Is a Cat’s Leftover Water Pure?

٣ - وَالثَّالِثُ: مَكْرُوهٌ اسْتِعْمَالُهُ مَعَ وُجُودِ غَيْرِهِ وَهُوَ سُؤْرُ الْهِرَّةِ وَالدَّجَاجَةِ الْمُخَلَّاةِ وَسِبَاعِ الطَّيْرِ كَالصَّقْرِ وَالشَّاهِينِ وَالحَدَأِ وَكَالْفَأْرَةِ لا الْعَقْرَبِ.

The third: disliked to use if other water is available (makrūh istiʿmāluh maʺ wujūd ghayrih) — it is the left-over of the cat, the free-roaming chicken, birds of prey such as the falcon, the hawk and the kite, and likewise the mouse — but not the scorpion.

Ruling (Ḥukm): A cat's left-over falls in the third category: makrūh tanzīhī — not impure, but disliked to use for wuḍūʾ or ghusl if other water is available, because cats habitually roam into narrow places and drink from unclean sources, making it hard to guard vessels from them. If no other water is found, using it is valid without karahah, since there is no alternative.

Evidence (Dalīl):

— Nūr al-Īḍāḥ wa-Najāt al-Arwāḥ fī al-Fiqh al-Ḥanafī (نور الإيضاح ونجاة الأرواح في الفقه الحنفي), Bāb al-Ṭahārah, Faṣl fī Bayān Aḥkām al-Suʼur, pp. 14–15.