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Leather Jacket and Prayer: Clarifications on a Previous Post

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed

In a previous response, you mentioned, “if one does not have certainty that this jacket was washed after being tanned, it is obligatory for one to wash it if one wants to pray in it. Otherwise, one will be praying with filth.” For about five years, I’ve been praying while carrying my tanned leather wallet in my pocket, and I haven’t washed it until now. Do I have to repeat all of these prayers according to the Shafi‘i school?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و على آله و صحبه و سلم

أما بعد

Impure Leather

My previous answer (referenced above) is regarding the case when the owner is certain that the leather was [m: originally] filthy and was later tanned, such as if he knows that:

1.       the leather is from an inedible animal, such as a lion or tiger, or

2.       the leather is from an edible animal, such as a deer or cow, but he is certain that the animal died through a means other than Islamic slaughter.

The owner must wash such leather after tanning in order to purify it; otherwise, praying with it isn’t valid. Whoever prays with [m: such leather], his prayers are invalid and need to be repeated according to the [m: Shafi’i] school, even if they are many. However, it isn’t necessary for one to repeat these prayers immediately except unless one knew [m: the prohibition] and intentionally [m: violated it].

Pure Leather

As for if the owner is certain that [m: the leather] is from an edible animal that was slaughtered Islamically, he is not obliged to wash it. Similar to this is if he:

1.       doesn’t know if it is from an edible or inedible animal, or

2.       [m: knows it is from an edible animal but] doesn’t know if it was slaughtered Islamically.

Such doubtful leather is pure, and its owner isn’t required to wash it. Any prayers offered while wearing or carrying it are valid and don’t need to be repeated.

Amjad Rasheed
Amman, Jordan

(Translated by Moustafa Elqabbany)

السؤال : ذكرتم في جواب لكم سابق ما نصه :” إن لم يتيقن أن هذا الجاكيت الجلد قد غسل بعد الدباغ وجب عليه غسله إن أراد الصلاة فيه وإلا يكون مصلياً بالنجاسة” ، منذ تقريبا خمس سنين صليت و أنا حامل محفظتي المعمولة من جلد مدبوغ في جيبي ولم أغسلها حتى الآن فهل يجب عليَّ قضاءُ جميع هذه الصلوات على المذهب الشافعي ؟

الجواب : جوابي السابق المشار إليه إنما هو بالنسبة للجلد الذي تيقن صاحبُه أنه نجسٌ ثم دبغ ، كأن يعلم أنه جلدُ حيوان غير مأكول كالأسد والنمر أو جلدُ حيوان مأكول كالغزال والبقر لكنه تَيقن موتَه من غير ذبح شرعي ، فهذا يلزم صاحبَه غسلُه بعد دبغه لتطهيره وإلا لم تصح الصلاة به ، ومن صلى به قبل غسله فصلاته باطلة يلزمه إعادتها على المذهب وإن كثرت ، لكن لا يجب قضاؤها على الفور إلا لمن علم ذلك وتعمد .

أما إذا تيقن أنه من حيوانٍ مأكولٍ ذُبِح ذبحاً شرعياً فهو طاهرٌ لا يلزم صاحبه غسله ، ومثله أيضاً ما لو شك في أصل الجلد هل هو من مأكول أو غيره ، وهل ذبح هذا المأكول ذبحاً شرعياً أو لم يذبح كذلك ، فهذا الجلدُ المشكوكُ فيه طاهرٌ لا يلزم صاحبه غسله ، وما صلاه من الصلوات وهو لابسه أو حامله صحيح لا يلزمه إعادته .

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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