and Ishāq; it is also one of the views reported from Ahmad.

Within this view, there are further positions. One holds that rubbing it off when dry and wiping it off when wet suffice for a man’s semen, but not a woman’s, because a small amount is excused. A man’s semen can be removed by rubbing or wiping, unlike a woman’s, which is thin like pre-ejaculatory fluid. This is Ahmad’s explicit position.

Another holds that rubbing it off suffices for either sex, but wiping does not, because rubbing removes it whereas wiping leaves traces.

Still another holds that this concession applies only to rubbing off a man’s semen, not a woman’s, as established by the Sunnah, which we shall mention.

The third view is that it is merely repugnant, like nasal mucus and saliva. This is the view of al-Shāfi‘ī and, according to the best-known report from him, Ahmad. It is the view we have defended, and there are several arguments supporting it.

The first is the report recorded by Muslim and others from ‘Ā’isha, who said:

“I used to rub the semen off the garment of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then he would go and pray in it.”

In a version narrated by al-Dāraqutnī:

“I used to rub it off when it was dry and wash it off when it was wet.”

This explicitly establishes that it is not impure in the same severe way as urine. It remains possible, then, that it is impure like blood or pure like saliva.