Is the Hand Impure If It Touches the Excused Amount of Filth Twice?


Shafi'i Fiqh

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

If someone touches more than one type of excused filth, can one consider one’s hand still pure? If at 11 am, there’s a little water splash on one’s clothes while washing filth but it is less than 5 cm, then at 11:30 am, the same thing happens again. If we combine the two splashes, it will total to more than 5 cm, is this still considered pure?

Answer

If one’s hand touches filth, one type or more, it is considered to be affected by filth and should be rinsed.

In the Shafi’i school, impure substances (najasa) other than blood (dis: below) that are indiscernible by (A: average) vision are excusable, though if visually discernible, they are inexcusable. (A: That which is seen by a normal look is not excusable, while that which can only be seen by minute scrutiny is excusable) [The Reliance of the Traveller, p. 118]

Being splashed with impure water means that you would have to purify those areas before praying in those clothes. One rinse would be sufficient if the filthy water didn’t cause a smell, taste, or color to your clothing. Please check this:
Are Blood and Pus Considered Impurities in the Shafi’i School?

Please see this answer for the Hanafi point of view: Filthy Water on one’s Clothes

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqida, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, 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 later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.