Istihala
 | This section is a general introduction to the rulings of a fiqhi topic. |
Istiḥāla (Arabic: اِسْتِحالَه, lit. transformation), in jurisprudence, means turning something najis into something pure. Jurists consider it as one of the purifiers. According to this fatwa, if the nature of a najis object changes, it becomes pure. For example, if a dog dies and decays and turns into soil, that soil is pure. Also, the ashes of the wood which has been najis are pure.
Based on jurisprudential views, changing the characteristics of something or dispersing the parts of something is not considered as istihala. Accordingly, turning wheat into flour or bread, as well as turning milk into cheese, is not considered as istihala and does not have its rulings.
Definition of Istihala in Jurisprudence and its Examples
In jurisprudence, istihala means changing the nature of an intrinsically najis object or something that has become najis as a result of contact with a najis object. For example, when wood turns into ashes or smoke, or the corpse of an animal or human turns into dust, it is said that istihala has occurred.[1]
Other examples of Istihala mentioned in the books of jurisprudence are: turning feces into soil, turning urine or najis liquid into steam, turning sperm into an animal, turning najis food into a part of the body of a halal meat animal.[2]
Changing the characteristics of something or dispersing the parts of something is not considered as istihala; for example, turning wheat into flour or bread or turning milk into cheese.[3]
Istihala as a Purifier
According to the fatwa of jurists, istihala is a purifier.[4] Purifiers are things that cause najasa to be removed.[5]
Difference between Istihala and Inqilab
Inqilab, in jurisprudence, means that wine turns into vinegar.[6] There is a difference of opinion among jurists regarding the similarity of istihala and inqilab. Some jurists have considered inqilab as a form of istihala and have also discussed inqilab in the discussion of istihala,[7] but another group have discussed inqilab as a separate topic.[8]
According to Sayyid Abu al-Qasim Khoei (b. 1317/1899 - d. 1413/1992), inqilab is a type of istihala, because in inqilab, in the view of common people, the nature of wine changes.[9]
Rulings of Istihala
Some of the rulings of istihala, based on the books of practical rulings, are as follows:
- If a intrinsically najis object or something that has become najis, changes in such a way that it turns into a pure object, it is considered as pure.
- A piece of najis wood that is burned and turned to ashes is pure.
- If a dog falls into a salt marsh and turns into salt, it will be pure.
- If najis wheat is floured or they baked with it, it will not be pure.
- A clay jar and the like made of najis clay are najis.
- A najis object that is not known whether it has undergone istihala or not is najis.[10]
Notes
- ↑ Mishkinī, Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh, vol. 1, p. 132.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 132-133.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 132-133.
- ↑ Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 132-133; Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 132.
- ↑ Mishkinī, Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh, p. 528.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 133.
- ↑ Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 137.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 133.
- ↑ Khoeī, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, vol. 14, p. 159.
- ↑ Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ, vol. 1, p. 120-121.
References
- Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥasan. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ. Tehran: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1381 Sh.
- Khoeī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī. First edition. Qom: Muʾassisa Ihyāʾ Āthar al-Imām al-Khūʾī, 1418 AH.
- Khomeini, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Tehran: Muʾassisah-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeini, 1392 Sh.
- Mishkinī, ʿAlī. Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh. Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1392 Sh.
- Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1409 AH.