Question:
Assalamualaikum SS Mufti. I want to ask if we performed tahnik to a baby boy and the baby is only fed with his mother’s milk, would the baby’s urine change from mukhaffafah najis to mutawassitah najis? Should we thoroughly wash it or it is sufficient to sprinkle water to purify it?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam wrt wbt,
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
As we know, mukhaffafah najis is purified by sprinkling some water on the place of najis. It is named as such for Allah SWT lightened its ruling and purification process.
While for mutawassitah najis, it should be washed properly until the colour, smell and feel are gone. It includes all najis except the mukhaffafah najis which will be explained later. (Refer al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah fi al-Masail al-Mufidah: 134-135)
There are 4 conditions of mukhaffafah najis, which are:
- It is the urine not faeces.
- From a baby boy, not a girl.
- The baby has not reached the age of two years old.
- The baby has not been fed with anything except his mother’s milk.
If it does not fulfil all the above four conditions, then the najis is considered as mutawassitah najis and it has to be washed properly for its purification.
To purify mukhaffafah najis, a person has to sprinkle water to the place that comes in contact with the najis through gholabah (ensuring that the amount of water sprinkled is more than the amount of urine not that it is conditioned that water must flow), it must be purified until the ‘ain and characteristics of the najis is gone. (Refer al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah fi al-Masail al-Mufidah, 134)
Coming back to the question asked, this issue arises because one of the conditions is that the baby must only be fed his mother’s milk. Then, the question is, does date used for the tahnik placed inside the baby’s mouth changed the baby’s urine into mutawassitah najis?
The answer to this question is given by Syeikh Hasan al-Kaff who said:
لَا يَضُرُّ تَحْنِيكُهُ بِنَحْوِ تَمْرٍ وَ عَسلٍ وَ كَذَلِكَ الدَّوَاءَ وَ مَا يُوضَعُ لِلإصْلاحِ كَمِلْح وَ سُكَر
Tahnik using date and honey does not affect (does not affect mukhaffafah najis to mutawassitah najis) the baby, the same for medications given to the baby to treat him such as salt and sugar. (Refer al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah fi al-Masail al-Mufidah: 134)
Conclusion
According to the above discussion, we concluded that date used in tahnik to a baby boy under two years old who is fed with only his mother’s milk, does not affect his najis; changing it to mutawassitah najis but it remains as mukhaffafah najis. This also includes medications, salt or sugar given to the baby for treatment purposes. Likewise, the dates given for tahnik is in very small amount and is only given once to the baby. More importantly, tahnik is a sunnah that the Prophet PBUH did himself for newborn babies.
Thus, the answer for the above question is that for a baby boy that has been tahnik, it still follows the rulings of mukhaffafah najis. And it should be purified by sprinkling water on the place that come into contact with the najis until its ‘ain and characteristic are gone. May Allah SWT grant us true understanding in His commandments and guide us to worship Him with sincerity. Amin.
Wallahua’lam.