Taharah in Kashshaf al-Qina: Definitive Hanbali Purification Law

Al-Buhuti's commentary on the taharah sections of Al-Iqna in Kashshaf al-Qina provides the most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of Hanbali purification law available in a single text. Drawing on the full tradition of Hanbali scholarship — from Imam Ahmad's transmitted opinions through Ibn Qudamah, al-Mardawi, and later scholars — al-Buhuti presents the rajih positions with their evidential basis and practical applications.

On the two-qullah threshold for water, Kashshaf al-Qina provides detailed discussion of the prophetic hadith that established this standard and the scholarly disagreements about its precise application. Al-Buhuti presents the Hanbali position that water below two qullahs is rendered impure by any contact with physical filth — regardless of perceptible change — and explains the reasoning: the threshold protects against contamination of small water supplies that cannot adequately dilute impurities. He also addresses the practical question of measuring two qullahs when the container's exact volume is unknown.

The wiping over socks (mash ala al-khuffayn) receives extended treatment in Kashshaf al-Qina. Al-Buhuti addresses the Hanbali school's permission to wipe over any sock material — not only leather — provided certain conditions are met: the socks must reach and cover the ankle, must be sturdy enough to walk in, and must have been put on in a state of full purity. The time limits apply: one day and night for residents, three days and nights for travelers. Al-Buhuti engages with the hadith evidence for the broad Hanbali permission and addresses the positions of scholars who limited the permission to leather only.

The ghusl section of Kashshaf al-Qina addresses the Hanbali obligatory elements: intention and complete washing of the body. Al-Buhuti discusses the treatment of hair — the obligation to ensure water reaches the roots for those with tight-braided hair — and engages with the hadith of Umm Salamah in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) addressed this question for women who did not need to unbraid their hair for obligatory ghusl but did need to ensure water reached the scalp.

Tayammum in Kashshaf al-Qina is presented with Hanbali specificity on the conditions, method, and duration of validity. Al-Buhuti discusses when tayammum becomes permissible — unavailability of water, distance exceeding the walking range within the prayer time, and harmful use of water for the ill — and presents the Hanbali method: two strikes of clean earth, one for the face and one for the hands to the wrists. He engages with the question of whether impurities visible on the skin require water purification even when water is unavailable.

The sections on najasah in Kashshaf al-Qina cover the Hanbali classification of impure substances and their purification methods. The sevenfold washing requirement for dog-related impurity is presented as the preferred Hanbali position with its hadith basis. Al-Buhuti also addresses the Hanbali positions on: the purification of ground contaminated by urine (requiring only water washing, without the soil needing to be removed in most cases), the treatment of blood (with the small-amount excuse for prayer validity), and the purification of clothing soiled with impurity.

Kashshaf al-Qina's taharah commentary is the definitive Hanbali reference on purification law, combining historical comprehensiveness with practical usability in a way that has made it the standard teaching text in Saudi Hanbali institutions.