What is the Ruling on Mice and Rats Droppings?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My question is about mice and rats. My house had mice a while ago, and I think they’re still here. I keep seeing black spots everywhere in the house, but I don’t know whether to tell if they’re mouse droppings.
Can I ignore them and assume the best, or must I wash the area and remove the droppings? Also, does the impurity transfer from the place where the dropping touched?
For example, if a mouse dropping touched a specific area of a carpet but then I stepped on that area after the dropping was removed with wet feet, do my feet become impure too, even if the mouse dropping was removed, but the area wasn’t washed?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
In your case, wet feet will not make them impure after you remove the droppings, as they are primarily dry anywhere.
As for the mice droppings, they are considered a heavy type of filth (mughalladha). [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
However, I advise you to ignore them after removing the droppings and work on removing the mice from the house altogether. And to remove doubt and any misgivings, use a prayer mat while performing your prayer.
Avoid the more technical aspects of fiqh. Instead, focus on the basics and don’t overburden yourself with details that might aggravate your situation.
Check other answers here:
Mice Droppings on Sofa – SeekersGuidance
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What Muslims Believe and Why: Dardir’s Kharida al-Bahiyya
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I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey.
He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His personal interest is the love of books and gardening.
