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
Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, as systematised by
Al-Nawawi
Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī ( ar, أبو زكريا يحيى بن شرف النووي; (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277), popularly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī, was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and ha ...
in his book ''Minhadj'', the following things are ''najis'':
wine and other
spirituous drinks,
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. ...
s,
swine,
blood,
excrements, 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.
[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
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
*
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), ''kur'' water (
lake,
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
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
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
. Swine and blood are declared forbidden food in the Qur'an.
See also
*
Ghusl
*
Taher
*
Ritual purification
Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...
*
Wudu
*
Dhimmi
' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligati ...
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