Is the vomit of a child who drinks milk and does not eat solids considered to be filth in the Shafi’i School?

Quran

Hadith

Islamic Text

Yes, vomit and urine are considered as filth.

Praise be to Allah, and His Salutations and Peace be upon our Master Muhammad ﷺ, his believers and Companions.

The vomit of any child, or adult in that matter, is considered as filth (najis) in the Shafi’i school. This is true regardless of whether the child has eaten any solids or not. It, however, may be that the questioner is perhaps wanting to refer to the urine of a child and the details with regards to this.

In the Shafi’i school, the urine of a child, boy or girl, is considered as filth. However, the severity of the nature of the filth and procedure of its removal differs for the boy who is less than 2 lunar years of age and has not been fed other than breast milk for nutritional purposes. The urine of this particular child is considered as ‘minor filth’ in the Shafi’i school which means that its removal can be done by merely sprinkling water over the item affected by this urine whilst ensuring that the amount of water sprinkled overwhelms the amount of the urine present and that the traces of urine are no longer present. This differs from the removal of the urine of any other human or animal, apart from dog and pig, such that urine from this category would require water to flow over the area that is contaminated with the urine and ensuring all traces of the urine is removed.

This is supported by the narration of Umm Qays bent Mihsan, may Allah be pleased with her, as reported by Imam al-Bukhari (d. 256), may Allah have mercy on him, in his Sahih (Hadith no. 223):

عَنْ أُمِّ قَيْسٍ بنْتِ مِحْصَنٍ، أنَّهَا أتَتْ بابْنٍ لَهَا صَغِيرٍ لَمْ يَأْكُلِ الطَّعَامَ إلى رَسولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّمَ، فأجْلَسَهُ رَسولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّمَ في حجْرِهِ، فَبَالَ علَى ثَوْبِهِ، فَدَعَا بمَاءٍ، فَنَضَحَهُ ولَمْ يَغْسِلْهُ

“On the authority of Umm Qays bin Mihsan; She brought her son, who was young and had not yet eaten any food, to the Messenger of Allah . The Messenger of Allah sat him up in his lap, and the child urinated on the Prophet’s garment. He called for some water, and he sprinkled it on the garment and did not wash it.

Imam an-Nawawi (d. 676), may Allah have mercy on him, says in al-Majmu’,

مذهبنا المشهور أنه يجب غسل بول الجارية ويكفي نضح بول الغلام

“The position of our school is that it is an obligation to wash the urine of the young girl and that it is sufficient to sprinkle on the urine of the young boy.”

And Allah knows best.

– Answered by Shaykh Mohammed Jamili, Jeddah, 22nd Dhul-Hijjah 1442 (01.08.2021)

See also:

Does bleeding break Wudu in the Shafi’i School?