QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Does the hand become impure by touching a dog, and likewise do the clothes become impure by a dog grazing them?
Questioner: Kaneez from UK
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
No! The hands do not become impure by the touching of a dog, and in a like manner if a dog has brushed past the clothes, they do not become impure because of this as only the saliva of a dog is impure. If its saliva is on the hand or clothes, then it is essential to wash the part of the hand or clothes upon which there is saliva – just as it is stated in Fatāwā ‘Ālamgīrī,
“الْكَلْبُ إذَا أَخَذَ عُضْوَ إنْسَانٍ أَوْ ثَوْبَهُ لَا يَتَنَجَّسُ مَا لَمْ يَظْهَرْ فِيهِ أَثَرُ الْبَلَلِ”
‘When the body of a dog touches and comes into contact with a human body or clothes, the body or clothes do not become impure as a result of this unless its saliva is present.’
[al-Fatāwā al-Hindiyyah, vol. 1, ch. 7, part 3, p. 48]
And it is stated in Bahār-e-Sharī’at, ‘If a dog touches ones clothing or body – then even if its body is wet – the body and the clothes are regarded as being pure. However, if there is any impurity on its body, then it is a different issue; if its saliva touches the body and clothing, then it is impure.‘
[Bahār-e-Sharī’at, vol. 1, part 2, p. 395]
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Haider Ali Madani
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0843] If your hand or clothes come into contact with a dog do they become impure?
