Does Cleaning My Private Parts after Relieving Myself Cause Filth?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

When I do istinja after urinating, my testicles are hanging. Therefore, the water that falls off the tip goes onto my testicles. I always used to have this issue and would have to wash my testicles and then my thighs, as a result of my OCD.

My teacher told me to do istijmar with tissue and after that the tip where urine came out from is purified. So when I pour water for istinja, I shouldn’t worry about it going onto my testicles because it is already pure.

Now I’ve read online that istijmar doesn’t purify. Is this true? Have I been getting urine everywhere now because I didn’t wash my testicles too? If water does fall from the tip onto my testicles while pouring, do I assume it gets washed with the tip as I pour water at least twice?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

You can assume that the water that is running over your testicles is pure.

The water that you are pouring over your penis and that runs after that over your testicle is most likely pure from the first pouring because this water is running and the traces of urine (smell, color, taste) are not manifested in this running water. Especially if you have first wiped the tip of your penis as advised by your teacher. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

The certainty of the purity of the water you are pouring is not lifted by the subsequent doubts regarding its purity. [Majalla]

In your situation we apply the following fiqh principle:

“Certainty is not lifted by a doubt.” [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Nadha’ir; Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adiliyya]

which in turn is based on the following verse of the Quran:

“Most of them follow nothing but conjectures. Surely, conjectures are of no avail in the matter of truth at all.” [Quran, 10:36]

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.