the cause of it, the Qadi said: It is not required to accept his report, due to the possibility that he believes the water is impure for a reason that the person being informed does not believe, such as a Hanafi who considers large amounts of water to be impure, or a Shafi'i who considers a small amount of water to be impure due to something that has no flowing blood, or a person suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (waswas) who believes it is impure due to something that does not actually render it impure. It is possible that it is required to accept his report if these possibilities are ruled out in his specific case.
Section: If he informs him that a dog has lapped from this vessel, it is mandatory to accept his report, whether he is sighted or blind, because a blind person has a way of knowing this through information and sensation.
If he informs him that a dog has lapped from this vessel and did not lap from this other one, and another person says: It did not lap from the first one, but it did lap from the second one, it is mandatory to avoid both of them. He accepts the statement of each of them regarding affirmation, but not regarding negation, because it is possible that each of them knows what was hidden from the other, unless they specify a particular time and a single dog, and the time is too narrow for it to have drunk from both of them, in which case their statements contradict each other and are discarded, and the use of each of them becomes permissible. If one of them says: It drank from this vessel, and the other says: It descended but did not drink, the statement of the one affirming is given precedence, unless he did not actually verify its drinking, such as a blind person who reports based on his sensation, in which case the statement of the sighted person is given precedence, because he is more knowledgeable.
Section: If water falls upon a person from a road, he is not obligated to ask about it, because the original state is its purity. Salih said: I asked my father about a man who passes by a place and a drop or two drips upon him? He said: If it is an outlet—meaning a latrine—then wash it, and if it is not an outlet, then do not ask about it. For Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by a basin with Amr ibn al-As, and Amr said: "O owner of the basin, do wild beasts come to your basin?" Umar said: "O owner of the basin, do not inform us, for we come upon them, and they come upon us." Narrated by Malik in "al-Muwatta".
(16) In [M]: "it is required for him". (17) Omitted from the original. (18) In the chapter on pure water for wudu, from the Book of Purification. Al-Muwatta 1/23, 24, and it was narrated by al-Daraqutni in: The Chapter on Changed Water, from the Book of Purification. Sunan al-Daraqutni 1/32. A portion of it preceded on page 67.
سببَها، فقال القاضي: لا يلْزمُ (١٦) قبولُ خَبَرِه؛ لاحْتمالِ اعتقادِه نجاسةَ [الماءِ بسببٍ لا يعتقدُه المُخْبَرُ، كالحنفىِّ يرَى نجاسةَ الماءِ الكثير، والشافعىّ يرى نجاسةَ] (١٧) الماء اليَسِير بما لا نَفْسَ له سائلةٌ، والمُوَسْوَسِ الذي يعتقِدُ نجاستَه بما لا يُنَجِّسُه. ويَحْتَمِلُ أن يَلْزَمَ قبولُ خَبرهِ، إذا انْتَفَتْ هذه الاحْتمالاتُ في حَقِّه.
فصل: فإن أخْبره أن كلبًا وَلَغ في هذا الإِناء، لَزِمَ قبولُ خَبَرهِ، سواء كان بَصِيرًا أو ضَرِيرًا؛ لأن للضَّرِيرِ طريقًا إلى العِلْمِ بذلك بالْخَبَرِ والحِسِّ.
وإن أخبرَه أن كلبًا وَلَغ في هذا الإِناءِ ولم يَلِغْ في هذا. وقال آخرُ: لم يَلِغْ في الأوَّلِ، وإنما ولغَ في الثاني. وجَب اجْتنابُهما، فيَقْبَلُ قولَ كلِّ واحدٍ منهما في الإِثْباتِ دون النَّفْى؛ لأنه يجوزُ أن يَعْلَمَ كلُّ واحدٍ منهما ما خَفِىَ علَى الآخَرِ، إلَّا أن يُعَيِّنا وَقْتًا مُعَيَّنًا، وكلبًا واحدًا، يَضِيقُ الوقتُ عن شُرْبِه منهما، فيتعارَضُ قَوْلاهما، ويَسْقُطان، ويُباحُ اسْتعمالُ كلِّ واحدٍ منهما. فإن قال أحدُهما: شَرِبَ مِن هذا الإِناء. وقال الآخَرُ: نزلَ ولم يشْرَبْ. قُدِّمَ قَوْلُ الْمُثْبِتِ، إلَّا أن يكونَ لم يتحَقَّقْ شُرْبه، مثل الضَّرِيرِ الذي يُخْبِرُ عن حِسِّه، فُيقَدَّمُ قولُ البَصِيرِ؛ لأنه أعْلَمُ.
فصل: إذا سقَط علَى إنسانٍ مِن طريقٍ ماءٌ، لم يَلْزَمْه السُّؤالُ عنه؛ لأن الأصْلَ طَهارتُه، قال صالح: سألتُ أبى عن الرجلِ يَمُرُّ بالموضِعِ، فيَقْطُر عليه قَطْرةٌ أو قَطْرتان؟ فقال: إن كان مَخْرَجًا - يعني خَلاءً - فاغْسِلْه، وإن لم يكنْ مَخْرَجًا فلا يُسْألُ عنه؛ فإنَّ عمر، رَضِىَ اللَّه عنه، مَرَّ هو وعمرو بن العاص علَى حَوْضٍ، فقال عمرو: يا صاحبَ الْحَوْضِ، أتَرِدُ علَى حَوْضِكَ السِّباعُ؟ فقال عمر: يا صاحبَ الْحَوْضِ، لا تُخْبِرْنا، فإنَّا نَرِدُ عليها، وتَرِدُ علينا. روَاه مالك، في "الموطَّأ" (١٨).
(١٦) في م: "يلزمه".(١٧) سقط من: الأصل.(١٨) في باب الطهور للوضوء، من كتاب الطهارة. الموطأ ١/ ٢٣، ٢٤، ورواه الدارقطني، في: باب الماء المتغير، من كتاب الطهارة. سنن الدارقطني ١/ ٣٢. وتقدم بعضه في صفحة ٦٧.