Question:
Assalamualaikum Dr,
I would like to ask if a dog in dry state stopped by and sit on sidewalk of a house, is it necessary to perform sertu?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam wbt,
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
If the sidewalk is a landed sidewalk (soil), then it is not necessary purify it through sertu because the place will be cleaned by itself as soil and rain will wash them away. While if it is made of cement, we would like to suggest as a precautionary step, to perform sertu at the said place because we are uncertain whether the passing dog was in dry or wet state. We may observe it as dry, but it may not be so. This is also to avoid any doubts and khilaf (disagreements between scholars) and this is prioritized.
In the aspect of its ruling, it is known that according to madhab al-Shafi’e, all body parts of dogs are considered impure because they are analogically deduced (qiyas) the same as its saliva as stated in the hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah RA where the Prophet PBUH said:
إِذَا وَلَغَ الْكَلْبُ فِي إِنَاءِ أَحَدِكُمْ فَلْيَغْسِلْهُ سَبْعَ مَرَّاتٍ، أُولَاهُنَّ أَوْ أُخْرَاهُنَّ بِالتُّرَابِ
"If a dog licks the vessel of any one of you, let him wash it seven times, the first time with dust."
Hadith narrated by al-Shafi’e in al-Musnad
Wallahua’lam.