even though the Companions differed on this issue; or with a weak opinion which, even if sound, could not stand against this proof—particularly on the principles of Ahmad’s school.

This, then, is a foundational principle concerning physical and spiritual impurities.

[Clarifying the Amount of Impurity That May Be Excused]

Another foundational principle is that the Kufan jurists are known for their leniency regarding excusable impurity. They excuse up to the amount of a Baghlī dirham in the case of heavy impurity, and up to one-quarter of the affected area in the case of light impurity. Al-Shāfi‘ī stands at the opposite extreme: he excuses no impurity apart from the trace remaining after cleansing oneself following excretion, fly droppings, and the like. Nor does he excuse blood or anything else, except flea blood and similar matter, even though he deems the dung and urine of livestock, among other things, impure. Thus, of the four imams, his position on impurities is the strictest in terms of both type and amount.

Mālik takes a middle course regarding both what constitutes impurity and how much of it is excused. He does not consider the dung and urine of animals whose flesh may be eaten to be impure, and he excuses small quantities of blood and other impurities.

Ahmad likewise takes a middle course concerning impurities. He does not regard such dung and urine as impure, and he excuses small quantities of impurities that are difficult to avoid. Indeed, according to one of the two reports from him, he excuses small quantities of mule and donkey dung, bat urine, and other such things that are difficult to avoid. According to one of the two reports from him, he even excuses small quantities of dung and urine from any animal whose body is ritually pure, as al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā states in his commentary on the school’s doctrine. Nevertheless, he requires impurity to be avoided during prayer as a general rule, with no disagreement reported from him; nor did