Is Plucked Hair Pure?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question Summary
Is plucked hair pure? What is the ruling of towels or the like that have plucked hairs on them?
Question Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
The tips of the plucked hair that were beneath the skin before plucking are considered impure, and one can sometimes see a wetness on them. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
That said, the amount of impurity on a plucked hair is so insignificant that it should be ignored. Only if one has a very large gathering of plucked hairs should any concern of purity be given. Even then, the impurity of the plucked hairs does not transfer to other things such as towels, the epilator itself, the hairbrush, etc… thus, if the plucked hairs are removed, the object does not need to be washed.
Advise
Paying too much concern to the minute details of impurity leads to misgivings or worsens them. Regarding what is clearly concerning of impurity such as flowing blood, urine, stool, etc…, apply the principles of purification to them. That which is not of obviously concerning, like the above example, do not pay it much heed; and if you are prone to misgivings (waswasa), ignore them entirely.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
