Aquarium water and fish waste

ماء حوض سمك الزينة وروثه

A question about aquarium water and fish waste, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that aquarium water containing ornamental fish is pure unless it changes, and that a small amount of fish waste is excused unless it alters the water. The Department answered that the water of a tank containing ornamental fish is pure as long as it does not change, and that a small amount of fish waste is excused unless the water is altered by it. It quoted the Hashiya of al-Jamal on Sharh al-Manhaj (1/178) that a little hair of an inedible animal or of a riding animal is excused because it is hard to avoid, and that fish waste is likewise excused unless it changes the water.

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Summary

A question about aquarium water and fish waste, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that aquarium water containing ornamental fish is pure unless it changes, and that a small amount of fish waste is excused unless it alters the water. 1

The question

The questioner asked whether water containing ornamental fish becomes impure through their waste. 1

The answer

The Department answered that the water of a tank containing ornamental fish is pure as long as it does not change, and that a small amount of fish waste is excused unless the water is altered by it. 1 It quoted the Hashiya of al-Jamal on Sharh al-Manhaj (1/178) that a little hair of an inedible animal or of a riding animal is excused because it is hard to avoid, and that fish waste is likewise excused unless it changes the water. 1

About this record

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4449, dated 23 April 2026. 1 The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.

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About
Impurity (najasa) and its rulings· Ritual purity

People and things also explored

Is semen ritually pure or impure?· Purifying mosque carpets with chemical cleaners· Dry ablution (tayammum)· Arba'un 23 — purity is half of faith· Muslim 223 — Purity is half of faith· Muslim 246 — My ummah comes on the Last Day shining-limbed from the traces of wudu· Muwatta 32· Muwatta 37

Sources

  1. Jordan's General Iftaa Department (aliftaa.jo) , fatwa 4449

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islam.museum contributors. “Aquarium water and fish waste”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/fatwa-aliftaa-jo-aquarium-water-and-fish-waste/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-02.

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Is semen ritually pure or impure?

A question whether semen is ritually pure or impure, and whether rubbing it off suffices when dry and washing when wet; Ibn Baz answered that on the correct view semen is pure, being the origin of the human being, citing Aisha's statement that the Prophet sometimes washed it and sometimes rubbed it off, and that she used to scrape it dry from his garment, which shows its purity, since had it been impure it would have had to be washed rather than merely scraped and cleaned without water; and because the human being is pure, his origin in earth is pure, and so semen, which comes after, is pure.