Ruling on praying on clothes that have got cat hairs on them
Question I have a few cats at home and because of that, some of my clothes happen to have their fur on it(whether I realize it or not).A friend told me that her religious teacher told her that if we pray when theres more than 3 cat fur on our clothes, our prayer would not…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
Cats are pure (taahir)
and not impure (najis), because of the report
narrated by Abu Dawood (75), at-Tirmidhi
(92), an-Nasaa’i (68) and Ibn
Maajah (367) from Kabshah bint Ka‘b ibn
Maalik, that Abu Qataadah
came in when she had prepared water for Abu Qataadah
to do wudoo’. A cat came and drank from the water,
and he tilted the vessel for it so that it could drink. Kabshah
said: He saw me looking at him and said: Do you find it strange, O daughter of
my brother? The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “They (cats) are not impure,
they are of those who go around amongst you.”
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood and elsewhere.
At-Tirmidhi
said, commenting on it:
This is a saheeh
hasan hadeeth, and this is
the opinion of most of the scholars of the Companions of the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him), and of the Taabi‘een
and those who came after them, such as ash-Shaafa‘i,
Ahmad and Ishaaq. They did not see anything wrong
with water that a cat has drunk from.
End quote.
As-San‘aani
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: In this explanation there is an indication
that Allah has made them like servants in that they are very close to the
people of the household and spend a lot of time with them. Therefore Allah has
made things easy for His slaves by ordaining that cats are not impure, so as to
avoid hardship. The hadeeth indicates that cats and
water that they have drunk from are pure (taahir)
End quote from Subul
as-Salaam, 1/24
If water from which a cat has drunk is
pure, then it is more apt that its hair should be pure too. Ibn
Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
In the case of all animals, the ruling
on their skin, hair, sweat, tears and saliva is the same as the ruling on water
from which it has drunk, with regard to whether it is pure or impure.
End quote from al-Mughni,
1/46
In fact the correct view is that the
hair of all animals, whether they may be eaten or not, is pure (taahir), as was stated by Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may
Allah have mercy on him).
All hair, feathers and wool are pure (taahir), whether they are from the hide of an animal whose
flesh may be eaten or an animal whose flesh may not be eaten, and whether the
animal is alive or dead. This is the scholarly view that is most correct.
End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 21/38
He also said:
The way hair lives is comparable to the
way plants live, and not the way animals live; it develops, it is nourishes and
grows like plants that have no senses and cannot move by free will. It does not
die when the animal dies, therefore it does not become impure (najis) when the animal dies.
End quote. Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 21/98
It is well known that cats move a great
deal, coming and going, so there can be no doubt that some of their hair is
shed, because of their moving about in the house and rubbing against the
furniture and so on. We know nothing about the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) taking precautions to avoid it or instructing others to do
so, in addition to the fact that he said, “They are not impure.” Thus it is
known from the above that cat hairs are pure (taahir)
and that it does not matter if some of their hairs get onto your clothes,
whether that happens when you are praying or otherwise.
With regard to the teacher saying that
if anyone prays with more than three cat hairs on their clothes, their prayer
will not be accepted, this is an unacceptable statement, because there is no
evidence for it. Rather the evidence is to the contrary, as stated above.
But we should draw your attention to the
fact that keeping cats in the house may lead to transmission of some diseases,
according to what Allah wills, so it is essential to take precautions in that
regard and pay attention to the necessary measures.
And Allah knows best.
For more information please see the
answer to question no. 22373
