As for using other liquids for this purpose, that is not permissible, whether or not they are held to remove the impurity. This is why some scholars have said that water is to be poured away if a dog laps from it, whereas the contents of vessels holding food and drink are not.

Moreover, water is more readily altered by impurity than salt is, and impurity undergoes a greater transformation in substances other than water than it does in water. Thus, other liquids are less susceptible than water to becoming impure, both physically and according to Islamic law. Wherever water does not become impure, there is even greater reason for other liquids not to become impure.

Furthermore, it is established in Sahīh al-Bukhārī and elsewhere that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about a mouse that had fallen into clarified butter. He said:

“Discard it and the butter surrounding it, and eat your butter.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave them a general, unqualified answer: they were to discard the mouse and the butter surrounding it, and eat their butter. He did not ask them whether it was liquid or solid. When a reported case admits more than one possibility, not asking for further details gives the answer the force of a general statement. Moreover, clarified butter in the Hijāz is usually liquid; indeed, it has been said that it is always liquid. The quantity of clarified butter also usually falls short of two qullahs, yet he did not ask whether the quantity was small or large.

If it is objected that the following wording has been transmitted in the hadith:

“If it is solid, discard it and the butter surrounding it, and eat your butter; but if it is liquid, do not go near it.”

This was reported by Abū Dāwūd and others.