Finding dog hair on clothes after prayer Fatwa No: 301468
- Fatwa Date:13-8-2015
I didn't get an answer to my question before. I follow the Hanafi Madhab and they say that dog hair is impure. So if I did my salat. Then later I checked my clothes and found a piece of dog hair on it would my prayers still be valid or would I be blamed because I didn't check my clothes before the salah? The majority of scholars say that dog hair is not impure but it's normal for dogs to lick themselves. I'm confused about this please clarify. Jazak Allahu Khayran.
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.
Firstly, you should know that the Hanafis held different views regarding the ritual impurity of the dog in and of itself. Some held that the dog in and of itself is ritually impure and accordingly the dog’s hair and body parts are ritually impure. Others held that the dog in and of itself is pure. Al-Baabarti said,
“Different views were reported about the ritual impurity of the dog in and of itself. Some held that it is ritually impure…. The most correct view concerning this is that the dog in and of itself is ritually pure because it is permissible to keep dogs for hunting and guarding.” [Al-ʻInaayah Sharh Al-Hidaayah]
According to the view that the dog in and of itself is ritually impure, the fact that you have found a dog's hair on your clothes after finishing the prayer does not affect the validity of the prayer according to the Hanafi school because an insignificant amount of major impurity, less than the size of a dirham, is excused according to the Hanafi school of Fiqh, and it does not affect the validity of prayer.
Moreover, you are not obliged to examine your clothes and verify whether there is dog hair or other impurities on them. If you happened to find an impurity stuck on your clothes after performing the prayer and it was possible that it got onto the clothes after performing the prayer, it is to be related to the nearest time when it was possible to have occurred. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 165845.
Allaah Knows best.