Debunking Ex Muslim “Hadith of the Day” — Water never becomes impure? (#342) Zaify Follow Mar 30, 2018 · Unlisted

The hadith

He explained it as follows:

From this we can derive the following arguments:

Muslims believe water cannot be rendered impure, when common sense says otherwise. Muslims believe it is permissible to perform ablution with water that may be radioactive and contaminated, and harm them [some add this means Muslims can drink and use this water].

Explanation

What is meant by ‘pure’ and ‘impure’?

Firstly, what is translated by ‘pure’ here means, in a juristic sense, that it is ritually pure (طاهر, translit. tahir).

Water that is tahir is ritually purifying — able to be used in ablution. Conversely, you are not able to ritually purify yourself with water that is ritually impure (نجس, translit. naajis).

What is being referred to here is ritual purity. This is an important distinction: the state of being tahir does not entail that it is clean or safe to drink from - merely that ablution performed with it would be legally valid.

Basic logic also confirms this. The Arabs were well-aware that water could cause sickness and spread diseases, so the meaning of the hadith cannot that it can never be contaminated.

What is meant by ‘it is not made impure by anything’?

This is an ‘aam (general) statement. It does not mean water stays pure no matter what is done to it, rather that water is pure and purifying, and does not become impure unless something occurs that changes that.

This is evidenced by the Prophet ﷺ’s saying:

إِذَا كَانَ الْمَاءُ قُلَّتَيْنِ لَمْ يَحْمِلِ الْخَبَثَ If the water is enough to fill two pots (qullatayn), it carries no impurity. Source: Sunan an-Nasā’ī, Volume 1, Book 1, Hadith 52

This is a takhsees (specification) of the first hadith and indicates that water can become impure if its nature is changed.

At-Tirmidhī said:

This is the saying of al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad and Ishaq. They say that when the water is two Qullahs then nothing makes it impure, as long as it does not change its smell, and its taste.

Hereafter, we would enter a complex legal discussion - for example, the Hanafis say the fact that it carries no filth does not mean it is impure. For ease, two opinions are listed before:

Regarding small quantities of water:

The fourth [category of water] is impure (naajis) water. This is a small quantity of still water into which an impurity has fallen. The water is deemed impure even if no trace of the filth appears therein. Source: Nur al-Idah

Regarding large quantities of water, al-Bayhaqi explained:

اَلْمَاءُ طَاهِرٌ إِلَّا إِنْ تَغَيَّرَ رِيحُهُ, أَوْ طَعْمُهُ, أَوْ لَوْنُهُ; بِنَجَاسَةٍ تَحْدُثُ فِيهِ Water is pure (tahir) unless an impurity falls into it that changes its smell, taste, or color. Source: Bulūgh al-Marām 4

There is disagreement amongst the four Sunni legal schools (madhahib) on what is considered a ‘small’ quantity of water. The jurisprudence (fiqh) of purification is indeed complex. However, the purpose of this article is not to delve into the various opinions regarding this and their specifics - rather to demonstrate that the ex-Muslim has deliberately ignored a huge aspect of Islamic jurisprudence.

Performing ablution with contaminated or unclean water

Because contaminated water is not necessarily ritually impure (naajis), if one were to perform ablution with it then it would be legally valid.

However, such an action would be forbidden due to the following statement of the Prophet ﷺ:

لاَ ضَرَرَ وَلاَ ضِرَارَ There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.

This is well-known legal maxim: one of the basic principles of the Shari’ah. Part of this principle is that Muslims are not permitted to harm themselves. Thus, such an action is not permissible because one is harming himself by performing ablution with contaminated water.

Furthermore, the following hadith explicitly shows that it is not necessary to use water for ablution if there is a fear of death. ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas said:

I experienced a wet dream on a cold night during the campaign of Dhaat al-Salaasil, and I was afraid that if I did ghusl [major ablution] I would die, so I did tayammum [substitute ablution], then I prayed Fajr with my companions. They mentioned that to the Prophet ﷺ and he said: “O ‘Amr, did you lead your companions in prayer when you were junub [in a state of major impurity]?” I told him what had kept me from doing ghusl and I said: “I heard Allah says: ‘And do not kill yourselves (nor kill one another). Surely, Allah is Most Merciful to you’ [al-Nisa’ 4:29].” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and did not say anything.

Ibn Hajar commented:

This hadith indicates that it is permissible for the one who thinks that using water will kill him to do tayammum [substitute ablution], whether that is because of cold or some other reason. Source: Fath al-Bari [1/454]

The Well of Buda’ah - why is its water pure?

Al-Tahawi commented that the well of Buda’ah was ‘like a river leading to a garden’. This means that the water was flowing and not stagnant.

Regarding the purity of flowing water, it is stated:

Source: Nur al-Idah

Any impurities that fell into the well were washed away. Therefore the water was pure.

Abu Dawud, who visited the well in the same state as it was during the time of the Prophet personally measured its width as 6 cubits, confirming that it was large and contained much water.

He also said:

I heard Qutaibah b. Sa’id say: I asked the person in charge of the well of Bud’ah about the depth of the well. He replied: “At most, the water reaches the pubes”. Then I asked: “Where does it reach when its level goes down?” He replied: “Below the private part of the body.”

From the shallow depth of the well, it is clear that it was a running stream rather than a deep, stagnant pool of water.

Who was throwing these objects into the well?

Al-Khattabi stated:

It should not be understood that the companions were not the ones who used to throw dead dogs or menstrual clothes into the well of Buda’ah. The companions were the cleanest ever people. It is not even accepted that non-Muslim people of that time used to do that. Source: Ma`alim al-Sunan [1/37]

It has been said that these objects entered the well after being carried by stormwater. Furthermore, Islam encourages caring for the environment and places great emphasis on cleanliness, as shown by the links below:

Further reading

Islam and caring for the environment

Cleanliness and pleasant appearance in Islam