it is ritually impure, even though praying on the ground is a Sunnah established through mass transmission. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification. Wherever a man of my community finds himself when prayer becomes due, his place of prayer and means of purification are at hand.”

Avoiding prayer on the ground for this reason is not prescribed.

Indeed, it is established in Sahīh al-Bukhārī that Ibn ʿUmar said:

“Dogs used to come and go in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, yet they would not sprinkle water on any of those places.”

Or words to that effect. In Sunan Abī Dāwūd, the wording is:

“They would urinate and come and go, yet they would not sprinkle water on any of those places.”

This hadith has been cited as evidence by those who hold that ground affected by ritual impurity becomes pure through exposure to the sun, wind, and the like. This is one of the two positions within the schools of al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, among others, and it is the position of Abū Hanīfah. They also cite as evidence that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed that a ritually impure sandal be rubbed against the ground and declared earth a means of purifying it. If earth serves to remove impurity from something else, then all the more should it serve to remove impurity from itself.

This position may be held even by those who do not hold that an impure substance becomes pure through transformation. One of the two positions within the schools of al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad is that the ground becomes pure by these means, although those holding this position maintain that an impure substance does not become pure through transformation.

As for those who hold that an impure substance becomes pure through transformation—as stated in one of the two reports from Ahmad and one of the two positions within Mālik’s school, and which is the position of