In Islamic law, najis ( ar, نجس) means ritually unclean. According to Islam, there are two kinds of najis: the essential najis which cannot be cleaned and the unessential najis which become najis while in contact with another najis. Contact with ''najis'' things brings a Muslim into a state of ritual impurity ( ar, نجاسة, links=no ''najāsa'', in opposition to ṭahārah, ritual purity). Ritual purification is then required before religious duties such as regular prayers are performed.

Islamic law

According to the Shafi'i school of

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, as systematised by Al-Nawawi in his book ''Minhadj'', the following things are ''najis'': wine and other spirituous drinks, dogs, swine, blood,

excrements Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relat ...

, and the milk of animals whose meat Muslims are not allowed to eat. Spirituous drinks are not impure according to the Hanafi school, while living swine and dogs are not impure according to the Malikis. There is a difference of opinion as to whether alcoholic drinks are ''najis''. To the list of impure things enumerated by al-Nawawi, Shi’a jurists traditionally add dead bodies and

non-believers An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Chur ...

.Lewis (1984), p.34 Additionally, meat of any animal which is killed in a manner other than that prescribed by Islam is najis. ''Najis'' things cannot be purified, in contrast to things which are defiled only (''mutanajis''), with the exception of wine, which becomes pure when made into vinegar, and of hides, which are purified by tanning.

''Muṭahhirāt'' ('purifying agents')

It is possible to purify a thing which has become ''najis''. These ''muṭahhirāt'' agents that can purify ''najis'' can be divided into three groups:

The mutahirat

*the Earth *the Sun * water - The Qur'an says: “He

llah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

is the one who sends the winds as good news before His mercy; and We send down pure water from the cloud." ( 25:48) According to the shari'ah, water can be of two types: ''muṭlaq'' and ''muḍāf''. ''Muṭlaq'' is pure water without putting it to a scientific test. The five forms of ''muṭlaq'' are the following: rain, well water, running or flowing water ( river or

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

), ''kur'' water ( lake,

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or ocean), and less than ''kur''. ''Muḍāf'' is diluted water

Physical change

*''istiḥālah'' (chemical change) *''inqilāb'' (change in properties) *''intiqāl'' (change in place) *''zawāl li-ʿayni n-najāsah'' (disappearance of the source of najāsah) *''istibrāʾ'' (quarantining)

Spiritual change

* Islam . *''tabaʿīyyah'' (following) *''ghaybat al-muslim'' (absence of a Muslim) Not all of these agents can purify every ''najis''. However, among the agents water is the most universal purifying agent while the other agents are limited.

Sources of law

The notions of ritual impurity come mainly from the Qur'an and ahadith. Swine and blood are declared forbidden food in the Qur'an.

References

External links

Laws of Islam concerning ritual purity

{{Authority control Ritual purity in Islam Arabic words and phrases in Sharia Arabic words and phrases Islam and other religions Islamic terminology