Bahaar-e-Shariat Volume 2 Blog Page 11

Discussion Regarding the Water of a Well

Law: If human or animal urine, blood (which can flow), toddy, date liquor or even a single drop of any other alcohol pollutes a well, all the water of the well must be removed. The same ruling applies if an impure piece of stick, clothing soiled with impurity or any other impure (Najis) thing falls into the water.

Law: The water in a well will be rendered impure (Na Paak) if polluted by the urine or faeces of animals that are not suitable for consumption. Similarly, the water in a well will be rendered impure if polluted by the droppings of a hen or duck. In all such cases, all the water in the well must be removed.

Law: Even though the droppings of sheep, goats, camels, cow dung, the dung of a horse and donkey are regarded as impure but on the basis of necessity, if a very small amount of this falls into a well, it will be excused and the command to render it impure will not be given. Similarly if the droppings of Halaal birds such as pigeons and sparrows or the droppings of birds of prey such as eagles, falcons or hawks fall into the water of a well it will not render the water impure. Similarly the urine of rats and bats will not render the water impure.

Law: It (the well water) will not be rendered impure if a very small droplet of urine, like the amount resembling the tip of a needle or an impure speck of dust falls into it.

Law: Even if a single drop of water from an impure well falls into a pure well, it will render all the water therein impure. The ruling in regards to both will thus be the same. Similarly, if one puts the bucket, rope or earthen pot polluted by water from an impure well into a pure well it will render all its water impure. If a human, a goat, a dog or any other ‘Damawi’[1] animal equivalent or larger in size falls into a well and dies, all the water in the well must be removed.

Law: If any Damawi animal, such as a rooster, hen, cat, rat or lizard etc. dies or swells and disintegrates in the water all the water must be removed.

Law: If any of the above died outside the well and then fell in, the ruling will still remain the same.

Law: It the severed tale of a lizard or rat falls into a well then all the well water must be removed. This applies even if it did not swell or disintegrate. However, if there was some wax etc. stuck to the root (end) of the tail when it fell in then only 20 buckets of water will be removed.

Law: If a cat pounced upon and injured it but the rat managed to get free and fell into the well then in this case all the water will be removed.

Law: If a Damawi animal such as a rat, mole, sparrow, lizard, chameleon or any animal equal in size or smaller than it falls in and dies then 20 to 30 buckets of water will be removed.

Law: If a pigeon, hen or cat dies after falling into a well, 40 to 60 buckets of water will need to be removed.

Law: The ruling in regards to a human child is the same which applies to an adult human and the ruling in regards to a baby goat is the same as which applies to a goat.

Law: The ruling with regards to an animal smaller than a pigeon is that which applies in the case of a rat and the ruling in regards to an animal smaller than a goat is that which applies to a hen.

Law: If 2 rats die after falling into a well then 20 to 30 buckets of water must be removed. If 3, 4 or 5 rats fall in and die then 40 to 60 buckets of water will be removed and if 6 rats fall in and die then all the water must be removed.

Law: If 2 cats die after falling into a well, all the water must be removed.

Law: If the body of a deceased Muslim falls into a well after Ghusl,then in reality there is no need to remove any water. If a Shaheed (martyr) on whose body there are no traces of blood falls into a well, no water will be removed and if there were traces of blood on the body which did not have the ability to flow then in this case as well, no water will be removed even if this blood from the body washed away with the water and mixed in the water. If blood which has the ability to flow is evident on the body of a Shaheed but has become dry and separated from his body before he fell in, the water will still be regarded as being pure. The reason for this is that for as long as the blood of a Shaheed remains on his body, no matter how much it may be, it is regarded as being ‘Paak’ (pure). However, if this blood separates from his body and falls into the water then the water will now be regarded as impure.[2]

Law: If a dead kaafir falls into a well even if he has been washed a hundred times or even if his finger or finger nail enters the water, the water will become Najis (impure) and all the water must be removed.

Law: If a miscarried or a stillborn child falls into a well; all the water will be removed even if the baby was given a bath before falling in.

Law: If a person who is in need of making Wudu or one in need of making Ghusl enters into the well without a valid reason and there is no impurity on his body then 20 buckets of water must be removed. However, if he climbed in to retrieve the bucket then no water needs to be removed.

Law: If a pig falls into the water, all the water has become impure and must be removed. This ruling applies even if the pig just falls in and does not die.

Law: With the exception of a pig, if any other animal falls into the water and came out alive and there are no definite traces of impurity on its body and its mouth did not touch the water then this water will be regarded as being pure. It is permissible to use this water but as a precautionary measure it is better to remove 20 buckets of water. However, if one is definite that there was some impurity on the body of the animal then all the water must be removed. If its mouth touched the water then the ruling which applies to its saliva and ‘jhuta’ (leftover) also applies in this case. If it’s ‘jhuta’ is impure or ‘Mashkuk’ (doubtful) then all the water must be removed and if its ‘jhuta’ (leftover) is Makruh then in the case of rats etc. 20 buckets should be removed, in the case of free range poultry 40 buckets must be removed and it is better for 20 buckets of water to be removed in the case of those animals whose ‘jhuta’ is regarded as Paak (pure). For example, if a goat falls into a well and then comes out alive, 20 buckets of water should be removed.

Law: If an animal whose ‘jhuta’ is pure or Makruh fell into the well and one used this water to perform Wudu without removing any water, the Wudu will still be valid.

Law: If a shoe or ball fell into a well and one is sure that it was impure, all the water must be removed, otherwise 20 buckets must be removed. The mere assumption of it being impure is not reliable.

Law: It an aquatic creature, i.e. an animal that is born in water, dies in a well or after dying falls into the well, it will not make the well impure even if it swells up and disintegrates in the water. However, it is Haraam to drink that water if it disintegrated and its parts mixed in the water.

Law: The ruling regarding a frog that lives in water and one which lives on land is the same. In other words, even after it dies and even decays, it will not cause the water to become impure except for the huge frogs which are found in the jungles and have blood which has the ability to flow in them. The ruling in their regards is that which is applicable to rats. The frogs that live in water have webbed feet whilst the ones that live only on land don’t.

Law: If a creature which is not born in water but lives in water, such as a duck or goose dies in the water, the water will become impure.

Law: If a child or a kaafir put their hand into the water and it is known that their hands had impurity on it then it is obvious that the water will be regarded as being impure, otherwise it will not be regarded as being impure but it is better to use some other water for Wudu.

Law: If those creatures which do not have flowing blood in them, such as flies and mosquitoes etc. die in it, it will not make the water impure. Beneficial Note: If a fly falls into curry etc. dip it in and then throw it away and make use of the curry.[3]

Law: If the bones of a carrion (dead animal) which has some flesh or sliminess on it falls into the water, the water will be regarded as being impure and all the water should thus be removed. If it did not have any flesh or sliminess on it, the water will be pure. However, the water will become totally impure if contaminated by the bone of a pig (swine).

Law: If water in a well has become impure and the amount of water which needed to be removed was correctly removed, then its rope and bucket with which the water was removed will also be regarded as purified and there will be no need to even re-wash these.

Law: When it is said that all the water must be removed, it means that it should be removed to an extent that if the bucket is put into the well after the removal of the water then even half a bucket of water should not be available. There is neither any need to remove the sand from inside the well and nor is there any need to wash the inner walls of the well, as it will be regarded as being purified.

Law: The command that has been decreed regarding removing such and such an amount of water actually means that the impure thing which has fallen into the water should first be removed. Thereafter, the necessary amount of water should be removed. If the impure thing is still in the water, no matter how much water one takes out it will be in vain.

Law: However, if that thing (which has fallen) in, has decayed and turned into sand or if it was something that was not by itself impure but became impure because of being soiled by an impurity, such as in the case of clothing etc. then if removing such things is not possible then simply removing the stipulated amount of water will allow it to be purified.

Law: There is no stipulation in regards to the size of the bucket to be used in the well. The bucket that is fixed for that particular well is the bucket that will be the correct one. If there is no fixed bucket that is used at a particular well then it should be of a size that can hold at least 1 ‘Sa’ of water.

Law: It is not necessary for the bucket to be filled to the brim. If some water spilled out or dripped out but the amount of water in the bucket exceeds half a bucket, it will be counted as 1 bucket.

Law: If there is a fixed bucket for a well but another bucket was used and it is either bigger or smaller than the fixed bucket for that well or if there is no fixed bucket for that particular well and the bucket that was used can hold more or less 1 ‘Sa’ of water then in such cases, one should calculate and drain out water based on the equivalent size of the fixed bucket or equal to 1 ‘Sa’ per bucket.

Law: If a dead animal was taken out of a well and if the time of death is known then the water will be regarded as being impure from the time of death of the animal. If anyone performed Wudu or Ghusl with this water after that time neither is the Wudu nor their Ghusl valid and he will have to repeat all those Namaaz which he read with either that Wudu or Ghusl, because none of those Namaaz will be regarded as being completed. Similarly, if that water was used to wash any clothing or it came into contact with his body or clothing through some other way then it is necessary for him to purify those clothes and his body. It is Fard upon him to repeat all the Namaaz which he performed whilst wearing those clothes. If the time of death is not known then it will be regarded as being impure from the moment it was discovered even though it swelled and disintegrated. The water will not be regarded as being impure before this. There is no harm to the Wudu, Ghusl or Namaaz which he performed before it was seen. There is also no harm in regards to clothes that were washed with this water before it was seen. On the basis of ease, our practice is accordingly.

Law: If there is such a well that its water does not completely drain out, no matter how much water you drain and some impurity has fallen in or an animal has fallen in, necessitating all its water to be drained out then in such a situation, the ruling is that one should enquire as to how much water it contains and that entire amount of water should be removed. The amount of water that seeps in will not be accounted for whilst the other water is being removed. The manner of finding out how much water the well contains at that time should be done by enquiring in this regard from two pious Muslims who have the knowledge of telling how much of water it holds by looking at the breadth and depth of the water. The amount of buckets that should be drained out will thus be based on the amount of buckets they agree upon. The second method is to correctly measure the depth by means of a long pole or rope and a few people should quickly get together and for example, remove 100 buckets of water and then measure the depth again. The water should now be drained out on the basis of the amount of water that has become less. The well will then be regarded as being purified. An example to better understand this situation is as follows: When measuring it for the first time, one noticed that the water is about 10 arm lengths in depth then after draining the water one noticed that the remaining depth is now 9 arm lengths. This would mean that in removing 100 buckets, the water level dropped by an arm’s length, so the 10 arm lengths of water equals 1000 buckets[4].

Law: In the case of a well wherein the water can be completely drained and it will finally come to an end but there is a danger of the well collapsing or being badly damaged then in this case as well, one should remove the amount of water that the well is currently holding. There is no need to drain out every bit that is coming in.

Law: One has the choice of either draining out all the water that needs to be drained out at once or a little at a time. It will be regarded as being purified in both cases.

Law: If a fresh egg of a hen which also has some wetness on it, falls into the water, it will not make the water impure. Similarly if a baby goat fell into the water immediately after birth and did not die, the water will not be regarded as being impure.

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[1] A ‘Damawi’ animal refers to an animal in which blood flows.

[2] In other words, this is in the case where only the blood falls into the water and not in the case where the martyr falls in with blood on his body.

[3] In other words there is no harm is such food. The reason for this is because the fly carries illness on one wing whilst the Shifa for it is on the other wing and it always falls in on the wing which carries illness, so by dipping it in the wing which has Shifa will remove any illness, leaving the food safe to consume.

[4] This is only an example that is being given for understanding purposes. It does not mean that in every such well, one has to drain out 1000 buckets of water. This has been presented to help estimate how much water one will remove in the said situation.

 

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