The Default Ruling: A Woman’s Garment Is Pure

Question: It is customary for women to wear long clothes that sometimes come into contact with impurities or dirt. May they perform the prayer in such garments?

Answer: It is known that a woman needs extra length in the rear portion of her garment so that it trails on the ground for the sake of modesty. This is praiseworthy and required, serving as a means of covering and safeguarding her. Its sweeping of the ground is of no harm, and she may pray in it unless she knows for certain that some impurity has reached it; in that case she must remove the impurity and then pray.

If she is unaware of any impurity having touched the garment, the default assumption is that it is pure. Simply passing over the ground does not harm it, nor is it deemed impure on the basis of mere doubt. And Allah knows best.

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The Hunting Dog: The Trace of Its Bite on Game Is Overlooked

Question: What is the ruling on the spot where a hunting dog grips its prey with its mouth? Must that part be washed seven times, one of them with soil, or does this ruling apply only to the vessels from which a dog eats or drinks?

Answer: The command to wash seven times, one of them with soil, applies when a dog drinks from or eats out of a vessel. As for a hunting dog, the trace left by its bite on the game is excused, because Allah the Exalted says, “So eat of what they catch for you and mention the name of Allah over it” (al-Māʾidah 5:4), and He did not order it to be washed. Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ said, “When you release your dog …”