Removing Impurity with Used Water (Ma' Musta'mal)

Question

It is written in some books of fiqh that removing real impurity (najasa haqiqiyya) by means of used water (ma' musta'mal) is permissible. How can this be, when according to the position on which fatwa is given (mufta bihi) used water is pure but not purifying (tahir ghayr mutahhir)? And on what evidence has [this] been restricted to real impurity? Can neither of the two kinds of real impurity — visible (mar'iyya) and invisible (ghayr mar'iyya) — nor legal impurity (najasa hukmiyya) be purified with used water?

Answer

Answer (1) [ar]وحكمه أنه ليس بطهور لحدث، بل لخبث على الراجح المعتمد[/ar] “Its (used water’s) ruling is that it is not purifying (tahur) from hadath, but [it is] from khabath (filth), according to the preponderant, relied-upon position” (al-Durr al-Mukhtar). [ar]قوله: ليس بطهور، أي: ليس بمطهّر.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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