previously. As for the critique made by the eminent scholar Aḥmad Shākir in his commentary on al-Rawḍah, when he said:
“This is an error on the part of both the author and the commentator. Menstrual blood is not impure because it is menstrual blood, but because blood in general is impure. Whoever examines the hadiths will find that it was understood that blood is impure, even if no explicit wording to that effect has been transmitted. They knew by their sound innate disposition what was filthy and impure.”
I say: This critique has no substance, for it contains nothing but a bare assertion. Where is the proof that menstrual blood is impure not because it is menstrual blood, but because blood in general is impure? Had there been evidence for this, he himself would have cited it, and it would not—Allah willing—have escaped al-Shawkānī, Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān, and others. Further supporting what I have said is that Ibn Ḥazm, despite the breadth of his learning, found no evidence for the impurity of blood in general except a single hadith—and it indicates only the impurity of menstrual blood, as will be explained. Had he possessed any other evidence, he would have cited it, in accordance with his customary thoroughness in gathering the proofs, especially those supporting his position.
As for Shaykh Aḥmad Shākir’s statement:
“Whoever examines the hadiths will find that it was understood that blood is impure,”
this too is merely an assertion. I have not perceived anything of the sort whatsoever in the hadiths I have examined; rather, I found in them that which invalidates this assertion, as previously noted in the hadith of the Anṣārī man and the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd.
The same applies to his statement:
“They knew by their sound innate disposition what was filthy and impure.”
We do not know that the innate disposition has any role in determining impurities according to the Law. Do you not see that the Law has ruled semen to be pure and pre-ejaculatory fluid to be impure? Can this be known through one’s innate disposition? Likewise, the majority hold that wine is impure but becomes pure when it turns into vinegar. Can this be known through one’s innate disposition? Certainly not. Had he said only, “what is filthy,” without adding anything further, that would have been acceptable. Allah Most High is the Giver of guidance and success.