Ruling on the threshold between much and little water and the effect of impurity

F29Chapter of Waters

Ruling on the threshold between much and little water and the effect of impurity

Where lies the threshold between much and little water, and does little water become impure on contact even without any change?

Hanafi

Much water is that whose far side does not stir when one side is moved; little water becomes impure on contact with an impurity even without any change.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah — Radd al-Muḥtār — Marāqī al-Falāḥ

Maliki

No distinction is drawn between much and little water: it becomes impure only when its taste, colour, or smell is altered.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr — Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī — Minaḥ al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

Much water is two qullahs or more and becomes impure only through alteration; little water is below that and becomes impure by mere contact.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn — Al-Majmūʿ — Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

The dividing line is two qullahs: water reaching it is much and becomes impure only through alteration, while less than that is little and becomes impure by contact.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ — Kashshāf al-Qināʿ — Al-Inṣāf