What counts as najasah (ritual impurity) in Islamic law, and how is it removed?

Najasah refers to substances Islamic law classifies as ritually impure, distinct from things that are merely dirty. The most widely agreed-upon najasah includes urine, feces, blood, pus, vomit, alcohol, and the saliva of dogs and pigs according to the majority of scholars (the Maliki school takes a more lenient view on animal impurity generally). Removing najasah from the body, clothing, or a prayer space means eliminating the substance itself, and water is the primary and most reliable cleansing agent, echoing the Quran's command to 'purify your garments' (74:4). The aim is to remove the physical substance, and ideally its color and smell, though scholars agree that a faint residual stain or smell that resists reasonable effort does not invalidate the cleaning — based on the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ told a woman to scratch and rub out menstrual blood from a garment with water, then simply pray in it (Sahih al-Bukhari 227). Minor unavoidable exposure, like dried mud from a street, is excused in many rulings. When in doubt about whether something is truly impure versus just unclean, thorough washing with water is usually sufficient and safe.

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