How Does Loss of Sanity Break Wudu?
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
Could you please explain what is meant by “madness” – when discussing it as a nullifier of ablution?
Answer
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
Loss of sanity is defined as the loss of reason or as reason becoming defective. [Haskafi, Ifadat al-Anwar]
Loss of sanity is for the mental power to distinguish between the good and the bad to become defective to a point where it is not working at all. This could happen through one’s original constitution, through a sickness or poisoning, or through demonic possession. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Nassamat al-Ashar]
When it comes to wudu, wudu is invalidated when affected by loss of sanity because loss of sanity is even worse than sleep when it comes to awareness. Sleep invalidates wudu because one is unaware if one has lost wudu during one’s sleep and because the state of relaxation in sleep favors the occurrence of physical invalidators of wudu. These meanings are found in a state of madness, especially in the unawareness attached to this state. [Babarti, ‘Inaya]
Of course, during that time, if loss of sanity is temporary, one is not deemed legally responsible.
Allah (Most High) says: “Allah does not require of any soul more than what it can afford.” [Quran, 2:286]
Loss of Sanity and Lack of Judgment Are Two Different Things
Lack of judgment (in Arabic, “safa’,” literally stupidity) is a state through which human beings are inclined to perform actions that go against the Sacred Law (Shari‘a). These actions mainly revolve around squandering wealth without any sound purpose. Contrary to loss of sanity, which affects human beings despite them, the responsibility to suffer from lack of judgment is attributed to human beings. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Nassamat al-Ashar]
Someone merely suffering from a lack of judgment retains his full intellectual abilities. He is simply not using them properly. This is not the case with someone affected by loss of sanity who is unable to use his intellectual abilities. [Ibid]
Thus, lack of judgment will never be an excuse to avoid the default rulings of the Sacred Law applicable to any responsible and sane individual. [Ibid]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[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.
