Question
I bought some compost that has Guano in it sourced from sea bird droppings from the Namibian sea tables. I read Guano can contain eggshells, feathers, and even bones and carcasses. But the sea tables only produce 5cm a year, and it’s sieved.
Can I assume it’s pure? If it was contaminated, how long until it’s changed? Months? If I used it in containers within drainage holes and I water them, and the patio is all wet from the hose and the containers, and I walk in it, are my shoes impure?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Guano is considered a light physical impurity as it is the droppings of a bird that is impermissible to eat. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
It is permissible to use such impurity as a fertilizer.
If water drains through a flower pot containing guano, wherever the water reaches of the patio is now impure. However, once the water is dried up by the sun and all traces of it are no longer visible, it is considered pure. Prayer is even permissible on it. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
Your shoes do not become impure unless you walk on the water that drained from the pot. If that occurs, merely rubbing the shoes on a pure section of the ground is sufficient to purify them. [Ibid.]
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani