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Fatwa CenterUsing animal dung in Istijmaar
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Many prominent scholars say that the urine and stool of halal animals are pure. However, in a hadith, the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, threw away the dung of animal when it was brought to him for Istijmaar (cleaning oneself using stones or other solid materials after having answered the call of nature) and said that it is Riks (filth, impurity). Now how can I reconcile the two?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The dung that is mentioned in the hadeeth which you referred to was not from an animal whose meat we are allowed to eat; rather, it was the dung of a donkey. Please refer to fatwa 91629.
The narration reported by Ibn Khuzaymah of the above hadeeth in his Saheeh states that it was the dung of a donkey, and so does the narration by At-Tabaraani. A donkey is an animal whose meat we are not allowed to eat, as is well known.
It is for this reason that Ibn Al-Mulaqqin said in his commentary on Al-Bukhari, after having mentioned the narration of Ibn Khuzaymah, “The hadeeth clarifies that the dung of donkeys is impure. Since it is impure, then the ruling on all the dung of four-legged animals whose meat we are not allowed to eat is the same as the dung of donkeys.”
Allah knows best.
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