Najasa — Rawzat

The Two Categories of Najasa

Najasa Mughallaza — Severe Impurity

The most stringent category, requiring the most thorough purification. The primary example accepted across madhabs:

Dog saliva and pig: The Prophet (SAW): “The purification of one of your vessels when a dog has lapped from it is to wash it seven times, the first time with earth [or dust].” (Muslim) — The Shafi’i and Hanbali schools extend this to all parts of dogs; Hanafi and Maliki have different rulings.

Pork: The Quran explicitly declares pig haram and its flesh, blood, and other products are considered najasa mughallaza.

Method of purification: For the Shafi’i/Hanbali schools, dog saliva requires seven washings — the first with earth or a soil-based soap (the earth being the purifying agent). For Hanafi, the substance is najis but can be removed through ordinary washing.

Najasa Mukhaffafa — Light Impurity

Less severe, requiring a single washing to remove. The primary example:

Urine of a male infant who has not yet eaten food other than breast milk: The Prophet permitted purifying this by sprinkling (nashh) water over the area, without rubbing. The Hanbali school extends this ruling; others require a full washing.

The Major Najis Substances

By broad scholarly consensus:

Human blood (in quantities that flow — a few drops do not invalidate prayer by majority opinion)
Human urine and feces
Alcohol (khamr) — the majority Hanafi position: najis; some scholars: not inherently najis but forbidden
Vomit (in significant quantities)
The flesh of animals not slaughtered correctly (mayta — dead without proper dhabiha)
Animal blood that flows
Pork and its derivatives
Dog saliva

By majority (with minority disagreement):

The urine of animals whose meat is not eaten (cats’ urine is debated — Maliki: not najis; others: najis)
Dung of animals whose meat is not eaten

By scholarly debate:

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers — contemporary scholars differ; many hold that industrial alcohol used medically is not najis by analogy
Najasah transmitted through water changes (flowing vs. standing water, quantity)

Methods of Purification

For solid/removable najasa (like dog feces, blood on fabric):

Remove the physical substance
Wash with water until no trace remains (color, smell, taste — though taste is not checked directly)
Squeeze or wring out — the item is pure once no trace remains

For absorbed najasa (fabric, carpet):

Pour water over the affected area three times (majority), squeezing between pourings if possible
The Hanafi position: three separate washings and squeezings that remove all trace

For the ground/floor:

Pour water over the area sufficient to dilute and carry away the najasa — the ground is then pure
Alternatively, sun and wind drying purify the ground (for the Hanafi school)

Special case — leather: Classical scholars debated whether the tanning process (dibagha) purifies animal hides whose origin was najas (died without slaughter). The majority: yes, tanning purifies the hide; Maliki: no.

The Difference Between Najasa and Hadath

A critical distinction in Islamic purity law:

Hadath (ritual state impurity): Lifted by wudu (minor) or ghusl (major). Does not require a physically impure substance — sleeping, passing gas, or sexual intercourse creates hadath regardless of whether anything “impure” touched the body.
Najasa (physical impurity): Requires a physically impure substance to be present on the body, clothing, or prayer space. Lifted by physical removal and washing — not by wudu or ghusl (though ghusl after major hadath removes najasa on the body simultaneously).

Najasa — Physical Ritual Impurity: Types, Rulings, and Purification Methods