Some of the Rulings on Ritual Purity (taharah)

by Ayatullah al Uzama Sayyid Ali al Husaini al Seestani

Q1: It often happens that I shake hands with someone while my hands are wet. I do not know whether the one with whom I shook hands is a Muslim or an unbeliever (kafir), who is not regarded as ritually pure (tahir). Is it obligatory for me to ask him in order to make sure?

A: Certainly not. It is not obligatory for you to ask him. You may say the hand with which I touched his hand was ritually pure. (FM, pp. 398-99)

Q2: A university student, businessman, tourist or some such person travels to a non-Muslim country, say, Europe, such that scarcely a day passes without direct contact with its Christian and Jewish inhabitants, with the attendant moisture exchange in the cafe, or at the barber shop, doctor's office, dry cleanerís, etc. making it difficult to count (the places). What should he do?

A: He should assume the ritual purity of their bodies as long as he does not know that their ritual impurity (najasah) was acquired from an external source. (FM, p. 399)

Q3: If I move into a place which was inhabited before me by people who are not judged to be ritually pure, is it correct for me to consider everything ritually pure?

A: Yes, consider everything ritually pure if you do not know or are unsure of its ritual impurity. (FM, p. 399)

Q4: An electrically-operated washing machine can dry clothes, after the water supply is cut off from it, due to the power of spinning rather than squeezing. Is that enough for their ritual purification (tathir)?

A: Yes, that is enough for their ritual purification. (FM, p. 398)

Q5: Some people throw newspapers, magazines and some respected books in the garbage, although they contain some verses of the Qur'an or names of Almighty Allah.

A: This is not permissible and it is obligatory to take them out of such places and to purify them if they have come into contact with some ritual impurity. (FM, p. 419)

Q6: Some types of soap which are imported from outside contain lard in their ingredients but at the end, only 5% remains in them. In that case, is the ruling of transformation (istihalah) applicable (to it) and (is the soap) ruled to be ritually pure, or does it remain ritually impure?

A: It remains ritually impure. God knows best. (MMS, p. 17, Q17)

Q7: What is the ruling on blood that coagulates under the fingernail, this being the result of a blow or some other cause? This blood then moves gradually to the outside and it is not possible to remove it. Is this blood ritually impure or ritually pure? And how is it treated if it is considered ritually impure?

A: If it does not change (into something other than blood), it is to be considered ritually impure, and it is obligatory to remove it if there is no difficulty in doing so. But if it presents a problem, then that which seems apparent is to substitute tayammum for wuduí and ghusl. God knows best. (MMS, p. 21, Q33)

Q8: Some food items given to poultry are mixed with 30% pig bones which helps the chicken gain weight at the rate of about 2 kg in 40 days. What is the ruling on this and is there any objection to it?

A: This precludes neither the permissibility of consuming its meat nor its ritual purity, if it is slaughtered in the Islamic manner. But it is preferable to keep animals away from these food items. God knows best. (MMS, p. 27, Q50)