Those who hold that a small quantity of liquid becomes impure when an impurity falls into it also hold that it is like water: it can be purified by adding a sufficiently large quantity to it, just as water can. Thus, if a large quantity of oil is poured into it, the whole becomes pure.

The stronger view is that liquids, like water, do not become impure merely through such contact. Indeed, there is even greater reason not to regard them as impure than there is with water. This is because Allah has made wholesome things lawful for us and forbidden foul things. Foods and drinks—including fats, milk, oil, vinegars, and liquid foods—are among the wholesome things Allah has made lawful for us. If none of the characteristics of the foul substance appears in them—neither its taste, colour, nor smell—and none of its constituent parts remains apparent, they retain their wholesome character. They may not, therefore, be classified as forbidden, foul things when their characteristics remain those of wholesome things, not foul ones. The distinction between wholesome and foul things rests on the characteristics that distinguish them. It is because of those characteristics that one is forbidden and the other permitted.

If a drop of blood or wine falls into such a storage jar and undergoes transformation, while the milk retains its characteristics and the oil retains its characteristics, there is no basis for declaring it forbidden. That drop has been absorbed and transformed, and it no longer retains any legally relevant identity to which the rulings concerning blood or wine could apply.

There is greater reason to regard these liquids as pure than water because the Lawgiver has permitted water to be poured away and used up in circumstances where He has not permitted other liquids to be used up. One example is cleansing oneself after relieving oneself: water is used for this, but not these other liquids. The same applies to removing all other impurities with water.