Is a Cat’s Saliva Impure?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

If a cat eats food containing chicken after swallowing, licks its nose, and continues to lick its nose throughout the day, is the saliva on the nose pure by the subsequent licks or remains impure?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The saliva of a cat is disliked (makruh tanzihan).

If a cat drinks from a container, or licks one’s hand before praying, then it would be mildly disliked (makruh tanzihan) to drink from that same container or to pray without washing off the traces of saliva from one’s hand. [Tahtawi, Hashiya al-Tahtawi ’ala Maraqi al-Falah]

I pray this helps with your question.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.