Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī then said:

“In the Prophet’s words, ‘and he should bury it,’ there is an implicit restriction: the concession to spit in the mosque applies only when the mosque’s floor covering is gravel or soil, not when it is marble, tile, carpet, or woven mats. The author of al-Mufhim transmitted this view from some scholars, saying, ‘We heard from certain of our teachers that this dispensation is valid only when the mosque contains nothing but earth or sand, as was the case with their mosques in the earliest period. If, however, the mosque has carpets or mats whose weave would be spoiled or defiled by spittle, then it is not permissible, out of reverence for the angels.’

I reply: Muslim has recorded an alternative—rubbing the spittle with one’s sandal in place of burying it—in the hadith of ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhīr: ‘I prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and saw him expectorate, whereupon he rubbed it with his sandal.’ This, too, may have occurred on soil or small pebbles, so that the rubbing effectively buried the spittle in the ground.

Al-Bājī said: ‘A person is not permitted to spit on the ground and scrape it with his foot, for that would soil the place for anyone who wishes to sit there.’

I further say: Abū Dāwūd transmitted—through the narration of Abū Saʿīd (so in the manuscript, though the correct name is Abū Saʿd)—who said: ‘I saw Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ in the mosque of Damascus spit on the burī, then wipe it with his foot. People asked him, “Why did you do that?” He replied, “Because I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it.”’

The burī, al-Harawī explains in al-Gharībayn, is a mat woven from reeds. On that basis the mat is not harmed by such an action—but the hadith itself is not sound.

I say: The weakness of this report lies with this Abū Saʿd, the Ḥimyarī from Ḥimṣ; it was transmitted from him by al-Faraj ibn Faḍālah in Abū Dāwūd. Al-Dhahabī said in al-Mīzān: