Purifying (Ath-Thahaarah) ~ Hi all readers! In this article, I will explain something that can be used to do ath-Thahaarah. This knowledge is important for all Muslims because with this knowledge they will know what can be used for purifying (ath-Thahaarah) and what can not be used for it. Moreover, not all of these objects can be used for obligatory rituals in Islam.
Broadly speaking, the things that can be used are three things that are used for purifying (ath-Thahaarah); water, dust or sand, objects that can absorb the fluid (stone, dry tissue, dry leaves, dry wood, and so on). The three items can be found below;
Water
Water is the most important thing that can be used for purifying (ath-Thahaarah). Description of this purity of water can be found in the verses of the Quran and the hadith of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam below;
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَرۡسَلَ ٱلرِّيَٰحَ بُشۡرَۢا بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡ رَحۡمَتِهِۦۚ وَأَنزَلۡنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءٗ طَهُورٗا ٤٨
And He it is Who sends the winds as good news before His mercy; and We send down pure water from the cloud. (Al-Furqaan [25]; 48).
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : الْمَاءُ طَهُوْرٌ لَا يُنَجِّسُهُ شَيْئٌ إِلَّا مَا غَلَبَ عَلَى لَوْنِهِ أَوْ طَعْمِهِ أَوْ رِيْحِهِ
The Prophet (Muhammad) sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said: “Surely the water of the holy ones can not be made unclean by anything unless there is something that changes its color, taste, or smell. [The hadith is narrated by Ibnu Majah, 521, al-Baihaqi, 1/259, ath-Thabrani, al-Kabiir, 8/104.].
قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : إِذَا كَانَ الْمَاءُ قُلْتَيْنِ لَمْ يَحْمِلْهُمْ الْخَبَثَ
Allah’s Messenger shallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said, “If the water is as much as two qullah then the water can not be made unclean by al-Khabats [The meaning of the word al-Khabatas is something dirty and unclean in the view of Islamic law such as urine, blood, human feces and so forth].” [The hadith is narrated by Ibnu Abi Syaibah, 1/133, Abu Daud, 63, an-Nasa’i, 328, ad-Darimi, 732, Ibnu Khuzaimah, 1/49.].
Read Also:
In the above verse of the Qur’an there is a description of the true nature of water; holy. With that description, we can also understand that the rain water that descends from the sky is the pure water that can be used for purifying (ath-Thahaarah). So, if one day it rains from the sky and we put a sacred vessel outside the house, then the rain falling into the vessel we can use to do purifying or we make a drink.
The first hadith under the verses of the Qur’an also explains the sacredness of water. It’s just that there is a description or characteristics of water that has been turned into unclean water because it is mixed with other objects. These characteristics can be seen from changes in color, taste, and smell.
In the last hadith I call the term two qullah. Qullah is a measure of the volume of water used in Muhammad’s time. The size of two qullah today is two qullah about 270 (two hundred and seventy) liters. These two qullahs are the absolute water sizes that can be used to purify unclean.
This water can be used to eliminate al-Hadats (a trait inherent in a person that cab prevent them from performing obligatory rituals in Islam, such as praying, reading al-Qur’an and so on) and al-Khabats (something dirty and unclean in the view of Islamic law such as urine, blood, human feces and so forth, coming from outside and can be attached to clothes, body, etc.)
