and cited as evidence the hadith he narrated from ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn ‘Abd Allāh, from Ibn ‘Abbās:

“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 whatever surrounds it, and eat the clarified butter.’”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not say, “If it is liquid, do not go near it.” Rather, this wording is invalid. Al-Bukhārī, may Allah be pleased with him, mentioned this to show that anyone who attributed to al-Zuhrī the narration of this distinction in the hadith had misreported him. Al-Zuhrī gave a general ruling covering both solid and melted clarified butter, citing this very hadith as evidence. This is especially significant since clarified butter in the Hijāz is more often melted than solid. Indeed, it has been said that it is never solid in the Hijāz at all.

The Prophet’s unrestricted answer, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, without any distinction, therefore entails general applicability, since the question is understood as being repeated in the answer. It is as though he said: “If a mouse falls into clarified butter, discard it and whatever surrounds it, and eat your clarified butter.” Not asking for further details about a reported situation, despite the possibility of differing circumstances, has the force of a statement expressed in general terms. This applies if clarified butter in the Hijāz can be either solid or melted. If, however, solid clarified butter is rare or nonexistent there, then the hadith explicitly establishes that when a mouse falls into melted clarified butter, it and whatever surrounds it are to be discarded, and the clarified butter may be eaten.

This was the ruling al-Zuhrī gave, for his position is that water, whether in a small or large quantity, does not become impure unless it undergoes a change. Near the beginning of his Sahīh, al-Bukhārī mentioned that water and other liquids are treated alike. We have discussed this issue, its supporting evidence, and the scholars’ statements concerning it at length