1. Water is either unmixed or mixed. Mixed wared (Ma ul-Mudhaf) means the water, which is obtained from something, like melon juice or rose water, or a water in which something else is mixed; for example, so much dust is mixed in it that it may on longer be called water.
Any water other than mixed water is called unmixed water (Ma’-ul-mutlaq), and they are of five types:
· Kurr Water. · Under-Kurr Water (QALIL). · Running Water (JARI). · Rain Water. · Water of a Well.
I. Kurr Water:
1. Water, which fills a container whose volume is 36 cubic spans, is equal to a kurr and this is nearly equal to 384 liters.
2. If an essential impurity (Najàsah) like urine and blood, or anything which has become impure (Najis), like an impure cloth, falls in kurr water, it becomes Najis provided the water acquires the smell, colour, or taste of that Najasah; ather wise it does not become Najis.
3. If the smell, colour, or taste of kurr water changes owing to something else, which is not Najis, it does not become Najis.
4. If a Najis object is washed under a tap which is connected with kurr, the water which flows from that object will be Tahir provided it remains connected with kurr, and does not contain essential Najàsah or the smell, colour, or taste of the Najàsah.
II. Under-kurr Water:
1. Under-kurr water means water which does not spring forth from the earth, and its quantity is less than a kurr.
2. If under-kurr water is poured on something which is Najis, or if a Najis thing contacts it, it becomes Najis.
3. Under - Kurr water which is poured over a Najis. Object to remove the essential Najàsah will be Najis, as it flows after the contact. Similarly, the under-Kurr water which is poured over a Najis thing to make it pure after the essential Najàsah has been removed, will be Najis, as an obligatory precaution.
4. The under-Kurr water with which the outlets of urine and stool are washed, does not make anything Najis, subject to the following five conditions:
· It does not have the smell, color or taste of Najàsah. · Extra Najàsah has not reached it from outside. · Any other Najàsah like blood, has not come out with urine or stool. · Particles of stool do not appear in the water. · Najàsah has not spread around the outlet more than usual.
III. Running Water:
1. Running water is that water which springs forth from the earth and than flows, like the water of a spring or a subterranean canal (Qanat). The flowing or running water, even if it is less than Kurr, does not become Najis upon contact with any Najàsah, unless its smell, colour, or taste changes due to that Najàsah.
2. If water from the pipes fitted in bathrooms and buildings, pouring through taps and showers, is connected to a tank holding water equal to a Kurr, it will be treated as Kurr water.
IV. Rain Water:
1. A Najis thing becomes Tahir if rain water falls on it once, provided that it does not contain an essential Najàsah, except in the cases of clothes and body which have become Najis because of urine, for they become Tahir after being washed twice, as per precaution. And in objects like carpets and dress, it is not necessary to wring or squeeze. By rain is meant a sufficient downpour, and not scanty shower or droplets.
2. The Najis earth or ground on which rain falls becomes Tahir, and if it begins flowing on the ground, and while it is still raining it reaches a Najis place under the roof, it makes that place Tahir as well.
3. If it rains on a pure carpet which is spread over a Najis ground, and the water seeps onto the Najis ground while rain continues, the carpet does not become Najis. In fact, the ground also will become Tahir.
V. Well Water:
1. The Wather of a well which springs forth frome the earth, (although its quantity may be less than a Kurr) does not become Najis owing to something Najis falling in it, unless its colour, smell, or taste changes.
2. If a Najàsah falls into well water and changes its smell, colour, or taste, it well become Tahir as soon as the change in its smell etc. vanishes. But as an obligatory precaution, it will become Tahir only when it is mixed with fresh water springing from the earth.
VI. Rules Regarding Waters:
1. Mixed water, whose meaning has been explained in Article 15, does not make any Najis thing Tahir, and its use is not allowed for Ghusl or Ghosl.
2. Mixed water, however large its quantity may be, becomes Najis when even a small particle of Najàsah falls in it.
3. When Najis mixed water is mixed with Kurr or running water, in a manner that it can no longer be called mixed water, it becomes Tahir.
4. If a Najis objeet is made Tahir in Kurr or running water, the water which drops from the object after it has become Tahir, is Tahir.
5. Water, which has been originally Tahir, and it is not known whether it has become Najis, will be deemed Tahir; and water, which has been originally Najis, and it is not known whether it has become Tahir, is Najis.
VII. Rules of Lavatory:
1. It is obligatory to conceal one’s private parts in the toilet and at all times from adult persons even if they are one’s close relatives (Maharim) like mother, sister etc. Similarly, it is obligatory to conceal one’s private parts from insane persons and children who can discern between good and evil. However, husband and wife are exempted from this obligation.
2. While using the toilet for urination or defecation, the front or the back part of one’s body should not as an obligatory precaution, face the holy Ka`bah.
3. The urinary organ cannot be made Tahir without water. And washing it once will suffice.
4. The anus can be made Tahir with stone, clod or cloth provided they are dry and Tahir. if there is slight moisture on it, which does not, wet the site there is no objection.
Source:
A Brief of Islamic Law
The Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani
[Vol. 1, p. 3-5].
