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Is the saliva of animals pure or impure, and is its ruling divided based on whether the animal is permissible to eat or not?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars differed regarding the purity of animal saliva (their leftover drink - su'r):

Malikis: All animal su'r is pure. Shafi'is: All animal su'r is pure except for that of dogs, pigs, and what is born from them. Hanafis: The su'r of animals whose meat is not permissible to eat is impure, with some differences regarding certain animals. The su'r of pigs, dogs, and all predatory beasts is impure. The Malikis and Shafi'is differ with them on some of these types. Hanbalis: They divided animals into two categories: Impure: Dogs, pigs, and what is born from them; their su'r is impure. As for the su'r of other predatory beasts, domestic donkeys, and mules, there is a difference of opinion regarding its impurity, except for the cat and similar animals, whose su'r is pure. Pure: Animals whose meat is permissible to eat; their su'r is pure, except for a free-ranging chicken, whose su'r is disliked. The cat and similar animals, like the mouse, have pure su'r.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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