Do Impure Splashes Count Collectively?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

Regarding major impurities, impurities up to 5 cm in diameter are excused. Does this exemption apply only to a single spot?

For example, if multiple splashes of impure toilet water touch my skin, should I consider their combined size, or is having more than one spot enough to make it inexcusable?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

This 5 cm in diameter or less excused exception applies to multiple splashes of impurity, too.

Multiple splashes of impure water will be combined in size, but it’s not necessary to combine them unless there’s an obvious excessive splashing. Assume the impurity is within the excused amount and ignore it.

The fiqh of Islam is practical. You are not expected to excessively combine impurities in this way.  In general, when there is great difficulty avoiding impurity, such as splashes when relieving oneself, it is excused. An explicit example of this is small splashes of urine coming into contact with one’s body or clothes.

Allah Most High says, “Allah wants ease for you, and does not want unbearable hardship for you” [Quran 2:185; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

General Ruling

When urine comes out, it invalidates one’s wudu and, as a result, one’s prayer if in it.

If the urine or other filth is 5cm or less in diameter, it is recommended but not obligatory to remove it. It is, however, improper not to remove it unless doing so is difficult in one’s circumstances.

More than 5 cm in diameter of urine or other filth must be removed. Not removing it will invalidate one’s prayer, even if one performs wudu. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

A way is to learn the essentials of purity and prayer and apply them without worrying about minute details.

And Allah knows best.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Related Answers

• What Is the Ruling regarding the Splashes of Urine on the Body? -Small splashes are excused due to it being difficult to avoid. Your previous prayers remain unaffected, and there is no need to worry.

Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.