Chapter on the well — Tuḥfat al-Mulūk

Ruling118

Liquid impurity renders it impure.

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Ruling119

1 note

Solid [impurity]—such as dung, manure, and caked filth—a little is overlooked, not a lot: what the onlooker considers much.

From the editors

Footnotes

There is a difference of opinion regarding the definition of “a large amount” of impurity in water. Some say it is when it covers a quarter of the surface, others say a third, others say the majority, or even the entire surface. Another view states that it is when each bucket drawn from the water contains at least one or two droppings of impurity. The preferred view, as mentioned in al-Hidāyah and attributed to a narration from Abū Ḥanīfah, is that the large amount is what the observer considers large. This was also chosen by the author. Refer to Hadiyat aṣ-Ṣāʿalūk (p. 31), Minḥat as-Sulūk (1:123), al-Badāʾiʿ (1:77) where it is stated that this is the correct view, and in at-Tabyīn (1:27), which affirms reliance upon this view (muʿtamad).

This is a narration from Abū Ḥanīfah. However, the correct view (ṣaḥīḥ) is to take the word of two experts with insight into water matters. This has been deemed correct in al-Durr, volume 1: 25, al-Tabyīn, volume 1: 30, Minḥat al-Sulūk, volume 1: 125, chosen in al-Hidāyah, volume 1: 22, endorsed by the author of al-Kifāyah, 1: 93, chosen by the author of at-Tanwīr, 1:143, Hadiyat aṣ-Ṣaʿālūk p. 32, and in al-Durr al-Mukhtār, volume 1: 143: by which the fatwā is given, and it is the safest opinion. In al-Maraqī page 37: it is the most correct, and Ibn ʿĀbidīn preferred it in his commentary, volume 1: 143.

Ruling120

Wet, dry, sound, and broken are alike.

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Ruling121

1 note

If a mouse or sparrow and the like die in it, it is purified by drawing twenty buckets with its bucket after removing the carcass.

Ruling122

1 note

For pigeon, hen, cat, and the like, forty buckets.

Ruling123

For a human, sheep, and the like, the whole [well] is drawn out.

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Ruling124

1 note

If the carcass swells or disintegrates, the whole is drawn without restriction—meaning small or large; if that is impossible because the water springs, draw until water predominates.

From the editors

Footnotes

It is important to note that the issue of purifying wells by specific amounts, as mentioned earlier, is based on authoritative traditions (tawqīfī), which have been transmitted from the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn. The juristic school of Kūfah adopted these practices as they were passed down generation to generation by their predecessors. Among these traditions is what has been narrated from ʿAṭāʾ: “A Habashi (Abyssinian) fell into the Zamzam well and died, so Ibn al-Zubayr ordered that the water of Zamzam be drained. The water kept flowing and didn’t cease, so they looked and found a spring gushing from near the Black Stone. Ibn al-Zubayr then said: ‘That is enough for you.’” This narration is mentioned in Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār (1:17) and Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (1:150), among other sources, and Ibn Daqīq stated in al-Imām that its chain of transmission is sound, as referenced in Iʿlāʾ as-Sunan (1:264). Another narration from Ibn ʿAbbās states: “A Zanjī (African) fell into the Zamzam well and died. A man was sent down to extract him, and then Ibn ʿAbbās ordered that the water be drained.” This is found in Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (1:150). Furthermore, Ibrāhīm an-Nakhaʿī said regarding a mouse that fell into a well: “Forty buckets of water should be drawn from it.” This narration is found in Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār (1:17), among other sources.

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