88 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade using a bone or dung for istinjāʾ and declared: ‘Neither of them brings purification.’” Recorded by ad-Dāraquṭnī, who graded it sound.⦗1⦘
— Grade of the ḥadith —
The report is authentic. Al-Bukhārī related something very similar in his Ṣaḥīḥ. Al-Majd stated in al-Muntaqā: “Ad-Dāraquṭnī transmitted it, and after citing it he said: ‘Its chain is sound.’” Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd affirmed this in al-Ilmām, and Ibn Ḥajar judged its isnād “good” (ḥasan).
The same prohibition, “He forbade the use of … for istinjāʾ,” is also narrated:
• from az-Zubayr, reported by al-Ṭabarānī with a weak chain;
• from Jābir, reported by Muslim;
• from Sahl ibn Ḥunayf, reported by Aḥmad with a very weak chain;
• from Salmān, reported by Muslim; and
• from Ibn Masʿūd, reported by al-Bukhārī.
— Vocabulary —
• “To perform istinjāʾ”: istinjāʾ is the removal of najw, i.e. feces; the term ghāʾiṭ (dung) was explained earlier.
• “Bone”: the familiar bone, the hollow stalk upon which flesh grows.
• “Dung” (rawth): plural of rawthah; the droppings of hoofed animals, most often donkeys.
• “They do not purify”: the rationale for forbidding their use in istinjāʾ.
— Legal conclusions —
- It is prohibited to cleanse oneself with a bone, for it does not effect purification.
- The underlying wisdom is given in al-Bukhārī, where Abū Hurayrah asked: “Messenger of Allah, why is it that …”