Question
My question is: is semen (mani) pure or impure? Please answer in detail in light of the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the research of the scholars. Thank you.
Answer
There is a difference of opinion among the scholars regarding whether semen is pure or impure. However, the preferred view is that semen is pure, not impure. The evidence for this is the hadith of Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) recorded in Sahih Muslim, in which she says:
’’لقد كنت أفركه من ثوب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فركاً ، فيصلي فيه‘‘
“I used to scrape it off the garment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he would pray in it.”
This hadith is evidence that semen is pure and not impure, because scraping does not remove a substance completely. Therefore, semen remained on the garments of the Prophet ﷺ, and he would perform prayer in them.
Among the Companions, Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, and Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) hold this view. Among the Tabi’un, Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib and Ata, and among the jurists, Imam al-Shafi’i, Imam Ahmad, Imam Ishaq, Dawud al-Zahiri, and Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on them) also hold this view.
Those who consider semen impure have analogized it to urine and feces, on the basis that all of them exit from the same place. Therefore, like urine and feces, semen is impure. However, this analogy is rejected, because not everything that exits from the two private passages is impure, the newborn is not impure at birth, and likewise semen is not impure, as has passed in the hadith above.
From the above evidences it is established that semen is not impure; it is pure.
