How Do I Deal with Misgivings Related to Impurities?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I am facing a lot of waswas. I took medication for an infection that made my stomach weird. I pooped and flushed and washed it. I waited to pee, and when I got up, there were bits of poop at the bottom of the toilet.

It likely came from me without knowing, as the medicine is known to make your stomach weird.

I washed thoroughly before I got up, but I didn’t wash my butt with my hand. My question is that when I get up, some water drips on my legs. Is that water, najis? I didn’t think to wash my legs, and I’m trying not to give into waswas. I wiped myself with a towel. After the thought occurred, I was unsure how much I should clean. Whether the towel, the floor, or doorknobs, my phone is najis. Sorry for the inconvenience. An early reply will be deeply appreciated. Thank you

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Know that issues related to purification are not based on conjecture, assumptions, or ‘what ifs’. Therefore if you are not reasonably sure or confident about any matter, ignore it completely. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Never give into these misgivings because they are baseless and satanic deceptions.

It is sufficient for you to wash even if you do not use your hands. Impurities do not transfer to everything you touch. Especially if there is no certainty that impurities are even present. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Take the following practical steps:

• After using the toilet, wipe with toilet paper three times
• Then wash with water until you feel the friction of your skin
• Precede to make wudu and ignore any thoughts

Any wetness that remains on your hand, legs, backside, etc… are all pure [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Note that your prayer is valid even if you did not do any of the above steps, and immediately after relieving yourself, you made wudu and prayed without wiping or washing.

That is because the amount of impurity that remains would rarely go beyond the excused amount of 5 grams in weight for solids and 5 cm in diameter for liquids.
[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.