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Draft:Najisness of Infidels

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The Najisness of Infidels is a specific ruling in Shi'a jurisprudence asserting that the body of a Kafir (infidel)—including their residual food and water—is Najis (ritually impure). Consequently, their entry into al-Masjid al-Haram and other mosques frequented by Muslims is deemed impermissible. To substantiate this ruling, jurists have adduced Qur'an 9:28, various traditions from the Imams (a), and consensus.

While the prevailing opinion among Shi'a jurists supports the impurity of infidels, a minority maintains that the Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book) are ritually pure (tahir), whereas other categories of infidels remain najis. To support this perspective, proponents cite Qur'an 5:5 and specific traditions that they consider more robust in terms of chain of transmission (sanad) and probative value (dalala) than those alleging the impurity of infidels.

A third group contends that the evidence presented for the impurity of infidels is insufficient to establish the essential impurity (najasa dhati) of any type of kafir. Adhering to the Rule of the Principle of Purity, these scholars advocate for the essential purity of all human beings.

Introduction and Status

According to the dominant view among Shi'a jurists,[1] a kafir is classified as najis al-'ayn (essentially impure); this denotes an inherent impurity rather than one acquired through contact with an external pollutant.[2]

Based on this jurisprudential ruling, Muslims are required to observe the following protocols when interacting with infidels:

  • The entire body of an infidel, including non-living parts such as nails, hair, and teeth, as well as saliva and other bodily fluids, is considered najis.[3]
  • Food left over by an infidel is najis, and Muslims must abstain from consuming it.[4] Likewise, water remaining in a container from which an infidel has drunk is rendered najis; a Muslim is prohibited from drinking it or using it for Wudu.[5]
  • Due to their status as najis, infidels are forbidden from entering al-Masjid al-Haram and other Muslim mosques.[6]
  • An infidel becomes ritually pure immediately upon converting to Islam.[7]

Al-Sayyid al-Murtada identified the doctrine regarding the impurity of an infidel's leftovers as a distinctive feature of Shi'a jurisprudence.[8] Some jurists have gone so far as to characterize this position as a "Shi'a slogan."[9]

Jurisprudential Evidences for the Najisness of Infidels

Jurists rely on the following textual evidences to substantiate the ruling of the impurity of infidels:

Verse 28 of Sura al-Tawba

Main article: Verse of Najisness of Polytheists

Some scholars cite Qur'an 9:28—which describes polytheists as "najis" (unclean) and prohibits their approach to al-Masjid al-Haram—as proof of their impurity.[10] Aqa Rida Hamadani reports that certain scholars interpret the term "Mushrik" (polytheist) in this verse broadly, encompassing all categories of kafir, including idolaters, Jews, Christians, Magians, and atheists.[11]

However, other jurists contest the evidentiary value of Qur'an 9:28 regarding ritual impurity:

Narrated Hadiths Regarding the Najisness of Infidels

According to al-Shaykh al-Ansari, the traditions recorded in Shi'a sources regarding the impurity of infidels are mustafid (frequently narrated).[14][15] He regards these traditions, second only to consensus, as the most significant evidence establishing the impurity of infidels.[16]

Consensus of Shi'a Jurists on the Najisness of Infidels

Al-Shaykh al-Ansari posits the consensus of jurists as the primary evidence for this ruling.[17] However, other scholars challenge the completeness of this consensus. Firstly, prominent figures such as Ibn Junayd and Fayd Kashani have expressed skepticism regarding the impurity of the Ahl al-Kitab.[18] Secondly, even if a consensus exists, it is plausible that the fatwas were derived from the aforementioned Qur'anic verses and traditions; in such cases, the consensus loses its status as an independent proof.[19]

Doubts Regarding the Ruling of Najisness

A group of jurists has questioned the impurity of the Ahl al-Kitab, arguing instead for their essential ritual purity. They cite two primary sources to substantiate this view:

  1. Qur'anic Verse: Jurists point to Qur'an 5:5, which states: "The food of the People of the Book is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them." They argue that this permissibility implies purity, as that which is impure cannot be lawful (halal).[20] Conversely, opponents argue that "food" in this verse refers exclusively to dry goods like grains, thereby negating any implication of ritual purity regarding the Ahl al-Kitab themselves.[21]
  2. Traditions: There are traditions that explicitly emphasize the ritual purity of the Ahl al-Kitab.[22] Some jurists consider these traditions reliable in terms of their chain of transmission and preferable in their indication.[23] However, scholars such as Muhaqqiq Sabzavari and Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, despite acknowledging the validity of these traditions' chains and implications,[24] have hesitated to issue a fatwa contravening the famous opinion, thus refraining from formally declaring the purity of the Ahl al-Kitab.[25]

Furthermore, some jurists have extended this skepticism beyond the Ahl al-Kitab to question the impurity of other infidels as well.[26] Notably, Naser Makarem Shirazi regards the evidence for the impurity of all categories of infidels as insufficient. Relying on the Rule of the Principle of Purity, he leans toward the view that all humans are essentially pure.[27]

Bibliography

Notable works addressing the ritual impurity of infidels include:

  • Natāʾij al-afkār ilā najāsat al-kuffār: This book compiles the advanced jurisprudence (kharij al-fiqh) lectures of Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpayigani on the ruling of the impurity of infidels, transcribed by Ali Karimi Jahromi.[28]
  • Ṭahārat-i Ahl-i Kitāb va Mushrikān, by Mohammad Hassan Zamani: This work examines the argumentative positions of both Shi'a and Sunni jurists regarding the jurisprudential ruling on the impurity of infidels. It is published by Bustan-i Kitab Publications.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1422 AH, vol. 7, p. 235.
  2. ↑ For instance, see Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh, vol. 6, p. 41; Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1422 AH, vol. 7, p. 235.
  3. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, 1430 AH, vol. 2, p. 108.
  4. ↑ al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, Masāʾil al-Nāṣiriyyāt, 1417 AH, p. 84; al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, 1400 AH, pp. 4-5.
  5. ↑ al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, Masāʾil al-Nāṣiriyyāt, 1417 AH, p. 84; al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, 1400 AH, pp. 4-5.
  6. ↑ For instance, see al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Khilāf, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 518; al-Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, al-Mukhtaṣar al-nāfiʿ, 1410 AH, p. 111; al-Khoei, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, Muʾassisat al-Khūʾī al-Islāmiyya, vol. 3, p. 258.
  7. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, 1430 AH, vol. 2, p. 465.
  8. ↑ al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, al-Intiṣār, p. 80.
  9. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh, vol. 6, p. 42.
  10. ↑ For instance, see Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh, vol. 6, p. 42.
  11. ↑ Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1422 AH, vol. 7, p. 235.
  12. ↑ al-Khoei, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, vol. 3, pp. 39-40; Ḥāʾirī Yazdī, Sharḥ al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, 1425 AH, vol. 1, p. 449.
  13. ↑ al-Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Kitāb al-Ṭahāra, vol. 5, p. 101.
  14. ↑ For instance, see al-Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Kitāb al-Ṭahāra, vol. 5, pp. 101-106; Ḥāʾirī Yazdī, Sharḥ al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, 1425 AH, vol. 1, pp. 450-459.
  15. ↑ al-Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Kitāb al-Ṭahāra, 1415 AH, vol. 5, p. 101.
  16. ↑ al-Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Kitāb al-Ṭahāra, 1415 AH, vol. 5, p. 101.
  17. ↑ al-Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Kitāb al-Ṭahāra, 1415 AH, vol. 5, p. 101.
  18. ↑ Muḥaqqiq Sabzavārī, Kifāyat al-aḥkām, vol. 1, pp. 59-60; Gulpayigānī, Natāʾij al-afkār ilā najāsat al-kuffār, 1372 Sh, p. 60.
  19. ↑ al-Sadr, Buḥūth fī sharḥ al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, 1408 AH, vol. 3, p. 243.
  20. ↑ Jannātī, "Teʾorī-yi ṭahārat-i dhātī-yi muṭlaq-i insān", p. 17.
  21. ↑ For instance, see Fāḍil Miqdād, Kanz al-ʿirfān fī fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1373 Sh, vol. 2, p. 311.
  22. ↑ Muḥaqqiq Sabzavārī, Kifāyat al-aḥkām, vol. 1, p. 60; Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1422 AH, vol. 7, p. 256; al-Khoei, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, vol. 3, p. 44.
  23. ↑ Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1422 AH, vol. 7, p. 256.
  24. ↑ Muḥaqqiq Sabzavārī, Kifāyat al-aḥkām, vol. 1, p. 60; al-Khoei, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, vol. 3, p. 44.
  25. ↑ Muḥaqqiq Sabzavārī, Kifāyat al-aḥkām, vol. 1, p. 60; al-Khoei, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, vol. 3, p. 51.
  26. ↑ For instance, see Makārim Shīrāzī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā maʿa taʿlīqāt, 1428 AH, vol. 1, p. 64.
  27. ↑ For instance, see Makārim Shīrāzī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā maʿa taʿlīqāt, 1428 AH, vol. 1, p. 64.
  28. ↑ Gulpayigānī, Natāʾij al-afkār ilā najāsat al-kuffār, 1373 Sh, pp. 7-8.
  29. ↑ "Ṭahārat-i Ahl-i Kitāb va Mushrikān", Iran Book and Literature House website.

References

  • Ḥāʾirī Yazdī, Murtāḍā, Sharḥ al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, Qom, Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1425 AH.
  • Jannātī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm, Ṭahārat al-Kitābī fī fatwā al-Sayyid al-Ḥakīm, Najaf, Maṭbaʿat al-Qaḍāʾ, 1390 AH.
  • Jannātī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm, "Teʾorī-yi ṭahārat-i dhātī-yi muṭlaq-i insān dar rāstā-yi manābiʿ-i ijtihād", Kayhan Farhangi journal, no. 23, 1368 Sh.
  • al-Khoei, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, Muʾassisat Iḥyāʾ Āthār al-Imām al-Khūʾī, Qom, 1418 AH.
  • al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn, Masāʾil al-Nāṣiriyyāt, Qom, Muʾassisat al-Hudā, 1417 AH.
  • al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn, al-Intiṣār fī infirādāt al-Imāmiyya, Qom, Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, n.d.
  • al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, al-Nihāya fī mujarrad al-fiqh wa l-fatwā, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1400 AH.
  • al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, al-Khilāf, Qom, Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1407 AH.
  • al-Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Murtāḍā, Kitāb al-Ṭahāra, Qom, al-Muʾtamar al-ʿĀlamī bi-Munāsabat al-Dhikrā al-Miʾawiyya al-Thāniyya li-Mīlād al-Shaykh al-Aʿẓam al-Anṣārī, 1415 AH.
  • Fāḍil Miqdād, Miqdād b. 'Abd Allāh, Kanz al-ʿirfān fī fiqh al-Qurʾān, correction by Muḥammad Bāqir Bahbūdī and Muḥammad Bāqir Sharīfzāda, Tehran, Murtadawi, 1373 Sh.
  • al-Sadr, Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir, Buḥūth fī sharḥ al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, Qom, Majmaʿ al-Shahīd Āyatullāh al-Ṣadr al-ʿIlmī, 1408 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, Qom, Sibtayn Publications, 1430 AH.
  • Gulpayigānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Riḍā, Natāʾij al-afkār ilā najāsat al-kuffār, Qom, Dār al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 1372 Sh.
  • al-Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan, al-Mukhtaṣar al-nāfiʿ, Tehran, Department of Islamic Studies at the al-Bi'tha Foundation, 3rd ed., 1410 AH.
  • Muḥaqqiq Sabzavārī, Muḥammad Bāqir, Kifāyat al-aḥkām, Qom, Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, n.d.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā maʿa taʿlīqāt, Qom, Madrasat al-Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1st ed., 1428 AH.
  • "Ṭahārat-i Ahl-i Kitāb va Mushrikān", Iran Book and Literature House website, Accessed: 11 Mordad 1404 Sh.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan, Jawāhir al-kalām, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1362 Sh.
  • Hamadānī, Āqā Riḍā, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, Qom, al-Muʾassisat al-Jaʿfariyya li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1422 AH.
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