Will Water Running Over Dry Urine on the Floor Render My Clothes Filthy?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
Does it make clothes impure if dried urine is on the bathroom floor, water is poured over it, and it gets into contact with clothes?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
Scenario 1
If the urine has dried on the floor, and no traces (smell, color, taste) of it has remained, then the floor is deemed pure, and water running over it is pure. Thus the clothes affected by this water will also be pure. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
Scenario 2
If urine has dried on the floor, and traces (smell, color, taste) of it are manifest on the ground, then the floor is deemed filthy. [Ibid]
If water running over these traces of urine remains unaffected by urine (i.e., no traces of urine are manifest in this water), then the water remains pure. Thus the clothes affected by this water will also be pure. [Ibid]
Scenario 3
It is only when traces of dried urine are still manifest on the floor and along with that traces of it (such as smell, color, or taste) are also present in the water that has passed over it that this running water becomes filthy. Thus, clothes affected by this water will also become filthy. [Ibid]
Reason for These Rulings
One: A ground affected by filth becomes pure merely by drying as long as the traces of filth are not manifested on it anymore.
The Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace be upon him) has said: “The ground is purified when it dries.” This Hadith has been narrated in many books of Hanafi scholars, and its meaning is confirmed by Sahih Hadiths, including Hadiths narrated in Sunan Abi Dawud. [Ibn al-Humam, Fath al-Qadir]
Two: Running water remains pure as long as the traces of filth affecting it are not manifested in it because when water is running, the filth is moving and not staying where it was. Thus there is no way to be sure that the filth is present in a specific part of this water, as no traces are manifested, and the certitude of its purity is not lifted by doubts regarding its purity. [Based on al-‘Ayni, Binaya; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
It is not a condition for running water to be supported by continuous water coming behind it, such as a river coming from a spring. Even a finite amount of water will take this ruling as long as it is running. An example would be the water thrown on the ground from a bucket. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
