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Dog Saliva, Dog Hair, and How to Purify Impurities

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Seekersguidance.org

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: If a dog licks one, is it necessary to wash the area licked seven times? Does one have to use soap or any other cleaning agent?  Does a dog brushing against me make my clothes filthy?

Answer: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits.

In the Hanafi school, the saliva of a dog is filthy, not its skin or hair. As such, mere ‘brushing’ of a dog against one’s clothes does not render them filthy.

If a dog’s saliva comes onto one’s clothes, one must simply wash the affected area itself, until there is no readily-removable trace of the saliva left (such as by pouring water over the affected area three times, or placing it under a running tap). Doing so seven times or with dust (or other cleaning agent) isn’t a requirement but, rather, a recommendation.

[ref: al-Halabi, Multaqa al-Abhur; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; Ibn al-Humam/Marghinani, Fath al-Qadir `ala al-Hidaya]

And Allah alone gives success.

wassalam, Faraz Rabbani

This answer was collected from Seekersguidance.org. It’s an online learning platform overseen by Sheikh Faraz Rabbani. All courses are free. They also have in-person classes in Canada.

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