Allah forbade them good things that had previously been lawful to them, and because they turned many away from Allah’s path.

The butcher’s knife, which he uses for slaughtering and skinning, does not need washing. Washing slaughtering knives is an innovation, as is washing swords. The early generations would simply wipe them. Hence, according to one of the two scholarly opinions, polished objects such as swords and mirrors may be wiped rather than washed if impurity gets onto them. This concerns impurities that are not excused. Anything established to be free of impurity requires neither washing nor wiping, while a small amount is excused. Whatever is excused may undoubtedly be carried, and one may walk with it.

Anything that may be eaten may also be touched during prayer or at other times. Yet not everything that may be touched during prayer or at other times may be eaten. Harmful poisons, for instance, may not be eaten, even if one has touched them, although they are pure and may be touched during prayer. This is because Allah Most High has forbidden us foul things and permitted us wholesome things: what is foul is harmful, and what is wholesome is beneficial. Whatever harms the outside of the body on contact causes far greater harm when eaten and mixed into the body. Yet not everything that harms the body when mixed into it is harmful through direct contact or touch.

For this reason, concerning what is excused when carried on one’s person—such as blood from wounds and boils, sheep’s blood adhering to a knife, and the like—it has been said that, if it falls into water or another liquid, it renders it impure. It is excused only in liquids, as noted earlier: Allah forbade only blood that flows out. Indeed, there were