What is the Ruling if a Dog Passes By But Not Remembering if Touched by its Mouth Or Brushed by it?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I have something bothering me. December last year, I was working on the roadside selling clothes, and I remember that I saw a dog passing by me. But I do not remember if that dog’s mouth or body touched me, as it is now four months, but what I know is that I did not change my clothes that day. When I went to the masjid, I put on a jubbah/thawb that day, which I found in the masjid and accomplished namaz, and then I totally forgot about it, but yesterday again, I put on the same thawb, which is never washed by anyone and now fear that impurity has gotten in the masjid. I fear that the people’s namaz and my namaz won’t be accepted, and I will be responsible for them, too. Please answer me according to Hanafi fiqh.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
As you mentioned, you are certain of the dog passing by you. However, you doubt whether the dog’s mouth or body touched you. In that case, certainty is not lifted by doubts. Also, mere assumptions have no legal consequence. Mere possibilities and even likelihoods do not change this. The Jubba of the masjid was clean and will remain clean, and no impurity was transferred to it.
Related Important Fiqh Principles
1. Certainty is not lifted by doubt;
2. Certainty is only lifted by another certainty;
3. The default assumption about a matter is akin to certainty;
4. The default assumption about all matters is validity and soundness;
5. Mere doubts and suppositions are of no legal consequence.
[Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa’l Nadha’ir; Majallat al-Ahkam al-‘Adiliyya]
Dog’s Saliva and Brushing of a Dog Against One’s Clothes
In the Hanafi school, a dog’s saliva is filthy, not its skin or hair. As such, the mere ‘brushing’ of a dog against one’s clothes does not render them filthy.
[IbnʿAbidin , Radd al-Muhtar]
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught 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 the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
