Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim
Hanbali Oddities Regarding Najasah
Q
as-Salaamu`alaikum wa rahmatullah
I heard from a reliable brother that the hanbali position regarding if one
wakes up from sleep and sticks his hand in a body of water such as a pond
or lake without first making wudu, then that body of water would become
impure. At the same time, if one urinates in that lake or pond, then
hanbalis agree that as long as the smell, color, etc. hasnt changed, then
that water is still pure.
If in fact what the brohter relates is true, then it seems to me there is
a slight irony here, that urine doesnt make that water najis (as long as
the 3 conditions are met), but yet sticking your hand (after waking up) in
that water will make that najis?
please clarify, barak Allahu feek.
A
wa `alaykum al-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
The person who told you these rulings may very well be reliable in what he
has read, but this understanding does not conform to what is found in later
books.
When someone makes up after sleeping at night and sleeping deep enough for
his wudu to be lost: he must wash his hands, three times, saying
Bismillah, and with intention. If he does not do this and he puts
his hands in water that is less than approximately 212 liters, the water
will cease being able to lift ritual impurity and remove filth, and will
simply be pure. If you add more water to it until it becomes 212 liters, it
will be able to lift ritual impurity and remove filth--providing that the
resulting water is pretty much as Allah Most High originally created it.
The evidence for this is the same evidence that the other schools use to
show that it is meritorious the wash the hands when waking up, and that it
is necessary to wash them when they have filth on them. The reason actual
reason for washing the hands is ta`abudi, or: for the sake of testing the
slave's taqwa, and the wisdom behind it is that the person may have touched
filth while asleep. Because this is considered for the sake of testing the
slave, it follows that even if the hands were tied up or put in mittens all
night long: they would still need to be washed.
When filth other than liquid human waste (such as urine, blood, and feces
dissolved in water) is put into water, the water remains pure as long as
there is no discernable change. But if liquid human waste is put in it, the
water becomes filthy--even if greater than 212 liters--unless it is very
difficult to protect the water from such an event. This difference between
human and other types of waste not found in most shorter books. The
evidence for this is from two directions: reconciling between two
rigorously authenticated hadiths, and using a weakly authenticated hadith
that explicitly refers to human urine in water.
So basically: there's no irony here. When you stick your hands in water
that is less than 212 liters after waking up then that purifying
water becomes pure; and if you urinate in a bathtub holding more
than 212 liters the water is filthy, but if you do the same in a big pond
or the ocean it doesn't.
And Allah knows best.