Allāh Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāhid al-Maqdisī, in which he refuted what Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr and others had stated.

As for the word qullah, it was well known among them to mean a large jar, such as a water-storage jar. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used these jars in comparisons, as reported in the two Sahīh collections, when he said of the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary:

“Its leaves were like elephants’ ears, and its fruits were like the jars of Hajar.”

These were jars of a known shape and capacity, for a comparison would not be made with things of widely varying sizes. This also disproves the claim that a mountain peak was intended: mountain peaks may be large or small, some very high and others lower. No water reaches mountain peaks except the water of the Flood. To interpret the Prophet’s words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in this way is akin to mocking them.

It was his practice—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to specify quantities by the vessels used to measure them, as when he said:

“No zakat is due on less than five wasqs.”

A wasq is a camel-load. Likewise, he would perform ablution with a mudd of water and bathe with a sāʿ; these were vessels for measuring water. Measuring water in qullahs is similarly appropriate, since a qullah is a water vessel.

As for the cat, it is authentically reported that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“It is not impure; it is among those, male and female, who constantly go about among you.”