cited reports that the Companions ate from the cheese of the Zoroastrians, while those holding the second opinion cited that they ate what they thought to be the cheese of the Christians. This is a matter of (excusable) juristic reasoning (ijtihâd); it is for the muqallid (follower) to follow whoever upholds either one of the two positions.” [Majmoo‘ al-Fatâwâ 35:154].
(t) supported the first position, in Majmoo‘ al-Fatâwâ 21:102. The following legal maxim may also be added to the argument of permitting the consumption of cheese regardless of the origin of enzymes:

Trivial things are exempt

اليَسيرُ يُعْفَى عَنْهُ

Although the enzymes of dead pigs are forbidden in the four madh-habs, there are statements from the scholars indicating that in the case of uncertainty, one does not need to investigate; he or she should cast the doubt away and presume the permissibility of non-meat items such as cheese and ghee by default. The Messenger of Allah (SA) was asked about the cheese, ghee, and he said:

" الْحَلاَلُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ فِي كِتَابِهِ وَالْحَرَامُ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ فِي كِتَابِهِ وَمَا سَكَتَ عَنْهُ فَهُوَ مِمَّا عَفَا عَنْهُ ‏"

“What is lawful is that which Allah has permitted in His Book, and what is unlawful is that which Allah has forbidden in His Book. What He was silent about is what is pardoned.”
(Ibn Mâjah from Salmân) Some muḥaddithoon trace it reliably to the Prophet (SA), while others say it can only be reliably traced to Salmân. Nonetheless, it is at least the statement of a Companion. The question was certainly not about the cheese of Muslims; in fact, we know that Salmân’s report refers to that of the Zoroastrians.
The point here is that, unlike in the case of meat, where the majority required verification, doubt concerning those non-meat items is to be cast away. ‘Umar (RA) was also asked about the cheese made with enzymes from dead animals, and he said:

“Say bismillâh and eat it.”

"سَمُّوا عَلَيه وكُلُوه"

Every dead body is filthy except that of a human and a sea creature that does not live except in it [the sea], due to the statement of the Messenger of Allah (SA) regarding the sea, “Its water is pure, and its dead [animals]

وَكُلُّ مَيْتَةٍ نَجِسَةٌ إِلاَّ الآدَمِيَّ وَحَيَوَانَ الْمَاءِ الذي لا يَعِيشُ إلا فيه، لقول رسول الله في البَحْرِ:" هُوَ الطَّهُورُ

This was reported authentically by Ibn Abi Shaybah from ‘Amr ibn Shuraḥbeel. Notice that he did not ask about the nature of those dead animals, even though it was not uncommon to extract enzymes from pigs, and the Zoroastrians did not believe in the prohibition of pork.
When Imam Aḥmad was asked about the cheese of the Zoroastrians, he said, “I do not know,” and quoted the above statement of ‘Umar as the most authentic report in this regard. This is why the permissibility of eating all cheeses made by the Zoroastrians and all non-Muslims is clearly stated in al-Iqnâ‘ and Ghâyat al-Muntahâ (A). In al-Mabsooṭ, by as-Sarakhsi al-Ḥanafi, it is said that the cheese of the Zoroastrians is permissible to eat.
Mâlik was asked specifically about the enzymes of pork and said:

“…I heard that they make it with the enzymes of pigs, and they are Christians, and I don’t like to make prohibited that which is halal; as for some man avoiding it of his own choosing, I see no harm in that.” [al-Bayân and at-Taḥṣeel by Ibn Rushd (the grandfather)] Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytami ash-Shâfi‘i said in Tuḥfat al-Muḥtâj:

"قد قيل: إنَّهم يَجعَلون فيه أنفحة الخِنزير وهم نَصَارَى، ومَا أُحِب أن أحَرِّم حَلالًا، وأما أن يَتَّقِيَه رَجُلٌ في خَاصَّة نَفسِه فلا أرى بذلك بأسًا."

“Likewise, it would be said about the Levantine cheese known to be made of the enzymes of pigs, and cheese was brought to him (SA) and he ate it and did not inquire about that.” Even though we cannot trace this hadith back to the Prophet (SA), the point here is the statement of this eminent Shâfi‘i scholar to corroborate what is transmitted from Mâlik above. Based on those reports from the different madh-habs, one may eat cheese and other non-meat items without investigating the source of the enzymes used.

"وَكَذَا يُقَالُ فِي نَظَائِرِ ذَلِكَ كَالْجُبْنِ الشَّامِيِّ الْمُشْتَهِرِ عَمَلُهُ بِإِنْفَحَةِ الْخِنْزِيرِ، وَقَدْ جَاءَهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ جُبْنَةٌ مِنْ عِنْدِهِمْ فَأَكَلَ مِنْهَا وَلَمْ يَسْأَلْ عَنْ ذَلِكَ"

are permissible (to eat),” ⁵² and that which does not have blood, as long as it did not emanate from impurities. ⁵³

مَاؤُهُ الْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُهُ." وَمَا لاَ نَفْسَ لَهُ سَائِلَةً إِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ مُتَوَلِّدًا مِنَ النَّجَاسَاتِ.

52. (T,D,N,Ma,A. A:S)

53. Such as worms emanating from dead creatures or feces.

Vessels and Utensils

( Page : no 7)

The Book of Purification

Vessels and Utensils

The Book of Purification

Vessels and Utensils

Introduction

The Book of Purification

The Book of Prayer

The Book of Funerals

The Book of Fasting

The Book of Hajj and 'Umrah

Book of Zakat

The Book of Selling and Commercial Transactions

The Book of Bequests

The Book of Inheritance

The Book of Marriage

The Book of Divorce

The Book of Sadaq

The Book of Dhihar

The Book of Lian

The Book of Foods

The Book of Oaths

Book of Fatal and Non-Fatal Assault

The Book of Indemnities

The Book of Hudood

The Book of Jihad

The Book of the Judiciary

The Book of Testimonies

Appendix

Glossary

Vessels and Utensils