Excused impurities (ma'fuwwat)

المعفوّات

Ma'fuwwat is the plural of ma'fuwwa, the things whose impurity is excused, so that prayer is not invalidated by them and they need not be washed away. The principle is that a command whose performance is hard for people drops, and a prohibition whose avoidance is hard drops too. Hardship falls into three grades: the highest, where excuse is agreed; the lowest, where none is allowed; and an intermediate grade on which jurists differ. The Hanafis divide impurities into heavy and light: a heavy impurity is excused up to the size of a dirham, and a light one up to less than a quarter of the garment. The Malikis have four categories, the Shafi'is several, judged by quantity and by whether the impurity touches water or cloth. The Hanbalis begin from no excuse and make exceptions, among them small amounts of blood, pus and matter, and traces left after istijmar. Covering the awrah is a condition of prayer, and on zakat the jurists differ over the excused margin of grazing livestock, which is treated under awqas; Abu Hanifa holds that the surplus of money over the nisab is excused up to a fifth of a nisab, and that each further fifth is excused in the same way. ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸

Summary

Excused impurities are those whose presence is pardoned, so that prayer is not invalidated by them and they need not be washed. The principle is that what is hard to perform or to avoid falls away as an obligation. ¹ ²

The standard of excuse

Hardship has three grades: the highest, where excuse is agreed; the lowest, where none is allowed; and an intermediate grade whose placement jurists dispute. The dispute over excusing impurities follows from this. ²

The schools

The Hanafis divide impurities into heavy and light. A heavy impurity is excused up to the size of a dirham, and a light one up to less than a quarter of the garment. ³ ⁴ The Malikis have four categories; some impurities are excused in small and large amounts, and some are excused only in their traces. ⁴ ⁵ The Shafi'is classify by quantity and by whether the impurity falls on water or on cloth; the blood of fleas is excused on cloth and body but not in water. ⁵ ⁹ ⁶ The Hanbalis start from no excuse and list exceptions: a small amount of blood during prayer, pus and matter on one view, and traces after istijmar once cleaned. ⁶ ⁷ ⁸

In prayer and zakat

Covering the awrah is a condition of valid prayer; it is not excused when uncovered on purpose. On zakat the majority excuse nothing in monetary wealth, while Abu Hanifa treats the surplus over the nisab as excused up to a fifth of a nisab. ⁸

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14780

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14781

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14782

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14783

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14784

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14786

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14787

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14788

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14785

The ruling on one who abandons prayer

Al-Sallabi quotes Ali: whoever does not pray is an unbeliever. He then reports from al-Nawawi the dispute over one who neglects prayer while believing it obligatory: the majority (Malik, al-Shafi'i) hold him a sinner to be asked to repent, others hold him an unbeliever, a view ascribed to Ali; Abu Hanifa and the Kufans hold him not an unbeliever but to be disciplined.