Doubts about Cleanliness

Shaykh Salman Younas is asked if minute amounts of filth affect ritual purity.

I prayed my salah and after I came to washroom I found a drop of urine to the size of an ant, so I just soaked my hand with water and rubbed it gently, and did not squeeze that, and the stain was gone too. Please tell me whether I am tahir or najis?

You are not considered impure.

Even if you prayed with a small drop of urine on your body/clothing of the type you describe, this is excused. In the Hanafi school, the extent of approximately 5 cm, in diameter, is excused in liquid filth that is deemed “major filth,” such as urine. While it is best to remove such filth before praying, if one did pray while being effected by this amount of filth, the prayer is valid.

This ruling shows that there is leeway when it comes to the rulings of filth and impurities. As such, we should not be excessive in how we deal with this issue, nor fall into baseless misgivings. The base assumption that we hold regarding our bodies, clothing, place of prayer, etc., is that it is pure unless there is clear evidence to the contrary.

Salman

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.