oil whose properties have been altered by impurity, for it is undoubtedly impure. The same disagreement concerns whether it may be used as lamp fuel and whether it may be purified by washing. As for selling it, the well-known position is that it may not be sold to either a Muslim or a disbeliever. This is the well-known position within the school of al-Shāfi'ī and others. It is also reported from Ahmad that it may be sold to a disbeliever provided he is informed of its impurity, as has been related from Abū Mūsā al-Ash'arī.

A view permitting its sale has also been derived from Ahmad’s positions. Some scholars, including Abū al-Khattāb and others, derived this from the permissibility of using it as lamp fuel. This reasoning is weak, because Ahmad and other leading scholars distinguished between the two matters. Others derived the permissibility of selling it from the possibility of purifying it: if it can be purified, it is comparable to an impure garment or vessel, whose sale is permissible by agreement.

Likewise, the scholars of al-Shāfi'ī’s school have two views on whether it may be sold if they hold that it can be purified. Some of them held that it may be sold without qualification. And Allah knows best.

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

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As for liquids—such as oil, clarified butter and other fats, as well as vinegar, milk and the like—if an impurity, such as a dead mouse or something similarly impure, falls into them, the scholars hold two opinions on the matter.