the other report. There is a well-known disagreement concerning the milk and rennet of an animal that died without proper slaughter: are they pure or impure? Those who regard them as pure argue that the Companions ate the cheese of the Magians, even though the animals they slaughtered were considered carrion. Their opponents contested their position, as discussed elsewhere.

As for woollen cloth, some people have reported that they grease it with pig fat, while others have said that this is not done to all of it. If there is doubt about whether all such cloth is impure, no particular piece is to be judged impure, since the impurity may not have touched it. The item itself is pure, and whenever its impurity is doubtful, the presumption is purity. Even if we were certain that some items of a particular kind were impure while others were not, we would not judge every item of that kind impure, nor would we judge impure an item whose contamination remained doubtful.

However, if someone is certain that the cloth is impure, or wishes to dispel doubt, washing it purifies it. It is merely wool that has come into contact with impure grease. Urine and blood affect cotton and linen garments more severely and cling to them more tenaciously. Yet the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to a woman whose garment had been stained with menstrual blood:

“Scrape it off, then rub it with your fingertips, then wash it with water.”

And in another narration:

“Its remaining trace will not harm you.”

And Allah knows best.