Source: Fatāwā ʿUlamāʾ-e-Ḥadīth, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Volume 1
Is semen (منی) considered pure (پاک) or impure (نجس) in Islamic jurisprudence? Please provide a detailed explanation with reference to the Qur’an, Sunnah, and scholarly opinions.
Among scholars of Islam, there exists a difference of opinion regarding the purity of semen. However, the stronger and more preferred opinion (القول الراجح) is that:
Semen (منی) is pure (طاهر) and not impure (نجس).
The most decisive proof comes from the Hadith of Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah (رضي الله عنها) recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:
"لَقَدْ كُنْتُ أَفْرُكُهُ مِنْ ثَوْبِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَرْكًا، فَيُصَلِّي فِيهِ"
“I used to scrape semen from the garment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with my fingernails, and he would perform Ṣalāh in the same garment.”
This clearly proves that semen is not najis, because scraping (فرك) does not entirely remove a substance—some residue remains—and still, the Prophet ﷺ would perform prayer in that same garment without washing it.
Those who regarded semen as pure include:
Those who claim that semen is najis base their argument on analogy (qiyās)—since urine and feces, which also exit through the private parts, are najis, therefore semen must also be.
However, this analogy is invalid:
❝Not everything that exits from the two private passages (السبيلين) is najis.❞
For example:
✦ Based on authentic hadith, the practice of the Companions, and strong scholarly consensus, the correct opinion is:
❝Manī (semen) is ṭāhir (pure) and not najis (impure).❞
There is no need to wash it with water. Scraping or brushing it off the garment is sufficient if needed.
وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
Answered by: Muḥammad Bashīr ʿAfī ʿanhu
Verified by: Shaykh Sayyid Muḥammad Nadhīr Ḥusayn
(Fatāwā Nadhīriyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh)
Is semen (منی) considered pure (پاک) or impure (نجس) in Islamic jurisprudence? Please provide a detailed explanation with reference to the Qur’an, Sunnah, and scholarly opinions.
Among scholars of Islam, there exists a difference of opinion regarding the purity of semen. However, the stronger and more preferred opinion (القول الراجح) is that:
Semen (منی) is pure (طاهر) and not impure (نجس).
The most decisive proof comes from the Hadith of Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah (رضي الله عنها) recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:
"لَقَدْ كُنْتُ أَفْرُكُهُ مِنْ ثَوْبِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَرْكًا، فَيُصَلِّي فِيهِ"
“I used to scrape semen from the garment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with my fingernails, and he would perform Ṣalāh in the same garment.”
This clearly proves that semen is not najis, because scraping (فرك) does not entirely remove a substance—some residue remains—and still, the Prophet ﷺ would perform prayer in that same garment without washing it.
Those who regarded semen as pure include:
- Companions:
✧ Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah (رضي الله عنها)
✧ Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (رضي الله عنه)
✧ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) - Tābiʿīn (Successors):
✧ Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib
✧ ʿAṭā’ - Imams of Fiqh:
✧ Imām al-Shāfiʿī
✧ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
✧ Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah
✧ Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī
✧ Ibn al-Mundhir
Those who claim that semen is najis base their argument on analogy (qiyās)—since urine and feces, which also exit through the private parts, are najis, therefore semen must also be.
However, this analogy is invalid:
❝Not everything that exits from the two private passages (السبيلين) is najis.❞
For example:
- The newborn baby exits from the same passage, yet is not considered impure.
- Similarly, semen, though it emerges from the private parts, is not impure, as confirmed by Hadith.
✦ Based on authentic hadith, the practice of the Companions, and strong scholarly consensus, the correct opinion is:
❝Manī (semen) is ṭāhir (pure) and not najis (impure).❞
There is no need to wash it with water. Scraping or brushing it off the garment is sufficient if needed.
وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
Answered by: Muḥammad Bashīr ʿAfī ʿanhu
Verified by: Shaykh Sayyid Muḥammad Nadhīr Ḥusayn
(Fatāwā Nadhīriyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh)
