Miscellaneous Masa'il

This topic deals with things that together comprise of animal life, plant life, and inorganic bodies. Other miscellaneous masa'il will also be mentioned.

It has already been mentioned previously that in the Islamic Shariah , the basis for the prohibition of a particular thing could be one or all of the following four reasons: (i) impurity, (ii) harm, (iii) istikhbaath , i.e. things that are abhorred and disliked by a normal person possessing a sound mind, e.g. worms, certain insects, etc.(iv) intoxication.

When anything that is najis is mixed with a substance that is not najis , the entire mixture is regarded as najis . If that which is najis is more than the other substance, then the entire substance is regarded as najisul 'ayn . In other words, such a substance can neither be used internally nor externally, e.g. if a person fills a container with urine, thereafter adds a handful of water to it and wishes to use it externally; this will not be permissible. If the other substance is more than the najis substance, then although the entire substance is still najis , it can be used externally. But it should be borne in mind that purity when offering salaat is essential and that caution in using such substances is preferable. When a pure substance is mixed with an impure substance and thereafter this mixture is purified through one of the acceptable forms of Islamic purification, then we would give the ruling that this entire substance is pure once again. If not, it will remain impure. Tabdeel-e-maahiyat is also a means of purification.

If a harmful substance is mixed with a harmless substance thereby causing the entire substance to be harmless, then this substance will no longer be prohibited, e.g. if arsenic is mixed with an antidote, or some other poison has been treated in such a way that its harmful effects are removed.

If a detestable (khabeeth) substance is mixed with something that is not detestable and the resulting substance does not have the quality of istikhbaath , it will be permissible to use such a substance. If not, it will be haraam . For example, a fly falls in a pot of curry. If the fly remains intact, it will be haraam to eat it. But if it becomes completely absorbed and mixed with the curry (to the extent that it cannot be identified), then generally, (depending on the society we live in), this will not be considered to be detestable. This curry will therefore be halaal despite the fact that we have full conviction that parts of the fly are in that curry.