—the right. Instead, he allowed them to spit inside the mosque beneath the foot and to the left, and he ordered that it be buried, saying, “then let him bury it.” Whoever disobeys and fails to bury it incurs sin; otherwise, he is not at fault.

As for al-Nawawī’s annotation in support of his position—his words: “Because the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Spitting in the mosque is a sin,’ how, then, could he permit it?”—I reply: the matter is settled, for he, peace and blessings be upon him, did grant that permission. The difficulty stems only from al-Nawawī’s understanding of the ḥadith he cited, and the one that follows it, in a manner contrary to the scholars’ understanding, as he himself concedes. We shall quote his statement, God willing, so that the truth may become clear to you.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Spitting—in another wording: tafl (light spitting); in yet another: nukhāʿah (phlegm)—in the mosque is a sin, and its expiation is to bury it.”

This ḥadith was narrated by Qatādah from Anas as a report traced back to the Prophet. It was recorded by al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Tirmidhī—who declared it sound—al-Dārimī, al-Bayhaqī, al-Ṭayālisī, and Aḥmad through a variety of chains. The second wording is that of Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and one of Aḥmad’s transmissions, while the third wording is theirs as well, except for Muslim. In al-Nasāʾī’s version the term appears as al-biṣāq, with a ṣād instead of a zāy.

The word tafl—spelled with a tāʾ—denotes blowing while emitting a minimal amount of saliva; it is moister than plain blowing (nafh).