Is baby vomit impure?

http://islamqa.org/hanafi/daruliftaa/8446

What is the Islamic ruling on the vomit of babies? Do the cloths become impure with it?

ANSWER

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

Vomit, including baby vomit is considered impure (Najis) when it is mouthful. Mouthful will be defined as that which the mouth of the person vomiting can not hold except with difficulty. Therefore, if the baby vomits and it is mouthful for the baby, then this vomit will be considered as impure.

If this vomit gets on to the body or cloths and it is to the amount of a Dirham (equivalent to about 4 or 5 grams of solid filth and around 5 cm in diameter), then the body and cloths will become impure. One must purify the area before performing Salat.

If it is less than the amount of a Dirham, then one is excused. However, it is recommended to remove it before one prays. (See: Fatawa Mahmudiyya, V: 17, P: 30 & Radd al-Muhtar of Ibn Abidin, 1/137)

And Allah Knows Best

[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK

http://seekershub.org/ans-blog/2011/07/08/is-baby-vomit-impure/

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: Is baby vomit considered najasah, if they are only taking milk and no real food, can i pray in the clothes they spit up on?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

1. Vomit, including baby vomit, is only considered filthy if it is more than a mouthful, with a mouthful being defined as that which the mouth (of the one vomiting) would not be able to hold in without undue difficulty.

Imam `Ala’ al-Din al-Haskafi stated in his Durr al-Mukhtar Sharh Tanwir al-Absar, the most important commentary in Hanafi fiqh for relied upon rulings and all the conditions and details related to them, and amazing in its conciseness:

(And) it is nullified (by vomit that fills the mouth) such that it could only be kept in with difficulty.

This was confirmed by Ibn Abidin in his Radd al-Muhtar, where he cited several authorities who chose this definition.

2. If the baby vomits more than a mouthful, and it gets on the clothes, note that a small amount of it is excused for the purposes of prayer. It is recommended, whenever reasonably possible to remove such an amount before one prays, but if one does not remove it the prayer is still valid. It is neither blameworthy nor sinful not to remove a small amount of filth before prayer, though one would have left that which is best. This is a great dispensation for many, especially mothers with small children.

The amount excused is the equivalent of about 4 or 5 grams of solid filth, or the extent of the area of the inner palm (around 5 cm in diameter) for liquid filth. Note that it is not needed to measure this; one’s judgment is enough. Eventually, of course, one needs to remove the filth, so it does not spread…

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani