What is the Ruling of Using Soap When Washing Utensils and Smell Remaining on The Hands?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Please answer my question in detail. I’m suffering from OCD regarding purity/impurity. Whenever I try to overcome the OCD of some items being impure, it gets triggered by something else. Right now, it is from soap.
I washed utensils with the soap, which had some liquid impurities mixed with water that had fallen into it. After washing the dishes, the soap’s smell and stickiness remain on my hand even after washing it under tap water. And I touched everything in my house with wet hands, like my cell phone, dishes, etc. Does it all become impure? Please reply. I cry all day because of this, and I’m suicidal these days.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question. I am sad to hear about your state. Sorry for the delay.
You were washing the utensils with soap, which had impurities. The impurities have all been washed off. Do not worry at all. Remain calm and assured, and ignore this past incident and similar future incidents. Do not be suicidal; work on your mind that these are just whisperings and doubts and all future types of incidents, too.
Do Not Smell Hands
It is not a requirement to smell one’s hands. This will lead to doubts, misgivings, and overthinking, as you have mentioned.
Be Grateful, You’re in Good Hands
Be grateful Allah Most High has guided you with faith and good actions; you just need to stop over-worrying, carry on worshipping Allah, befriend righteous people, seek knowledge, and remain in good company, consultation, and seek advice from them. You will be fine in shaAllah.
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
- Are My Hands Pure, Although the Smell of Impurity Seems to Remain? (seekersguidance.org)
- Devil’s Tricks – The Path of Muhammad: Birgivi’s Manual of Taqwa Explained – Sh Faraz Rabbani – YouTube
- The Application of Islamic Psychotherapy for the Treatment of OCD
- Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (waswasa) – SeekersGuidance
- A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) (seekersguidance.org)
- (1) The Application of Islamic Psychotherapy for the Treatment of OCD~Dr. Hooman Keshavarzi – YouTube
- How to Handle Constant Waswasa in Acts of Purification and Worship
I would like you to go through this 2-hour long podcast. It will be highly beneficial and guide you through.
- Being Balanced – Emotional and Mental Health – Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat (seekersguidance.org)
- An Appraisal of Islamic Discourse on the Metaphysics of Suffering | Dr.Yusuf Jha | English – YouTube
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.
