Is My Wudu Valid If I Can’t Tell If the Smell Is from Passing Gas or Something Else?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
When doubting passing gas, I can’t tell if the smell is from it or something else, like something that could mask the smell. What should I do in this situation? Is my wudu still valid?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well.
If you felt the discharge of wind through your back passage, it is most likely from it, and if you didn’t feel any release, it is not. Don’t follow your doubt or smell; only consider the movement and opening of it.
Abbad Ibn Tamim (Allah be pleased with him) narrated, from his paternal uncle, that he complained to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) about when a man thinks that something has happened during the prayer. He said: “Do not stop unless you hear a sound or notice a smell.” [Bukhari]
Anything that exits the two openings will nullify wudu. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
Related:
Wet Dreams and Ritual Purity: A Reader – SeekersGuidance
A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) (seekersguidance.org)
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May Allah (Most High) give you ease and relief from all kinds of doubt and misgivings, amin.
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
