Sūrah Al-Muddaththir The Cloaked One: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahAl-MuddaththirMeccanEarly revelation commands and the call to warn

Key Fiqh IssueṬahārah al-thiyāb garment purity as a condition for valid prayerShart al-ṣaḥīḥah (valid worship condition)Determines when prayer is valid despite stained clothing

School ComparisonḤanafī: najāsah above dirhām (coin) size invalidates; Mālikī: light najāsah (khafīfah) forgiven; Shāfiʿī: any najāsah invalidates unless forgiven type; Ḥanbalī: like Shāfiʿī with detailed forgiven categoriesCondition of validityAcceptable thresholds for najāsah on garments vary significantly

Uṣūl PrincipleShart al-ṣaḥīḥah conditions of valid worship (missing one invalidates the act)Binding conditionGarment purity is a condition, not a recommendation

Al-Qurṭubī derives from verse 4 "and your garments purify" one of the earliest Qurʾānic commands establishing ṭahārah as integral to Islamic worship. He maps the four-school positions on how much najāsah (ritual impurity) on a garment invalidates prayer: the Ḥanafī threshold is the size of a dirham coin for heavy najāsah anything below that is forgiven; the Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools require removing any najāsah unless it falls into a specifically forgiven category.

Al-Qurṭubī documents the Mālikī distinction between khafīfah (light) and mughallazah (heavy) najāsah: light najāsah (urine of animals that may be eaten, small amounts) is more forgiving the prayer is valid with small amounts of light najāsah. He derives the uṣūl principle that garment purity is a shart al-ṣiḥḥah a condition of validity, not merely a recommendation. Missing this condition intentionally invalidates the prayer entirely; missing it unknowingly may or may not require repetition depending on the school.

وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ Wa-thiyābaka fa-ṭahhir Meaning: "And your garments purify" Al-Qurṭubī: the command "ṭahhir" (purify) is an imperative establishing the obligation; "thiyābak" (your garments) some scholars read this metaphorically (purify your character) but the legal interpretation is the literal obligation of physical garment purity for worship; al-Qurṭubī accepts both readings as valid.

وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ Wa-l-rujza fa-hjur Meaning: "And impurity/idols abandon" Al-Qurṭubī: "rujz" (impurity/filth) has both physical and spiritual dimensions; the legal interpretation includes both: abandoning physical impurity (najāsah) for worship, and abandoning spiritual impurity (shirk, sin) in character the verse addresses both the external condition and internal state of the worshipper.

Garment purity (ṭahārah al-thiyāb) is a shart al-ṣiḥḥah a condition of valid prayer; knowingly praying with invalidating najāsah renders the prayer void.
Ḥanafī threshold: heavy najāsah (mughallazah) below dirham size is forgiven; above dirham size invalidates the most quantitatively defined approach.
Mālikī distinction: light (khafīfah) vs. heavy (mughallazah) najāsah small amounts of light najāsah are forgiven; heavy najāsah in any meaningful quantity is not.
Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī: any najāsah invalidates unless it falls in a specifically forgiven category (blood of lice, small splatter marks, etc.).
Unknowing najāsah: if discovered after prayer, the majority say the prayer does not need repetition the prayer was valid at the time given the person's knowledge; intentional prayer with known najāsah requires repetition.

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