Short answer
Sahih al-Bukhari reports that the Prophet ﷺ told a group of sick visitors to drink camels' milk and urine as treatment, and they recovered. In the Hanafi school camel urine is a light impurity, and drinking it is not a sunnah; it is allowed only as medicine in real need. The Maliki and Hanbali schools hold it pure.
The urine of animals whose meat is eaten, including camels, is a light impurity (najasah khafifah) according to Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf, so less than a quarter of a garment is excused for prayer. Drinking it is not permitted for ordinary use. Later Hanafi scholars allow an impure substance as medicine when a reliable doctor says it cures and no pure alternative exists.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Camel urine is impure. Like other impure substances, it may be used as medicine only when needed and nothing pure will do.
- Maliki
- The urine and dung of animals whose meat is eaten are pure, and drinking camel urine for treatment is allowed.
- Hanbali
- The urine of animals whose meat is eaten is pure, and drinking it for treatment is allowed.
Explanation
Anas reported that some people from the tribes of Ukl or Urayna came to Madinah and fell ill because its climate did not suit them. The Prophet ﷺ sent them to the camel herd and told them to drink from the camels' milk and urine. When they recovered, they killed the herdsman and drove the camels away, and they were caught and punished. The hadith is in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, so its authenticity is not in question.
The scholars differed on what it shows. Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf held that the urine of every animal is impure, since the Prophet ﷺ warned in general terms about not guarding against urine. They read the camel hadith as a case of treatment for those particular people, so it does not make camel urine pure or drinking it a sunnah. Imam Muhammad took the hadith as proof that the urine of animals whose meat is eaten is pure, and the Maliki and Hanbali schools agree with him.
In practice, for a Hanafi:
- Camel, cow, sheep and goat urine on clothes is a light impurity. Less than a quarter of the garment is excused, though washing it is better.
- Drinking camel urine as a health tonic or as a sunnah practice is not allowed.
- Using it as medicine falls under the rules of necessity: a qualified doctor says it works and nothing pure does the same job.
No authentic hadith makes drinking camel urine a general sunnah, and health authorities have warned against drinking raw camel milk or urine because of infections such as MERS. A doctor and a mufti are the right people to ask about a specific treatment. For the classes of impurity see types of najis.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 233
Sahih... فأمرهم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بلقاح وأن يشربوا من أبوالها وألبانها ...
"The Prophet told them to go to the milch camels and drink from their urine and milk."
The event the question refers to: a treatment given to particular sick people.
Sahih al-Bukhari 218
Sahih... أما أحدهما فكان لا يستتر من البول ...
"As for one of them, he did not protect himself from urine."
Abu Hanifa took this general warning about urine to include the urine of animals.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on water, section on wells. Urine of animals whose meat is eaten is impure per Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf and pure per Muhammad, with the hadith of Urayna.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, section on wells. The discussion of treatment with an impure or forbidden substance when a cure is known and no alternative exists.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on impurities. The Hanbali view that urine of animals whose meat is eaten is pure.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.