unless it undergoes a change, as al-Bukhārī mentioned in his Sahīh. According to the well-known report from Ahmad, however, the threshold of two qullahs applies to water, and likewise to other liquids if they are treated in the same way.

We therefore say: If an impurity falls into a small quantity of liquid, and a large quantity of liquid is then poured into it, the whole becomes pure, provided it has not undergone a change. If a small quantity of water, less than two qullahs, is poured into it, bringing the total to a large quantity exceeding two qullahs, there are two views within Ahmad’s school. The first, which is also al-Shāfiʿī’s position concerning water, is that the whole is pure.

The second view is that it does not become pure unless the quantity added is itself large. Purification by adding a greater quantity requires pouring the pure liquid onto the impure liquid. If, however, the impure liquid is poured into a large quantity of pure liquid, this is like pouring impure water into a large quantity of pure water: this too purifies it, provided it has not undergone a change. If the small quantity that has come into contact with impurity is poured into another small quantity that has not, and the combined quantity is large, exceeding two qullahs, this is like combining two small quantities of water. The two views mentioned above apply here as well.

The position we have stated—that other liquids are like water and have an even stronger claim than water not to be deemed impure—is the one most clearly supported by the evidence of Islamic law. Indeed, even if a small quantity of water were deemed impure, it would not necessarily follow that drinks and foods should be deemed impure. For this reason, Mālik ordered the pouring away of whatever had been lapped from by