which is the need for pardoning them [due to the difficulty of avoiding them]. Since the need [for purifying them] has ceased, their purity ceases.

The second view is that they are pure, which is the most correct; because they were pure during life, and death does not necessitate their impurity, so they remain in their state of purity. What we mentioned in support of the first view is incorrect, because we do not concede the existence of a reason for impurity; and even if we were to concede it, the Sacred Law (Shari'a) has abrogated it, and its validity has not been established in any context, so we have no basis to establish its ruling through arbitrary reasoning.

Section: There is a difference of opinion narrated from Ahmad regarding stitching with pig hair. It is narrated from him that it is disliked, and this is also reported from Ibn Sirin, al-Hakam, Hammad, Ishaq, and al-Shafi'i; because it is the utilization of an impure substance, and it is not free from being contaminated by it, therefore benefiting from it is forbidden, like its skin.

The second position is that stitching with it is permissible. He said: "And with fiber (leef) is more beloved to us."

Al-Hasan, Malik, al-Awza'i, and Abu Hanifa granted a concession for it, because necessity calls for it. If one stitches something moist with it, or if the hair itself is moist, it becomes impure, and it cannot be purified except by washing.

Ibn Aqil said: It has been narrated from Ahmad that there is no harm in it. Perhaps he said that because people cannot avoid it, and requiring them to wash it would cause the destruction of people's wealth. Thus, it is apparent that Ahmad only meant there is no harm in the act of stitching, whereas purity (of the item) is necessary. And Allah knows best.

Section: The polytheists are of two types: People of the Scripture, and others.

As for the People of the Scripture, it is permissible to eat their food and drink their drink, and to eat from their utensils, as long as their impurity is not verified. Ibn Aqil said: There is no difference of opinion in the report that the use of their utensils is not forbidden; this is due to the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them" (Surah al-Ma'idah 5). It is narrated from 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mughaffal, who said: A skin bag of fat was lowered on the day of Khaybar,