(Series of Answers by the Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of Visitors to His Facebook Page)
To (Abu Omar Nassar)
Question:
Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.
Our virtuous Sheikh, it was narrated in the hadith of Anas bin Malik:
قَدِمَ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَوْمٌ مِنْ عُكْلٍ أَوْ عُرَيْنَةَ. فَاجْتَوَوُا الْمَدِينَةَ. فَأَمَرَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِلِقَاحٍ. وَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَشْرَبُوا مِنْ أَبْوَالِهَا وَأَلْبَانِهَا
"A group from 'Ukl or 'Uraynah came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They found the climate of Madinah unhealthy (fell ill), so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered milch camels for them and told them to drink their urine and milk." (Sahih Muslim)
The adopted position (mubtabna) we have is the impurity (najasa) of urine and the prohibition of utilizing impurity (najasa) in general, whether it is the urine or dung of animals whose meat is eaten or otherwise.
As for the evidence for the prohibition of utilizing it, it comes from the hadith of the Prophet in the story of istinja (cleaning after relieving oneself): (It is reks [filth]). In Ibn Khuzaymah, there is an addition: (It is reks, it is the dung of a donkey). I have read in Nayl al-Awtar by al-Shawkani, quoting al-Tamimi, that the term rawth (dung) specifically refers to what comes from horses, mules, and donkeys. By combining the two hadiths, we find that it is permissible to benefit from the dung of animals whose meat is eaten, for example, in fertilizing agricultural crops.
Please advise us, and may Allah bless you.
Answer:
And peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.
1- Regarding the impurity (najasa) of animal urine and dung:
There is no disagreement regarding their impurity if they come from animals whose meat is not eaten. As for animals whose meat is eaten, there is a difference of opinion.
What I find to be the most correct (rajih) view is that it is najis (impure) and it is not permissible to utilize it except for medicine, in which case it is permissible but disliked (makruh), as explained later. As long as it is najis, it is not permissible to benefit from it. Muslim narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: It reached Umar that Samurah sold wine, so he said: "May Allah curse Samurah! Did he not know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لَعَنَ اللهُ الْيَهُودَ، حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الشُّحُومُ، فَجَمَلُوهَا، فَبَاعُوهَا
'May Allah curse the Jews; fats were forbidden to them, so they melted them down and sold them.'" (Sahih Muslim). Thus, utilizing that which is najis is haram (forbidden).
2- Among the evidences for the impurity of urine:
- Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Anas bin Malik, who said:
جَاءَ أَعْرَابِيٌّ فَبَالَ فِي طَائِفَةِ المَسْجِدِ، فَزَجَرَهُ النَّاسُ، فَنَهَاهُمُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَلَمَّا قَضَى بَوْلَهُ أَمَرَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِذَنُوبٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَأُهْرِيقَ عَلَيْهِ
"A Bedouin came and urinated in a corner of the mosque. The people shouted at him, but the Prophet ﷺ stopped them. When he finished urinating, the Prophet ﷺ ordered a bucket of water to be poured over it." (Sahih al-Bukhari)
- Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Prophet ﷺ passed by two graves and said:
إِنَّهُمَا لَيُعَذَّبَانِ، وَمَا يُعَذَّبَانِ فِي كَبِيرٍ، أَمَّا أَحَدُهُمَا فَكَانَ لاَ يَسْتَتِرُ مِنَ البَوْلِ، وَأَمَّا الآخَرُ فَكَانَ يَمْشِي بِالنَّمِيمَةِ
"They are being punished, but they are not being punished for something great (difficult to avoid). As for one of them, he did not used to protect himself from urine, and as for the other, he used to walk about with calumny (namimah)." (Sahih al-Bukhari)
- Al-Daraqutni narrated from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
تَنَزَّهُوا مِنَ الْبَوْلِ فَإِنَّ عَامَّةَ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ مِنْهُ
"Purify yourselves from urine, for most of the punishment of the grave is because of it."
Urine, whether from a human or an animal, shares the same reality (waqi'), and the indication of its impurity applies to it. Therefore, any urine is najis, whether from a human, an animal whose meat is eaten, or an animal whose meat is not eaten; the reality of urine is one.
- As for the hadith in al-Bukhari from Anas bin Malik, who said: A group from 'Ukl or 'Uraynah came and found the climate of Madinah unhealthy:
فَأَمَرَهُمُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، بِلِقَاحٍ، وَأَنْ يَشْرَبُوا مِنْ أَبْوَالِهَا وَأَلْبَانِهَا
"The Prophet ﷺ ordered milch camels for them and told them to drink their urine and milk."
This pertains to the subject of medicine (dawa'). By combining it with the hadith of Ibn Majah regarding seeking treatment with wine, which is as follows: Ibn Majah narrated from Tariq bin Suwayd al-Hadrami, who said: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, in our land there are grapes which we squeeze (for wine); should we drink from it?" He said: "No." I asked him again and said, "We seek healing for the sick with it." He said:
إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَيْسَ بِشِفَاءٍ، وَلَكِنَّهُ دَاءٌ
"That is not a cure, but a disease." (Sunan Ibn Majah)
It becomes clear that the prohibition of seeking treatment with impurity is not decisive; therefore, it is makruh (disliked). Thus, seeking treatment by drinking urine is permissible but disliked, and it does not mean that it is not najis; rather, it is permissible with dislike for the purpose of medical treatment.
3- Among the evidences for the impurity of dung:
- Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Abdullah, who said:
أَتَى النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الغَائِطَ فَأَمَرَنِي أَنْ آتِيَهُ بِثَلاَثَةِ أَحْجَارٍ، فَوَجَدْتُ حَجَرَيْنِ، وَالتَمَسْتُ الثَّالِثَ فَلَمْ أَجِدْهُ، فَأَخَذْتُ رَوْثَةً فَأَتَيْتُهُ بِهَا، فَأَخَذَ الحَجَرَيْنِ وَأَلْقَى الرَّوْثَةَ وَقَالَ: هَذَا رِكْسٌ
"The Prophet ﷺ went to answer the call of nature and ordered me to bring him three stones. I found two stones and searched for the third but could not find it. So I took a piece of dung and brought it to him. He took the two stones and threw away the dung, saying: 'This is reks.'" (Sahih al-Bukhari). Reks means najis (impure).
As for your statement that rawth (dung) is only applied to what comes from animals whose meat is not eaten, and your addition from Ibn Khuzaymah "It is reks, it is the dung of a donkey," despite the fact that al-Bukhari and a collection of the authors of the Sunan such as Ahmad, al-Nasa'i, al-Tirmidhi, al-Tabarani, al-Daraqutni, al-Bayhaqi, al-Bazzar, and Abu Ya'la did not mention this addition "it is the dung of a donkey," yet I found the following narration in Ibn Khuzaymah: From Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
إِنَّمَا أَنَا لَكُمْ مِثْلُ الْوَالِدِ لِوَلَدِهِ، فَلَا يَسْتَقْبِلْ أَحَدُكُمُ الْقِبْلَةَ وَلَا يَسْتَدْبِرْهَا - يَعْنِي فِي الْغَائِطِ - وَلَا يَسْتَنْجِ بِدُونِ ثَلَاثَةِ أَحْجَارٍ لَيْسَ فِيهَا رَوْثٌ وَلَا رِمَّةٌ
"I am to you like a father to his son; so let none of you face the Qiblah or turn his back to it—meaning when relieving oneself—and do not perform istinja with less than three stones, among which there is no dung (rawth) or bone (rimmah)." (Its chain is hasan [good]).
Nonetheless, as we said regarding urine, the reality of dung is one, whether it is from an animal whose meat is eaten or from one whose meat is not eaten. Therefore, the ruling applies to it. Just as donkey dung is najis, cow dung is also najis; meaning all dung is najis, whether from an edible animal or a non-edible one.
This is what I find to be most correct (rajih), and I say "most correct" because there are opinions that are considered to some extent which exclude the urine and dung of animals whose meat is eaten from being categorized as najasa.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
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