Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

Questions For Lesson 00

Q
Salaam 'Alaikum

From the end of the first section (A0, The Three Types of Water):

>>If pure clothing is indiscernible from filthy or unlawful clothing (b: and he knows the number), then he prays in each outfit a number of prayers equal to the filthy clothes and adds one prayer.<<

Is this referring to fardh salat? What would make the clothing filthy? (Does this mean he hasn't had the opportunity to wash any filth from it before the prayer comes in?)

By "unlawful," does it refer to perhaps clothes that were obtained in a less than lawful manner (ie theft or something)? Do you think you could illustrate this point by giving a specific example? (IE, Ahmed has 3 garments, 2 are filthy, etc)

Jazakh Allah Khair
[name removed]

A
wa `alaykum al-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu

The matn really is not very clear about the issue. The problem here is just another version of a simple story problem from math class:
Ahmad has 6 white socks and 6 blue socks. If he begins pulling out socks at random, how many will he have to pull out to guarantee that he has a pair of blue socks? (Answer: 8 socks. First he must exhaust the supply of white socks and then add two to make sure he has taken from the blue socks.)
So here is a retranslation of the text with more commentary:
If pure garments are indiscernible from (b: a known number of) filthy garments, or (b: lawful garments indiscernible) from (b: a known number of) unlawful clothing (m: such as it being stolen, or silken worn by a man), then one prayer is prayed in a different[1] garment until the number of prayers equals the filthy (b: or unlawful) garments (b: with each prayer intended to be the obligatory prayer) in addition to one more prayer (so that the obligatory prayer be performed with certainty).

(b: If the number of filthy or unlawful garments is not known, it is required that one prayer be performed in each garment so that it is certain that the prayer was performed in a pure garment--even if the garments are numerous. The prayer is not valid if done in a garment confused (m: with a pure garment) when the it is certain that a pure garment is present. The ruling is the same for small areas (m: where it is indiscernible which parts are clean an which filthy); in a large area the prayer is performed in any part without checking.)
[1] The Arabic literally means "each", but this meaning is clear from Kashshaf Al-Qina` , which is much clearer on this issue.
Question by question:

Is this referring to fardh salat?
What it understood here is that before even praying, it is known that the pure and filthy garments are mixed together. Since this is known ahead of time, it seems most likely that the person is going to be limited to praying only the obligatory prayers.

What would make the clothing filthy? (Does this mean he hasn't had the opportunity to wash any filth from it before the prayer comes in?)
A conceivable example for this topic would be a dog licking the clothing. A previous article talked about filth (search for "filth" in the group's archive) and it will be revisited in a later lesson.

By "unlawful," does it refer to perhaps clothes that were obtained in a less than lawful manner (ie theft or something)?
Here "unlawful" includes things that are unlawful to possess, like stolen goods, as well as things that are lawful to possess but unlawful for the possessor to use, such as silk garments for men.

Do you think you could illustrate this point by giving a specific example? (IE, Ahmed has 3 garments, 2 are filthy, etc)
Picture it this way: you have five garments, all of which are completely identical except that you are certain that a dog licked two of them but you aren't quite sure which ones or where. You don't have any dirt handy, and even if you did: the sun will be setting quite soon. So what you do is make wudu, put on a garment and pray, then change it for another garment and pray, and then change it for another garment that you haven't prayed in and pray. Since the number of filthy garments is known to be two, by praying in three different garments you are certain to have performed the prayer in a pure garment.

Now, you have the same garments but instead of knowing which ones were licked, you just know that some dog has licked some of them but not all of them. So what you do is pray one prayer in each garment so that you know that at least one of the prayers was in a pure garment.

[Additional sources: Al-Mughni, Al-`Uddah, Dalil Al-Talib, Kashshaf Al-Qina`, Nail Al-Ma'arib, and Manar Al-Sabil]

Shukran for the question, and thank you very much for not including the entire original message in your reply.

Wa al-salamu `alaykum
--musa