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Author Imām Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī

Translation Habib Bewley
Annotation/referencing Shaykh Niʿmatullāh Aʿẓamī
Arabic proofreader Shoaib Shah
Shaykhs Ayub Jeena and Shams ad-
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Khansa Khan and Tasneem Master
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al-Nawawī, Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf
Sharḥ Maʿāni al-Āthār ʿan Rasūlillāhi ’l-Aḥkām
I. Title

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 CONTENTS

PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD
EDITOR’S PREFACE
IMAM ṬAḤĀWĪ’S INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF PURIFICATION
1. Water into which impurity falls
2. Water left over by a cat
3. Water left over by a dog
4. Water left over by human beings
5. Pronouncing the Name of Allah over wuduʾ
6. Wuduʾ for the prayer: [should each element be washed] once or
three times
7. The obligation of wiping the head in wuduʾ
8. The ruling on the ears in wuduʾ for the prayer
9. What is obligatory for the feet when performing wuduʾ for the
prayer
10. Is it obligatory [to perform] wuduʾ for every prayer or not?
11. What should a man do when pre-ejaculatory uid issues from
his penis?
12. The ruling on semen: is it pure or impure?
13. Someone who has sexual intercourse without ejaculating
14. Eating that which has been changed by re (i.e. by cooking it);
does it make wuduʾ obligatory or not?
15. Is wuduʾ made obligatory by touching the private parts or not?
16. How long may a person wipe over his khu when he is resident
and when he is travelling?
17. Whether someone who is in a state of janābah, someone who is
menstruating, or someone who is not in wuduʾ, may recite the
 Qurʾan
18. The ruling on the urine of a boy and girl before they reach the
age where they can eat solid food
19. Should a man who only nds the nabīdh of dates perform wuduʾ
with it or perform tayammum instead?
20. Wiping over Sandals
21. How does a woman emitting blood due to a dysfunctional
uterine (istiḥāḍah) purify herself for the prayer?
22. The ruling on the urine of those animals whose meat is
permissible to eat
23. The description of how tayammum should be done
24. Taking a ghusl on the day of Jumuʿah
25. Using stones to clean oneself [after going to the toilet] (istijmār)
26. Cleaning oneself with bones after going to the toilet
27. A person in a state of janābah who wants to sleep, eat and drink,
or have sexual intercourse

THE BOOK OF PRAYER

1. How the adhān should be called
2. How the iqāmah should be called
3. The muʾadhdhin saying ‘aṣ-ṣalātu khayrun mina’n-nawm—Prayer
is better than sleep’ in the Ṣubḥ prayer
4. Should the adhān of Fajr be before or after the time of Fajr
starts?
5. Two men, one calling the adhān and the other calling the
iqāmah
6. What someone is recommended to say when he hears the adhān
7. The times of the prayer
8. How one joins two prayers together
9. Which of the prayers is the middle prayer?
10. The time at which Fajr should be prayed
11. The recommended time in which to pray the Ẓuhr prayer
12. Should ʿAṣr be delayed or prayed at the beginning of its time?
13. How high should a person raise his hands when entering into
the prayer?
14. What is said in the prayer after the Takbīrat al-Iftitāḥ?
15. Reciting ‘Bismillāhi’r-raḥmāni’r-raḥīm—In the Name of Allah, All-
Merciful, Most Merciful’ in the prayer
16. Quranic recitation during Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr
17. Quranic recitation in the Maghrib prayer
18. Quranic recitation behind the Imam
19. Should one say the takbīr when going down [into prostration or
rukūʿ] during the prayer?
20. Should one raise one’s hands when saying the takbīr for going
into rukūʿ, coming out of rukūʿ and going into prostration?
21. Taṭbīq (placing the ngers of one’s hands together and putting
them between the knees) in rukūʿ
22. The minimum length of time one must spend in rukūʿ and
prostration for the prayer to be valid
23. What should be said in rukūʿ and prostration
24. When the Imam says ‘Samiʿa’llāhu li man ḥamidah—Allah hears
the one who praises Him,’ should he then say, ‘Rabbanā wa
laka’l-ḥamd—Our Lord, praise belongs to You’?
25. The qunūt in the Fajr prayer and in other prayers
26. Should a person place his hands or his knees on the ground rst
when he goes into prostration?
27. Whereabouts should the hands be placed when a person is in
prostration?
28. How should a person sit in the prayer?
29. What form should the tashahhud take in the prayer?
30. How should the salām in the prayer be?
31. Is the salām one of the obligatory elements or one of the Sunnah
elements of the prayer?
32. Witr—a rakʿah at the end of the night
33. Quranic recitation in the two [Sunnah] rakʿahs of Fajr
34. The two rakʿahs after ʿAṣr
35. Where an Imam should position two other men when they are
praying with him
36. How should the fear prayer be performed?
37. If a man is in a combat situation and the prayer time arrives
whilst he is on horseback, does he perform the prayer or not?
38. What form does al-istisqāʾ (asking for rain) take, and is there a
prayer that is part of it?
39. How should the eclipse (al-kusūf) prayer be prayed?
40. What form does the recitation in the eclipse prayer take?
41. What form do daytime and nighttime supererogatory prayers
take?
42. What form do the supererogatory prayers after Jumuʿah take?
43. Is it permissible for someone who enters into his prayer from a
sitting position to do rukūʿ standing up?
44. Supererogatory prayers in the mosque
45. Supererogatory prayers after Witr
46. How should recitation be performed during night prayers?
47. Combining more than one sūrah in a rakʿah
48. In the month of Ramaḍān, is it better to pray the night prayer at
home or with the Imam?
49. Are there prostrations in the Mufaṣṣal or not?
50. What should a man do if he prays the prayer at home and then
comes to the mosque and nds the people in the process of
praying the Congregational prayer?
51. Should a man pray two rakʿahs if he enters the mosque on the
day of Jumuʿah and nds the Imam in the process of delivering
the khuṭbah?
52. If a man who has not yet prayed [the two Sunnah rakʿahs of
Fajr] enters the mosque after the Imam has already started
praying [the obligatory] Fajr prayer, should he pray [those
rakʿahs before joining the Imam]?
53. Performing the prayer in a single garment
54. Praying in camel pens
55. Should the Imam pray the ʿĪd prayer on the day after the ʿĪd if
he misses doing it on the ʿĪd?
56. Praying inside the Kaʿbah
57. Someone who prays behind the prayer row on his own
58. What should someone do if the Sun rises after he has completed
only one rakʿah of Ṣubḥ?
59. A healthy person praying behind a sick person
60. Can someone pray an obligatory prayer behind someone who is
praying a supererogatory prayer?
61. Reciting particular sūrahs in particular prayers
62. The travel prayer
62. Is it permissible or not to pray Witr on the back of one’s riding
beast when travelling?
63. When someone has doubt during the prayer regarding whether
he has prayed three or four rakʿahs
64. Should the prostration for forgetfulness in the prayer be done
before or after the salām?
65. Speaking in the prayer when the Imām is forgetful during it
66. Making gestures in the prayer
68. Does passing in front of someone doing the prayer break his
prayer or not?
68. How should someone make up the prayer if he forgets it or
sleeps through its time?
69. Does the tanning process make [the skin] of carrion
(unslaughtered) animals pure or not?
70. Is the upper leg part of the ʿawrah or not?
71. When it comes to supererogatory prayers, is it better to make
the recitation long or to pray lots of rakʿahs?

THE BOOK OF FUNERALS

1. How should one walk in a funeral procession?
2. Whereabouts should one walk in relation to the dead body
being carried on the bier?
3. Should people stand up when a funeral procession goes past
them?
4. Where should the man performing the funeral prayer stand with
respect to the dead body?
5. Should the funeral prayer be prayed in the mosque or not?
6. How many takbīrs should there be in the funeral prayer?
7. Performing the [funeral] prayer over martyrs (shahīds)?
 8. Should the funeral prayer be prayed over children/infants when
they die?
9. Walking on the ground between graves wearing sandals
10. Burying the dead at night
11. Sitting on top of graves
 Sharḥ Maʿāni al-Āthār
ʿan Rasūlillāh ’l-Aḥkām
Explanation of the Meanings of the Traditions from the
Messenger of Allah on Laws

IMAM ABŪ JAʿFAR AḤMAD IBN MUḤAMMAD IBN

SALĀMAH AL-AZDĪ AṬ-ṬAḤĀWĪ
 IMAM ṬAḤĀWĪ’S
INTRODUCTION

A BŪ JAʿFAR AḤMAD IBN MUḤAMMAD ibn Salāmah al-Aẓdī aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī,

may Allah’s mercy be upon him, said, “I was asked by one of
my fellow scholars to write him a book in which I discuss aḥādīth
transmitted from the Messenger related to law. Such aḥādīth
which appear contradictory in the eyes of heretics and some weak-
minded Muslims due to their ignorance as to which ruling was
mentioned rst and which was abrogated, and which of them must
be acted-upon based on the evidence from the Articulate Book and
agreed-upon Sunnah. He asked me to arrange the material into
di erent sections, and to set down, in each section, the relevant
information concerning the aḥādīth present therein. Such as,
pointing out which ones were abrogating and which ones were
abrogated. In addition to this, to mention the scholars’
interpretation of the aḥādīth and the arguments they advance
against each other. Furthermore, to support the position which is
soundest to me according to the standards applied to authenticate
such aḥādīth in light of the evidence from the Book, or the Sunnah,
or unanimous consensus of the scholars (ijmāʿ) or soundly
established (mutawātir) verdicts of the Companions or their
Successors (tābiʿūn).
I pondered over the matter and studied the subject in great
depth. I then extracted from it topics (abwāb) in exactly the way
that he asked and rendered them into several chapters (kutub). In
each of those chapters, I mentioned a particular area [of qh], in the
manner mentioned above. [To this end] I will start by discussing the
aḥādīth transmitted from the Prophet regarding puri cation.
 THE BOOK OF PURIFICATION

1. WATER INTO WHICH IMPURITY FALLS

1. It has been transmitted by way of Ḥammād ibn Salamah

from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbd ar-
Raḥmān from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī that the Messenger of
Allah used to perform wuduʾ [with water] from the well of
Buḍāʿah. Someone said to him, “Messenger of Allah, rotting
corpses and cloths soaked with the blood of menses are
thrown into it.” He replied, “Water does not become
impure.”1
2. It has been transmitted by way of Aḥmad ibn Khālid al-
Wahbī from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq from Salīṭ ibn Ayyūb from
ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Rā ʿ from Abū Saʿīd al-
Khudrī that someone said to the Messenger of Allah ,
“People draw water for you to drink from the well of
Buḍāʿah, but it is a well into which people throw excrement,
cloths soaked with the blood of menses, and the esh of
dogs.” He replied, “Water puri es, nothing impuri es it.”

3. It has been transmitted by way of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim

al-Qasmalī from Muṭarrif from Khālid ibn Abī Nawf from the
son of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī from his father who said, “I went
to the Messenger of Allah and found him performing wuduʾ
[with water] from the well of Buḍāʿah, so I asked him,
‘Messenger of Allah, do you perform wuduʾ [with water] from
it even though all of those putre ed things are thrown into
it?’ The Messenger of Allah replied, ‘There is nothing that
makes water impure.’”2

4. It has transmitted from Muḥammad ibn Abī Yaḥyā al-

Aslamī that his mother said, “Four of us women went in to
see Sahl ibn Saʿd and he said to us, ‘If I were to give you
 water from the well of Buḍāʿah to drink, you would recoil
from that. However, I have drawn water from it with my own
hands for the Messenger of Allah to drink.’”3

5. It has transmitted by way of Sharīk ibn ʿAbdillāh an-

Nakhaʿī from Ṭarīf al-Baṣrī from Abū Naḍrah that either Jābir
or Abū Saʿīd who said, “We were travelling with the
Messenger of Allah when we came upon a pond in which
there was a corpse. We, and the people [travelling with us],
refrained from [drinking the water of the pond] until the
Messenger of Allah came to us. He said, ‘Why do you not
draw water?’ We replied, ‘On account of this corpse,
Messenger of Allah .’ He said, ‘Draw water [from it], for
there is nothing that makes water impure,’ so we drew water
[from it] and drank our ll.”4
Some of the people [of knowledge]5 based their position on these
traditions and said that water is not made impure by anything
falling into it unless that thing changes its colour, taste or smell. If
[any of these things do change], the water is rendered impure.
Other scholars have disagreed with them6 and said, “What you
have presented regarding the well of Buḍāʿah does not support your
case for there is some disagreement regarding its nature. Some
people said that it was a watercourse7 bringing water to the
gardens. The water never settled or remained in it. If this is the case,
then its water would be governed by the same ruling governing
river-water. Any water source that may be described thus only
becomes impure when either the impurity that falls into it changes
its taste, colour or smell, or when the impurity is known to still be
in the water taken from that source. If impurity is known to be in
[the water] then it is impure. If impurity is not known to be in
[water] then it is pure.”
The opinion mentioned above about the well of Buḍāʿah [being a
watercourse] was transmitted to us from Wāqidī:

6. It has been transmitted by way of Abū ʿAbdillāh

Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ ath-Thaljī from Wāqidī that that was
the case.
Another proof they use is that [the people of knowledge]
unanimously agreed that when impurity falls into the well and it
changes the taste, smell or colour of its water, it becomes impure.
However, none of this is mentioned in the ḥadīth of the well of
Buḍāʿah, for it only mentions that the Prophet was asked about
the well and informed that people throw [the bodies of] dogs and
cloths soaked with the blood of menses into it and that he replied,
“Nothing makes water impure.”
Now we know for a fact that if only a portion of that were to
have fallen into any well, it would have been impossible for its taste
or smell to not have changed. This is something which is reasonable
and logical. Given that this is the case and given that the Prophet
gave them permission to use the water [of the well] and given that
the scholars unanimously agreed that the Prophet would not have
given them permission to use the water if its taste, smell or colour
had changed, we consider it impossible and Allah knows best, that
the Prophet responded to their inquiry in this way when any
impurities were actually present in the water.
On the contrary and Allah knows best, they must have asked the
Prophet about this matter after the impurities had already been
removed and the purpose of their inquiry was to discover whether
the water which came into the well after the impurities had been
removed was pure or not. This was a problematic issue for them
because the walls of the well had not been washed and its clay had
not been removed, so the Prophet [put their minds to rest] and
said to them, “Water does not become impure.” By this, he meant
that the water which had come into the well after the impurities had
been removed from it [did not become impure]; not that water is
not made impure by being mixed with impurity.8
The statement of the Prophet that “Water does not become
impure,” is of the same nature as his statement that, “A believer
does not become impure.”

7/8. It has been transmitted by way of Ḥumayd from Bakr

from Abū Rā ʿ that Abū Hurayrah said, “I met with
the Prophet while I was in a state of major ritual impurity
(janābah). He reached out his hand towards me so I pulled
my hand back and said to him, ‘I am in a state of janābah.’ He
said, ‘Glory be to Allah! A Muslim does not become
impure.’”9
In another ḥadīth the Prophet said, “Earth does not become
impure.”
 9. It has been transmitted from Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that when a
deputation came from Thaqīf to see the Messenger of Allah
he set up a round pavilion tent in the mosque in order to
receive them, but they said to him, “Messenger of Allah, they
are an impure people!” The Messenger of Allah replied,
“No part of people’s impurity transfers to the ground; their
impurity only remains in themselves.”10
His statement, ‘A Muslim does not become impure,’ does not mean
that a Muslim’s body does not become impure when impurity occurs
to it, but rather that he does not become impure in another sense.
Similarly, his statement, ‘Earth does not become impure’ does not
mean that it is not impure when impurity falls upon it, for how
could he mean that when he had commanded that a bucket of water
be thrown over the spot in which a desert Arab urinated:

10. It has been transmitted from Anas who said, “While

we were seated with the Messenger of Allah , a desert Arab
came, stood up in the mosque and urinated.
The Companions of the Messenger of Allah called out to him,
‘Stop! Stop!’ but the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Let him be,’ so they
left him alone. When he had nished urinating, the Messenger of
Allah called him and said, ‘Mosques are not places for urinating
or excreting, but are places for the remembrance of Allah, prayer
and the recitation of the Qurʾan.’” ʿIkrimah added, “Or similar to the
words the Messenger of Allah used to express that. Then he
commanded a man to bring a bucketful of water and pour it over
[the area in which the desert Arab had urinated].”11

11. The like of it has been transmitted by way of ʿAbd al-

ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd from Anas ibn
Mālik , but in this narration he omitted the words
‘Mosques are not places for urinating. . .’ to the end of the
ḥadīth.12
Ṭāwūs narrated that the Prophet commanded that its place be
dug up.

12. The like of it has been transmitted from Ṭāwūs.13

The like of it has also been transmitted through ʿAbdullāh ibn
Masʿūd from the Prophet :

13. It has been transmitted by way of Samʿān ibn Mālik al-

Asadī from Abū Wāʾil from ʿAbdullāh [ibn Masʿūd who
said, “A desert Arab urinated in the mosque, and so the
Prophet commanded them to pour a bucketful of water
over [the urine] and then dig up the spot.”14
Abū Jaʿfar says, “The meaning of the statement, ‘Earth does not
become impure,’ is that it does not remain impure when the
impurity is removed from it, not that it is not impure when the
impurity is actually upon it.”
In the same way, the statement of the Prophet about the well
of Buḍāʿah that ‘Nothing makes water impure,’ does not refer to
when impurity is actually present in the water, but only refers to
when the impurity has already been removed. This is what he meant
when he made that statement and Allah knows best.
There are other aḥādīth in which he clari es this:

14/15. It has been transmitted by way of ʿAbdullāh ibn Yazīd

al-Muqriʾ from [ʿAbdullāh] ibn ʿAwn from Ibn Sīrīn that Abū
Hurayrah said, “He forbade,” or [he said], “It is forbidden
that men urinate in standing or stagnant water and then
perform wuduʾ or ghusl with that [water].”15

16. It has been transmitted to us also [with an isnād] by way

of Hishām ibn Ḥassān from Ibn Sīrīn from Abū Hurayrah
that the Messenger of Allah said, “Let none of you urinate
in non-running stagnant water and then perform ghusl in
it.”16
17. It has been transmitted to us also [with an isnād] by way
of Anas ibn ʿIyāḍ al-Laythī from Ḥārith ibn Abī Dhubāb from
a man of Azd from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Mīnāʾ from Abū Hurayrah
that the Messenger of Allah said, “Let none of you urinate
in stagnant water and then perform wuduʾ or drink from it.”17

18. It has been transmitted by way of Yūnus from ʿAbdullāh

ibn Wahb [with his isnād] from Abū Hurayrah that the
Messenger of Allah said, “Let none of you perform ghusl in
stagnant water while he is in a state of janābah.” Abū
Hurayrah was asked, “How should he [perform ghusl with
it then], Abū Hurayrah?” He replied, “He should take the
water from it, [not perform the ghusl in it].”18

19. It has been transmitted to us also [with an isnād] by way

of ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Abi’z-Zinād from his father Abu’z-
Zinād from Mūsā ibn Abī ʿUthmān from his father Abū
ʿUthmān from Abū Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah
said, “Let none of you urinate in non-running stagnant
water and then perform ghusl from it.”19

20/21. The like of it has been transmitted to us by way of

Sufyān from Abu’z-Zinād [with his isnād].20

22. It has been transmitted by way of Ibn Lahīʿah from ʿAbd

ar-Raḥmān al-Aʿraj from Abū Hurayrah that the
Messenger of Allah said, “Let none of you urinate in non-
running stagnant water and then perform ghusl from it.”21

23. It has been transmitted by way of Abū Zurʿah from Ibn

Shurayḥ from Ibn ʿAjlān from Abu’z-Zinād from Aʿraj from
Abū Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said, “Let
none of you urinate in stagnant water or perform ghusl in
it.”22
 24. The like of it has been transmitted to us by way of
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAyyāsh from Aʿraj from Abū Hurayrah , but
in this narration he said, “And someone in a state of janābah
may not perform ghusl in it.”23

25. It has been transmitted by way of Ibn Abī Laylā from

Abu’z-Zubayr from Jābir from the Prophet that he
forbade [people] from urinating in stagnant water and then
performing wuduʾ in it.24

Abū Jaʿfar says, “When the Prophet singled out non-running

stagnant water for mention [in these aḥādīth] and not running
water, we come to know that he only made that distinction because
impurity becomes intermingled with stagnant water, not running
water.”
There are also many aḥādīth of the Messenger of Allah
mentioning the washing of a vessel [containing water] that has been
lapped by a dog which we will, if Allah wills, mention later on in
this book. These aḥādīth are a clear proof that both the vessel and
the water that it contains are impure, even though it (i.e. the dog’s
impure saliva) leaves the colour, taste and smell of that water
unchanged.
All of [these traditions about the dog lapping the vessel]—and
the meanings therein— are considered to be correct, so, in order to
reconcile them with the previous traditions concerning the well of
Buḍāʿah in such a way that no contradiction remains, we must
interpret the traditions concerning the well of Buḍāʿah in the way in
which we described [i.e. as referring to running water].
So this is the ruling which governs non-running water into which
impurity falls (i.e. that it is impure) by way of regarding the
meanings of the aḥādīth to be correct.
However, some25 set limits upon that and said that, “If there is
more than two qullah of [stagnant water], then it does not carry
impurity” (i.e. it does not share the ruling of the impurity which
falls into it.) This position is based on the following aḥādith:

26. It has been transmitted by way of Abū Usāmah Ḥammād

ibn Usāmah from Walīd ibn Kathīr al-Makhzūmī from
Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn az-Zubayr from ʿUbaydullah ibn
ʿAbdillah from Ibn ʿUmar that someone asked the
Messenger of Allah about a water-source frequented by
predatory animals. He replied, “If the [volume of] water is
equivalent to two qullah [or more] then it does not carry
impurity.”26

27. It has been transmitted by way of Yazīd ibn Hārūn from

Ibn Isḥāq from Ibn Jaʿfar from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar from
his father that the Prophet was asked about the
reservoirs from which predatory animals drink in the desert.
He replied, “If the volume of water is equivalent to two qullah
[or more] then it does not carry impurity.”27

28. The like of it has been transmitted by way of ʿAbbād al-

Muhallabī from Ibn Isḥāq [with his isnād] as above from Ibn
ʿUmar from the Messenger of Allah . 28

29. The like of it has also been transmitted by way of

Ḥammād ibn Salamah from Ibn Isḥāq [with his isnād] from
Ibn ʿUmar from the Messenger of Allah . 29

30. It has been transmitted by way of Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl from

Ḥammād ibn Salamah from ʿĀṣim ibn al-Mundhir who said,
“We were in a garden which belonged to us”—or he said, “A
garden which belonged to ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn
ʿUmar—when the time of the prayer arrived. It was [time for]
the Ẓuhr prayer, so he [ʿUbaydullāh] went to the garden well
and performed wuduʾ from it even though there was the skin
of a dead camel in the well. So I asked, ‘Do you perform
wuduʾ from [this well] while this is in it?’ ʿUbaydullāh
 replied, ‘My father told me that the Messenger of Allah
said, “If [the amount of] water is two qullah [or more] then it
does not become impure.’””30

31. The like of it has been transmitted by way of Yaḥyā ibn

Ḥassān from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, but he did not narrate it
as a marfūʿ tradition of the Prophet , rather he narrated it
as a mawqūf tradition of Ibn ʿUmar .31
These people said, “If the volume of water reaches this amount, then
it is not a ected by impurities falling into it except when its smell,
taste or colour change.” They based their position on the ḥadīth of
Ibn ʿUmar mentioned in the traditions above.
One of the proofs of those who took the position which we
consider to be the correct one is that none of these traditions clarify
for us the volume of two qullah. It is possible that the qullah which
are referred to are the qullah of the Hajar [a village near Madinah],
as you mentioned, and it is possible that they are the qullah of man
i.e. his height; in which case it would mean that if the amount of
water is equivalent to twice the stature of a man [or more], then it
would not carry impurity because of the large volume of water and
because by such a volume it would be considered [as far as its
ruling] in the same sense as rivers.
If you were to say that you take the ḥadīth at its face value and
that the qullah that are mentioned in it are the well-known qullah of
the Ḥijāz, then it could be said to you that, “If we were to take the
ḥadīth at its face value, as you say, then we should also adopt the
position that two qullah of water is not made impure by impurity
falling into it even when its taste, smell or colour change, for the
Prophet did not mention that in this ḥadīth.”
If you were to say that, even though the Prophet did not
mention that in this ḥadīth, he did mention it in others such as the
following ḥadīth:

32. It has been transmitted by way of Aḥwaṣ ibn Ḥakīm from

Rāshid ibn Saʿd that the Messenger of Allah said, “Nothing
makes water impure except for that which overcomes its
colour, taste or smell.”32
Then let it be said to you that, “This ḥadīth is munqaṭiʿ, and you do
not accept munqaṭiʿ ḥadīth as establishing or proving anything. Also,
if it is permissible for you to interpret the word qullah as referring to
a speci c type of qullah, then it ought to be permissible for others to
interpret the word water as referring to a speci c type of water in
order to ensure that this ḥadīth conforms with and does not
contradict the rst group of traditions which we transmitted. So
since the traditions which mentioned urinating in stagnant water
and the impurity of the water in a vessel from which a cat has licked
are general, and a speci c amount [of water] is not mentioned in
them and if that [generalisation] is applied to all non-running
water, then that proves that the ruling in the ḥadīth concerning the
two qullah33 only applies to running water. Therefore, the amount of
water should not be taken into account in any of those or these
traditions which we have transmitted in order to ensure that there is
no contradiction between the various aḥādīth mentioned in this
chapter.
This explanation by means of which we were able rectify [and
reconcile] the meanings of the aforementioned aḥādīth is the verdict
of Abū Ḥanīfah, Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad, may Allah have mercy
on them.
This verdict is reinforced by narrations from those [scholars]
who have preceded them; from those that have been narrated are:
33. It has been transmitted from ʿAṭāʾ that an Abyssinian fell
into [the well of] Zamzam and died. Ibn az-Zubayr
ordered that the water [of the well] be emptied out
completely, but the water did not stop [ owing in]. So they
looked into it and found that there was a spring owing into
it from the direction of the Black Stone. Ibn az-Zubayr
said, “You have done enough.”

34. It has been transmitted from Jābir that Abu’ṭ-Ṭufayl

said, “A boy fell into Zamzam, so its water was emptied
out.”

35. It has been transmitted from Maysarah that ʿAlī said

about a well into which a mouse had fallen and died, “Its
water is to be emptied out.”
36. It has been transmitted from Maysarah and Zādhān that
ʿAlī said, “If a mouse or [other] animal falls into a well,
continue to empty out its water until the water overcomes
you.”

37. It has been transmitted from Abu’l-Muhazzim who said,

“We asked Abū Hurayrah about whether it is permissible
for a man to urinate in a pool of water as he passes it by, so
he replied, ‘No, [he may not urinate in it], for his Muslim
brother might pass by [that pool of water] and drink from it
or perform wuduʾ [with water] from it. If [the water] is
running, however, then he may urinate in it if he wishes.’”

38. The like of it has been transmitted from Muḥammad [Ibn

Sīrīn] from Abū Hurayrah .

39. That which has been transmitted by way of Abū ʿĀmir al-
ʿAqadī [with his isnād] from Shaʿbī who said about a well
into which a [dead] bird, cat or the like falls, “Forty
bucketsful [of water] must be removed from [the well].”
40. It has been transmitted by way of Firyābī [with his isnād]
from Shaʿbī who said, “Forty bucketsful [of water] must be
removed from [the well].”

41. It has been transmitted by way of Hushaym from

ʿAbdullāh ibn Sabrah al-Hamdānī that Shaʿbī said, “He should
remove seventy bucketsful [of water] from it.”

42. It has been transmitted by way of Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth that

ʿAbdullāh ibn Sabrah al-Hamdānī said, “We asked [Shaʿbī]
about [what we should do when] a chicken falls into a well
and dies in it. He replied, ‘Seventy bucketsful [of water] must
be removed from [the well].’”

43. It has been transmitted by way of Hushaym from

Mughīrah that Ibrāhīm an-Nakhaʿī said about a well into
which a rat or cat falls and dies, “He must draw forty
bucketsful [of water] out of it.” Mughīrah added, “Until the
water changes.”
 44. It has been transmitted by way of Abū ʿAwānah from
Mughīrah that Ibrāhīm said about a mouse which falls into a
well [and dies], “A measure [of water] equivalent to forty
bucketsful must be removed from it.”

45. It has been transmitted by way of Sufyān from Mughīrah

that Ibrāhīm said about a well into which a mouse falls,
“Bucketsful [of water] must be removed from it.”

46. It has been transmitted from Ḥammād ibn Salamah that

Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān said about a well into which a
chicken falls and dies, “A measure [of water] equivalent to
forty or fty bucketsful should be removed from [the well],
and then wuduʾ may be performed [with water] from it.”
These are some of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah and
their Followers from whom we have narrated, and [we can see that]
they considered the water of wells to be made impure by impurities
falling into them and that they did not take into account the
quantity of water involved; they only took into account the fact that
the water [within the wells] was stagnant and they considered there
to be a di erence between this sort of water and other types of
water that ow.
 Our companions took their ruling about impurity falling into
wells from these traditions as well as those aḥādīth of the Messenger
of Allah which preceded them, and it was not permissible for any
of them to go against the verdicts [of these Companions and
Followers] because nothing has been transmitted which contradicts
them.
If someone were to say, “You consider the water of the well to be
made impure by impurity falling into it, then that well should never
again be considered pure, because the walls of the well drink up
that impure water and it settles within them. Therefore, the well
ought to be closed up.” Then let it be said to him that, “It was not
the custom for this to be done; ʿAbdullāh ibn az-Zubayr did that
which we mentioned with the well of Zamzam, he did that in the
presence of Companions of the Prophet and none of them
disapproved of his ruling and nor did any of those who came after
him and none of them saw it t to have to close up the well. Also,
the Messenger of Allah merely ordered that the vessel from which
a dog had licked be washed, not broken, and that vessel had
absorbed impure water into its body.”
Therefore, just as we have not been commanded to break that
vessel, so have we also not been commanded to close up that well.
If someone were to say, “We see that the vessel must be washed,
so why should not the same thing be done with the well,” then let it
be said to him that, “It is not possible to wash a well because any
water which is thrown into it to wash it becomes part of it. It is not
like a vessel from which the water which is used to clean it can be
completely poured out.”
Since it is impossible to wash the well, and the well was at some
point in time pure, and since every one of those who considered the
well to be made impure by impurity falling into it also considered it
to be made pure by water being emptied from it without its clay
being replaced, and despite the clay remaining in there, the water
that subsequently ows in is not considered impure even though it
ows over the clay; it is therefore, more reasonable to say that what
the walls do not become impure. If all of that had been based on
analogical reasoning, then the well could only be puri ed by its
walls being washed and its clay being dug up and removed.
However, because of the fact that they unanimously agree that it is
not obligatory to remove the clay or dig up the well, we know that
it is also not obligatory to wash the walls of the well. All of the
above are the views of Abū Ḥanīfah, Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad—
may Allah Almighty shower His mercies upon them.

1 Its isnād is ḥasan. Ḥā ẓ said in at-Talkhīṣ (1:12, 13), “It is transmitted by Aḥmad
(3:31, no. 86), Shā ʿī, the compilers of the Sunan—namely Abū Dāwūd ([Book of]
Puri cation/The well of Buḍāʿah, no. 66 & 67), Tirmidhī ([Book of] Puri cation/ Nothing
makes water impure, number 66) and Nasāʾī ([Book of] Puri cation/ Mentioning of the
well of Buḍāʿah, no. 327 & 328)—and by Dāraquṭnī (Chapter on altered water, no. 54–56),
Ḥākim and Bayhaqī (Puri cation/ Purifying with the water of wells, no. 6).” Tirmidhī
classi ed it as a ḥadīth ḥasan, Abū Usāmah saw it as being jayyid (good) and Aḥmad, Yaḥyā
ibn Maʿīn and Ibn Ḥazm all considered it to be ṣaḥīḥ. Ibn al-Qaṭṭān, however, considered it
to be impaired by the fact that the person who related it from Abū Saʿīd was unknown, and
those who related it from him were inconsistent when they transmitted his name and the
name of his father.
2 Its isnād is munqaṭiʿ. It is transmitted thus by Aḥmad, for he related it from ʿAbd al-
ʿAzīz from Muṭarrif from Khālid ibn Abī Nawf from the son of Abū Saʿīd from Abū Saʿīd
without mentioning Salīṭ (who should be in the chain of transmission) between Khālid
and the son of Abū Saʿīd. Abū Yaʿlā (no. 1304) and Nasāʾī (no. 327) transmitted it from the
chain of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz from Muṭarrif from Khālid from Salīṭ from the son of Abū Saʿīd from
Abū Saʿīd . Abū Ḥātim said, “Khālid ibn Abī Nawf related it from Salīṭ ibn Ayyūb.” It is
also said that Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq was between the two of them [in the chain of
transmission]. (Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb)
3 Its isnād is ḥasan. Dāraquṭnī transmitted it (Chapter on altered water, no. 58) with a
similar isnād to that of Ṭaḥāwī: from Muḥammad ibn Abī Yaḥyā from his mother from Sahl
. Ṭabarānī also transmitted this ḥadīth in his al-Kabīr (no. 6026), but, in his isnād, ‘from
his father’ is mentioned in place of ‘from his mother.’
4 Its isnād is ḍaʿīf (weak). Ibn Mājah transmitted it under the chapter on ponds (520)
from Sharīk from Ṭarīf from Abū Naḍrah from Jābir alone. Bayhaqī said in as-Sunan al-
Kubrāʾ (1/258), “It is [also said] that it is narrated by Sharīk with this isnād from Jābir
or Abū Saʿīd ; and it being from Abū Saʿīd seems to be sounder.”
5 Those who took this position included Imam Mālik .
6 These men di erentiated between running water and stagnant water. They said, “If
impurity falls into running water, then it is only rendered impure when the impurity
overpowers its taste, smell or colour, or when a portion of that impurity is known to still be
in the water that has been taken from that running source. If impurity falls into stagnant
water [which does not fall within the ambit of abundant water] then it is always rendered
impure, regardless of whether or not its taste, colour or smell change.”
7 ʿAllāmah ʿAynī quotes ʿĀʾishah as saying: “The well of Buḍāʿah was a watercourse
that had furrows leading to their gardens. Five or seven gardens were irrigated from it.”
8 Cloths soaked with the blood of menses and the esh of dogs had been thrown into
the well at a previous time, but, in order to express the distastefulness of that and to paint
a vivid picture in the mind of the listener, the questioner used the present tense instead of
the past.
Dihlawī said in his book Ḥujjat Allah al-Bālighah, “Just as we see happening today in our
own wells, impurities used to fall into [the well of Buḍāʿah] without people actually
meaning to throw them in and then these impurities would later be removed. When Islam
came, they asked about it [to discover] whether it was pure in the eyes of the Sharīʿah over
and above [the purity that they already knew] it had, and so the Messenger of Allah
said, ‘The water is purifying: nothing makes it impure,’ meaning, ‘It does not aquire any
other form of impurity, besides what you know.’”
9 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ and it is transmitted by a large group of ḥadīth scholars: It is
transmitted by Bukhārī (Wuduʾ/The sweat of the person in a state of janābah and the fact
that a Muslim is not impure, no. 283 & 285), Muslim (Chapter on the fact that a Muslim is
not impure, no. 371), Abū Dāwūd (Chapter on shaking hands with a person in a state of
janābah, no. 231), Tirmidhī (Chapter on shaking hands with the one in a state of janābah,
no. 121) where he classi ed the ḥadīth as ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ, Nasāʾī (Chapter on touching
someone in a state of janābah, no. 270), and Ibn Mājah (Chapter on shaking the hand of a
person in a state of janābah, no. 534). They all related this ḥadīth, with their own isnād, by
way of Ḥumayd aṭ-Ṭawīl from Bakrah from Abū Rā ʾ from Abū Hurayrah .
However, in the version of Muslim, Bakrah is not mentioned between Ḥumayd and Abū
Rā ʾ .
 10 Its isnād is mursal (since Ḥasan al-Baṣri quoted directly from the Prophet ). It
is transmitted by ʿAbd ar-Razzāq (An idolator enters the Mosque, no. 1622) and Ibn Abī
Shaybah in his Muṣannaf (Non-Muslims who enter the Mosque, no. 8774).
11 Its isnād is ḥasan. Muslim transmitted it (Chapter on the obligation of urinating, no.
285) from ʿUmar ibn Yūnus from ʿIkrimah from Isḥāq from Anas (which is precisely
the way the author transmitted it).
12 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ. It is transmitted by Bukhārī (Chapter on the pouring over urine, no.
221) by way of Ibn al-Mubārak and Sulaymān ibn Bilāl; by Muslim (Chapter on the
obligation of ghusl, no. 284) by way of ʿAbd al ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad and Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān;
and by Nasāʾī (Chapter on leaving of at-tawqīt in water, no. 54 & 55) by way of Ibn al-
Mubārak and ʿAbīdah ibn Ḥumayd. All ve of these men related the ḥadīth from Yaḥyā ibn
Saʿīd al-Anṣārī from him (i.e Anas ibn Mālik ). Therefore the ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ.
13 ʿAbd ar-Razzāq transmitted it in his Muṣannaf (Chapter on urinating in the Mosque,
no. 1661) from Sufyān from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār from Ṭāwūs. Ḥā ẓ said in at-Talkhīṣ (1/37), “If
the mursal path of transmission [of this ḥadīth] with its sound isnād is taken in conjunction
with the other aḥādīth of this chapter, it becomes strong (qawī).” From among the shawāhid
for this mursal ḥadīth is another mursal ḥadīth transmitted by Abū Dāwūd and Dāraquṭnī on
the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn Maʿqil ibn Muqarrin al-Muzanī who was one of the Tābiʿūn.
14 Its isnād is ḍaʿīf. Ḥā ẓ said in at-Takhlīṣ (1/37), “It has two mawṣūl isnād: one is
transmitted by Dārimī and Dāraquṭnī from Ibn Masʿūd and contains Samʿān ibn Mālik
in the chain of transmission who is not strong, as Abū Zuraʿah mentioned and he called it a
ḥadīth munkar (not accepted). Aḥmad said the same about it and Abū Ḥātim said that there
was no origin to the ḥadīth. The second isnād is transmitted by Aḥmad and Ṭabarānī from
Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ and contains ʿUbaydullāh ibn Ḥumayd al-Hudhalī who Bukhārī
and Abū Ḥātim regard as being munkar when it comes to [narrating] ḥadīth.
15 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ. Ṭabarānī transmitted it in al-Awsaṭ (3069) from ʿAbdullāh ibn
Yazīd al-Muqriʾ from Ibn ʿAwn from Ibn Sīrīn from Abū Hurayrah .
16 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ. Muslim transmitted it (Chapter on the prohibition of urinating in
stagnant water, no. 282) by way of Jarīr and Abū Dāwūd transmitted it (Urinating in
stagnant water, no. 69) by way of Zāʾidah. Both these men related it from Hishām from Ibn
Sīrīn from Abū Hurayrah .
17 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of Ḥārith ibn [being in the chain of transmission].
Bayhaqī transmitted it (Chapter [demonstrating] that he would take new water for each
limb, 1:239, no. 137) from Anas ibn ʿĪyāḍ from Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān from ʿAṭāʾ ibn
Mīnāʾ from him (i.e. Abū Hurayrah ).
18 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ. Dāraquṭnī transmitted it (Puri cation/ chapter 15, no. 131) by way
of Yūnus, and Ibn Ḥibbān transmitted it (2:274, no. 1248) by way of Ibn Wahb.
19 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿUthmān and Abū ʿUthmān [being in
the chain of transmission]. Nasāʾī transmitted it (Puri cation/ chapter 140, no. 222) by
way of Abu’z-Zinād from Mūsā ibn Abī ʿUthmān.
20 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿUthmān and Abū ʿUthmān [being in
the chain of transmission].
21 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of Ibn Lahīʿah [being in the chain of transmission].
Bukhārī transmitted it (Wuduʾ/ chapter 68, no. 239) by way of Abū’z Zinād from Aʿraj.
22 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of Abū Zurʿah Wahbullāh ibn Rāshid [being in the chain
of transmission]. Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam found fault with him, but Abū Ḥātim said that
he was trustworthy. Nasāʾī transmitted it (Puri cation, no. 398) with his isnād by way of
Ibn ʿAjlān.
23 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAyyāsh [being in the chain of
transmission]. The ḥadīth itself is ṣaḥīḥ.
24 Its isnād is ḥasan on account of Muḥammad ibn Abī Laylā [being in the chain of
transmission]. Muslim transmitted it (Puri cation/chapter 28, no. 655) by way of Layth
from Abu’z-Zubayr from Jābir , as did Nasāʾī (Puri cation/chapter 31, no. 35) and Ibn
Mājah (Puri cation/ chapter 25, no. 343).
25 Those who took this position included Imam Shā ʿī and Imam Aḥmad.
26 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ: It is transmitted by Abū Dāwūd (Puri cation/chapter 33, no. 63)
and Nasāʾī (Puri cation/ Waters/chapter 2, no. 329) with their respective asānīd from Abū
Usāmah. Abū Dāwūd said, “ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah and Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī said from Abū
Usāmah who said from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād ibn Jaʿfar from ʿUbaydullāh [. . .],” while
Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ said, “From Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar [. . .],” which is the correct
version [of the narrator’s name].
27 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ: Ibn Mājah transmitted it (Puri cation/chapter 75, no. 517) with his
isnād by way of Yazīd ibn Hārūn.
28 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ.
29 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ. It is transmitted by Abū Dāwūd (Puri cation/chapter 33, no. 64),
Tirmidhī (Puri cation/ chapter 50, no. 67) and Ibn Mājah (Puri cation/ chapter 75, no.
517) with their respective asānīd from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq.
 30 Its isnād is ṣaḥīḥ. Abū Dāwūd transmitted it (Puri cation/chapter 33, no. 65) by way
of Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl, and said, “Ḥammād ibn Zayd transmitted it from ʿĀṣim as a mawqūf
statement [of Ibn ʿUmar ].”
31 Its isnād is transmitted by Ḥammād ibn Zayd as a mawqūf statement of Ibn ʿUmar
. Di erences arose regarding the transmission from Ḥammād ibn Salamah: some of the
narrators transmitted it as being mawqūf and some transmitted it as being marfūʿ. There is
also some disagreement as to the actual text of the ḥadīth transmitted from Ḥammād ibn
Salamah: In the version narrated by Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Hudbah ibn Khālid and Kāmil
ibn Ṭalḥah we nd, ‘[. . .] two qullah or three [.. .],’ whereas in the version of ʿA ān,
Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq, Bishr ibn as-Sariyy, ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār, Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl and
ʿUbaydullāh ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAyshī, the words, ‘or three [. . .]’ are left out. Di erences
also arose from Yazīd ibn Hārūn: Ibn aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ transmitted the words [or three [. . .]’ from
him, whereas Abū Masʿūd did not.
32 Its isnād is ḍaʿīf and munqaṭiʿ. It is transmitted by Ibn Mājah (Puri cation/chapter
76, no. 521) with an isnād from Rishdīn ibn Saʿd from Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ from Rāshid
ibn Saʿd from Abū Umāmah; both versions—the musnad [of Ibn Mājah] and the munqaṭiʿ
[of Ṭaḥawī]—are ḍaʿīf. This is because Aḥwaṣ ibn Ḥakīm is in the chain of transmission of
the munqaṭiʿ version and Rishdīn ibn Saʿd is in the chain of transmission of the musnad.
Dāraquṭnī also transmitted the ḥadīth (Puri cation/chapter 2, no. 43) by way of Aḥwaṣ ibn
Ḥakīm as a munqaṭiʿ ḥadīth as Ṭaḥāwi had transmitted it, and then repeated the same
ḥadīth with an isnād containing Rishdīn ibn Saʿd (no. 44) as Ibn Mājah transmitted it,
saying, “The only path of transmission going right back to the Prophet (marfūʿ) is that
from Rishdīn ibn Saʿd from Muʿāwiyah, and he is not qawī.”
33 The statement of the Prophet in the ḥadīth about the two qullah was not intended
as a general ruling, for it was in reply to a speci c question concerning those water-sources
in the wastelands that are frequented by wild animals. The wording of the ḥadīth, ‘Water in
the wastelands,’ indicates the sort of water that ows constantly, such as the water that
emerges from springs and fountains. This sort of water gathers around its source [to form a
pool] that is usually of about the size mentioned (two qullah), but is not stagnant as it
ows outward [to be absorbed by the ground surrounding it]. The amount ‘two qullah’ is
not meant to refer to an exact amount, but is rather an approximation: this is supported by
the statement of the Prophet in the narration of Ḥammād ibn Salamah, ‘[two qullah] or
three.’ Thus we now know that the water about which the questioner asked was both
running and amounted to two or three qullah. We also know that, when there is a lot of
water and it is running, it does not carry impurities. We can see by this that the axis upon
which the ruling revolves is the fact of the impurity being carried [or not], not the fact of
the volume of water reaching two qullah. The ḥadīth of the two qullah therefore refers back
to the statement [of the Prophet ] in the ḥadīth of the well of Buḍāʿah that ‘Water is
pure; nothing renders it impure.’ Abū Ḥanīfah also interpreted the ḥadīth of the two
qullah as referring to a large amount of running water, for Samʿānī related that Abū Yūsuf
said, “I asked Abū Ḥanīfah about the statement of the Prophet ‘When the [quantity]
of water amounts to two qullah [. . .]’ and he replied that the water referred to [in this
ḥadīth] was running water.”
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