may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “had his head shaved, gave half of his hair to Abū Talha, and distributed the other half among the people.”

In matters of ritual purity and impurity, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, shares the same rulings as his community. Indeed, the basic principle is that he is their example in all rulings, except where evidence establishes that a ruling applies exclusively to him. Moreover, the correct view, held by the majority, is that the hair of animals that die without lawful slaughter is ritually pure. Indeed, according to one of the two scholarly views—the apparent position of Mālik’s school and one of the two reported positions of Ahmad—all hair is ritually pure, even pig hair. According to either view, there is nothing wrong with combing one’s hair if one gathers the fallen hair and does not leave it in the mosque. Leaving one’s hair in the mosque, however, is disliked even if it is not ritually impure, for the mosque should be kept free even of a speck that might get into someone’s eye. And Allah knows best.

He was also asked—may Allah have mercy on him—about sacrificial animals:

Is it permissible to slaughter them in the mosque? May the dead be washed and fetuses buried there? Is it permissible to alter a mosque’s endowment without any benefit accruing to it? Is it permissible to cleanse oneself after relieving oneself or to bathe in the mosque? If this is not permissible, what is the punishment for