and a piece of dung, saying, “It is riks (rejected matter),” were due solely to its being human excrement or the like. Moreover, this was a particular incident: the dung could have come from an animal whose meat is eaten or from one whose meat is not eaten. The statement therefore does not apply generally to both categories, nor can one assert conclusively that it came from an animal whose meat is eaten. Furthermore, the word riks does not signify impurity, for riks means something cast back—that is, rejected—which is also the meaning of rajīʿ (excrement). It is well known that cleansing oneself with excrement is never permissible, either because it is impure or because it is fodder for the animals of our brothers among the jinn.

The eighth argument, which is the eleventh:

If these substances were impure, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have explained this. He did not explain it; therefore, they are not impure. This is because people frequently encounter these substances and come into direct contact with many of them, particularly the people among whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent. Camels and sheep constituted most of their wealth, and they constantly handled them and came into contact with the places where they stayed, both at home and on their journeys. Going barefoot was also common among them. Indeed, ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to enjoin this, saying: “Accustom yourselves to an austere life, embrace rugged living, and walk both barefoot and wearing sandals.”

The animals’ urine often falls into milking vessels, and their exposure to it is no less frequent than dogs’ lapping from their vessels. Thus, if these substances were impure, such that clothes, bodies, and vessels had to be washed clean of them, contact with them had to be avoided, prayer was prohibited while contaminated by them, ground containing any of them had to be purified before praying there—although they frequently prayed in such places on their journeys and in their sheepfolds—and it was forbidden to drink milk into which their droppings had fallen