QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Is the urine of a child impure – is this proven from Hadīth. Some people say it is not impure because the child is only drinking milk; he/she is not eating any food, etc. If it is impure, will one have to do wudū’ or will someone only have to change their clothes – what is the method of purifying them?
Questioner: Zaynab from Italy
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
The urine of a human being is najāsah ghalīzhah [major impurity] and unclean, even if it is the urine of such a child who does not even eat food. Thus, if there is urine on the clothes, then they need to be washed; there is no need to perform wudū’ nor change the clothes. This is proven from many Hadīths, that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ poured water over the urine of a child.
Just as it is stated in the Hadīth of Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Sunan Nasā’ī that Umm al-Mu’minīn Sayyidah ‘Ā’ishah, may Allāh be content with her, states that,
“أُتِيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِصَبِيٍّ، فَبَالَ عَلَى ثَوْبِهِ، فَدَعَا بِمَاءٍ فَأَتْبَعَهُ إِيَّاهُ”
“A child was brought to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and it urinated on the garment. The Prophet ﷺ asked for water and poured it over the soiled place.”
[Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Hadīth no 222. Sunan Nasa’ī, Hadīth no 304]
It is narrated in Musnad Imām Ahmad by Sayyidah ‘Ā’ishah, may Allāh be pleased with her, that,
“كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُؤْتَى بِالصِّبْيَانَ فَيَدْعُو لَهُمْ، وَإِنَّهُ أُتِيَ بِصَبِيٍّ، فَبَالَ عَلَيْهِ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: صُبُّوا عَلَيْهِ الْمَاءَ صَبًّا”
“The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ would have children brought to him for him to supplicate for them. Once a child urinated, so he ﷺ said to pour water over it well.”
[Musnad Imām Ahmad bin Hanbal, vol 4, pg 46, Hadīth no 24238]
Pouring water over the urine of a child is in fact washing, and it is stated in the renowned Hanafī fiqh book – Durr Mukhtār & Radd al-Muhtār – that,
“وَبَوْلِ غَيْرِ مَأْكُولٍ وَلَوْ مِنْ صَغِيرٍ لَمْ يَطْعَمْ أَيْ: لَمْ يَأْكُلْ فَلَا بُدَّ مِنْ غَسْلِهِ”
“The urine from whose flesh is not eaten (such as a human being) is najāsah ghalīzhah [major impurity], even if it is of a small child and he is not yet eating food i.e. washing its urine is a must.”
[al-Durr al-Mukhtār & Radd al-Muhtār, vol 1, pg 318]
It is also stated in Fatāwā Hindiyyah,
“وَهِيَ نَوْعَانِ (الْأَوَّلُ) الْمُغَلَّظَةُ ۔۔۔ وَكَذَلِكَ بَوْلُ الصَّغِيرِ وَالصَّغِيرَةِ أَكَلَا أَوْ لَا”
“There are two types of impurity: The first is mughallazhah [thick] (whose rulings are more stern), and likewise the urine of small boy or girl is najāsah ghalīzhah [major impurity]; whether they eat food or not.”
[Fatāwā Hindiyyah, vol 1, part 2, pg 46]
Furthermore, it is stated in Bahār-e-Sharī’at that the urine of a milk-drinking child, be it a male or female, is najāsah ghalīzhah. There is a common theory amongst the laymen that the urine of milk drinking children is pure; this is completely incorrect.
[Bahār-e-Sharī’at, vol 1, part 2, pg 390]
Mentioning the method of how to purify impure clothes from thin impurity, the author of Bahār-e-Sharī’at – Muftī Amjad Ali Āzhamī – states that if the impurity is fluid-like, then to wash it thrice and squeeze it adequately, using one’s full strength thrice will purify it. To squeeze it adequately with one’s full strength means that the person who is squeezing it should squeeze it with his full strength, to the extent that if he squeezes it after this again, no drop should come out from it. If he worries about the clothing and does not squeeze it thoroughly, it will not be purified.
[Bahār-e-Sharī’at, vol 1, part 2, pg 398]
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
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0613] Is the urine of a newborn child impure? Does it break Wudu or must we change our clothes?
Also see:
The urine of a child | A response to the Wahabi objection on the Hanafi school
