How Can I Efficiently Perform Wudu Even With a Lot of Discharge?
Question: For the past 2 months I have experienced difficulty with purification. I have a lot of discharge, and it takes me about 30 minutes in the bathroom to wash and make wudu for each prayer. I am always 20-30 min late for salah because of this although I get up as soon as the adhan is called. What should I do?
Answer:
Assalamu alaykum,
Thank you for your question. Sister, it should not take you this long to purify, even a person in menstruation or taking a shower doesn’t take this long in the bathroom. Please specify what exactly you do in there.
Steps To Wash and Make Wudu
If you have excessive discharge, you can simply wash it after you use the bathroom; it should get washed away while you are doing istinja. Then you should dry very well because leaving the private parts wet can lead to infection, especially if your underwear is not 100% cotton.
Then you should make wudu, which can be done within a few minutes, even with the sunnas. Please consider taking a course on your basic fiqh, right here at Seekers, to empower you with the knowledge you need to worship easily and without stress.
Two Principles
1) Do not waste water. Most people will waste water when they keep washing rigorously and absent-mindedly when it is unnecessary.
2) Do not let the Devil persuade you with baseless misgivings. It is his job to make you feel that you are doing everything wrong. Do not let him get into your head and know that most people take under five minutes in the bathroom to wash and make wudu. Please see these links:
Excessive Discharge
If you have excessive discharge, and if you are married, you may consider blocking the exiting of your discharge with an organic tampon or the like, to avoid doubts.
Otherwise, if you are Hanafi, you do not need to wash away the discharge because it is pure, and when it exists, it does not invalidate one’s ablution either. Please see this link:
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/hanafi-fiqh/do-all-vaginal-discharges-invalidate-my-wudu/
In the Shafi’i school, you would need to only renew your wudu, and there would be no need to purify, as clear white discharge for us is also pure. The details are here:
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/vaginal-discharge/
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
