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Recap and continuation: the categories of water, skins of dead animals, bones and hair, gold and silver vessels, and the Siwāk.
1. About the Text and Its Author
Matn Abī Shujāʿ is a short treatise (not a poem) detailing the rulings of fiqh according to the Shāfiʿī school. The English poem used in class is a translated rendering; the original is prose.
* Author: Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Iṣfahānī, known as Qāḍī Abū Shujāʿ.
* Origin: Isfahan, in Persia (modern Iran).
* Death and burial: He passed away in Madinah and is buried in al-Baqīʿ, the graveyard beside Masjid al-Nabawī.
The first book of the treatise is the Book of Purification (Kitāb al-Ṭahārah). It opens with the seven waters — waters that are fit to purify.
2. The Four Categories of Water
Water is divided into four categories, each with its own ruling.
Category 1 — Muṭlaq (Pure and Purifying)
Muṭlaq water is both pure and purifying. A useful comparison: soap is clean and cleansing — “clean” means it is not dirty, “cleansing” means it can clean something else. In the same way:
* Pure means the water itself is not filth (najis).
* Purifying means it can be used to purify something else.
Muṭlaq water is naturally occurring — it comes either from the sky or from the ground. From it come the seven waters:
* Rain falling from the clouds
* Sea water
* River water
* Well water
* Spring water
* Snow (from mountain summits)
* Hail
Note on tap and bottled water: These are not listed by name, but they are still pure and purifying because they originate from these seven sources — rain collected in a dam, sea water processed through desalination, river water, spring water, or a bore drawn from a well. The summary principle: water that comes from the sky above or from the ground below is naturally occurring, pure, and purifying.
Category 2 — Mushammas (Sun-Heated Water)
Mushammas is water left in a metal container and exposed to intense sun. The metal requirement is essential — water heated in plastic, clay, or other non-metal containers does not become mushammas. It also requires genuine heat: a mild warm day does not qualify, but extreme heat (for example, 40°C+) does.
* Ruling: Still pure and still purifying, but its use is makrūh (disliked).
* Once the water cools, the dislike (karāhah) ends and it returns to muṭlaq.
Category 3 — Mustaʿmal (Used Water)
There are two types of mustaʿmal:
* Water that has already been used for wuḍūʾ or ghusl — it cannot be reused for purification.
* Water mixed with something pure that changes its properties — for example, coffee. It can still be drunk, but it cannot be used for wuḍūʾ.
Ruling: Pure, and may be drunk, but no longer purifying.
Category 4 — Mutanajjis (Impure Water)
Water that has become contaminated — for example, a bird droppings falling into a container of water.
* Ruling: No longer pure and no longer purifying. It may not be drunk, cooked with, or used.
The exception — Two Qullahs: If the water is a large volume — two qullahs, roughly 200 litres — then a small amount of impurity does not affect it. However, if the water’s colour, smell, or taste changes, it becomes mutanajjis regardless of volume.
Illustration: Sea water is far more than two qullahs. But in places where large numbers of animals are killed and the sea water visibly turns red, the change in colour means that water has become mutanajjis — because a defining property has changed.
3. Skins of Dead Animals (Maitah)
Maitah is an animal that dies without being properly slaughtered.
* Base ruling: Maitah is najis — the entire animal, including the meat and the skin.
* The exception (dibāgh / tanning): When the skin is tanned and turned into leather, it becomes pure. This is why leather goods (a belt, a bag, a boot) do not need to be checked for whether the animal was slaughtered — turning skin into leather is itself the tanning that purifies it.
How tanning works: The fat and any parts that would decompose are removed using a sharp tool and treated with acid, chemicals, or certain plants. Once tanned, the skin is no longer najis.
Exception to the exception: Two animals whose skins remain najis even after tanning — the dog and the pig.
Definition of “dog” in fiqh: a canine that barks. This is a precise definition:
* Wolves are canines but do not bark — so they are not classed as dogs here.
* Foxes are canines but do not bark.
* Hyenas do not bark.
* Cats are not canines at all (they are feline).
4. Why This Order? Process and System Thinking
The sequence of chapters is deliberate. Once you have found water, you need a way to carry and store it — and the most common container historically was the leather pouch. So the chapter on water is followed directly by the ruling on skins.
The traditional scholars are training a way of thinking: disciplined, ordered, systematic. We do not think haphazardly; we arrange ideas into a process that is beneficial and useful. This applies well beyond fiqh — it is a life skill.
Example — brainstorming. An undisciplined brainstorm drifts from the actual goal into unrelated tangents. Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats method disciplines the process: you deliberately wear one “hat” at a time (for example, a green hat for all possibilities, then a red hat for risks), each for a set time. Structured thinking is more productive. Reading traditional texts (turāth, meaning “traditional”) trains this same disciplined, step-by-step approach.
5. Bones and Hair
Since the discussion is already about dead animals, the text settles their bones and hair as well — because when you come across a dead animal, you find not only skin but bones and hair too.
* The bones and hair of a maitah are najis. Tanning (dibāgh) cannot be applied to hair, so they remain impure.
* If the animal was properly slaughtered, there is no problem.
* Exception: the remains of a human being. Because God has honoured the children of Adam, that honour extends to human bone and skin — they are not najis.
6. Gold and Silver Vessels
Continuing the theme of containers: some wealthy people would use vessels of gold and silver.
* Ruling: It is not permitted to use vessels made of gold or silver.
* Reason: Gold and silver are a medium of exchange — currency that holds value. Using them as everyday vessels is a sheer display of excess, which Islam discourages.
* Vessels of any other material are permitted.
Bone china: Some of the most expensive plates are made of “bone china” — bone of certain animals crushed and mixed into a fine porcelain. Recall the ruling on bones: if the animal was not slaughtered, it is maitah, and therefore najis.
7. The Siwāk
The Siwāk is anything coarse enough to clean the teeth and mouth — it can be a toothbrush, a cloth, or even a finger. The Prophet ﷺ used a stick from the arāk tree.
Its importance and reward:
* The Prophet ﷺ said that were it not for the fear of making it difficult for his ummah, he would have made the siwāk obligatory — at every wuḍūʾ (in one narration) or at every prayer (in another).
* Oral hygiene is emphasised in Islam. Eating foul-smelling food and then going to the masjid is makrūh; one should clean the mouth first.
* Praying with a siwāk is reported to carry many times the reward of praying without one.
When to use it — general: The siwāk is praiseworthy at every time and everywhere. The Prophet ﷺ would use it before entering his house, so that his family would be comfortable in his company.
Exception — the fasting person: For someone fasting, using the siwāk after midday (around Ẓuhr) is no longer sunnah.
Three times it is especially recommended:
* When the mouth’s odour changes — for example, after being silent for a long time or not having eaten or drunk for a while.
* Upon waking from sleep.
* When rising to pray.
That concludes this lesson. Until next week, in shāʾ Allāh.
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