How Can I Wash a Filthy Item in a Container?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
How can I wash a filthy item in a container? Is it permissible to use washing machine?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
Washing an Item That Can Be Squeezed into a Container
You will have to immerse the impure item in a container three times while squeezing the item as hard as you can after each washing until the dropping of water stops to deem the item pure. You will have to change the container’s water after each washing or use three different containers.
If the item is fragile, you don’t have to use your full force when squeezing it.
Shaykh Khalid Kharsa, may Allah protect him, adds that in this situation, common sense entails taking some water from the container for each washing and washing the item outside of the container instead of going through the trouble of emptying the container for each washing.
Another great practical advice mentioned by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, may Allah protect him, is to wash the filth outside of the container and complete the washing of the item inside the container.
Washing an item that cannot be squeezed into a container
You will have to immerse the impure item in the container three times and wait until the dropping of water stops to deem the item pure. You will have to change the container’s water after each washing or use three different containers.
If this item that cannot be squeezed is not an item that absorbs filth, you can simply remove the filth by wiping it with a wet tissue.
Important considerations
- Washing three times is not actually required. If you are reasonably sure that the item is pure after one washing, you don’t have to wash it anymore. [Quduri, Mukhtasar]
If you suffer from misgivings (waswas) then you can be certain that the item is pure after three washings. Trying to wash it more than that can actually be sinful because you would be following baseless misgivings which have satanic origins.
Allah, Most High, says: “Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy.” [Quran, 35:6]
- Simply putting any of these items under running water (such as a tap or a shower) and waiting until one is reasonably sure that the filth is gone is enough to deem the item pure. In this case squeezing, or waiting for the item to dry are unnecessary.
[Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Tahtawi, Hashiya ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]
Allah, Most High, says: “‘Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship” [Quran, 2:185]
Washing Machine
Please see: Washing Filthy Clothing in the Washing Machine
And Allah knows best.
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found.
Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.
He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
