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What Should I Do if I Fear That My Prayer and Ghusl are Not Accepted?

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Question: What should I do if I fear that my prayer and ghusl are not accepted?
Answer: 
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Your fear of your deeds not being accepted is a good feeling to have as it shows humility and an acknowledgment of our shortcomings in worshipping Allah Most High as He deserves to be worshipped.
However, fear of this nature can become excessive and therefore detrimental to a person. Consider the following steps to determine whether your fear is good or excessive.
Validity of Actions
Being afraid that one’s actions are not accepted because they don’t meet the requirements of validity is problematic for many reasons. The believer is commanded to seek knowledge.
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim” [Ibn Majah].
The knowledge referred to in this narration is a level of knowledge by which one can fulfill their religious obligations in a correct and sound manner [Birgivi, al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya].

For this reason, the Believer has no right to merely fear that their deeds are invalid, rather they are obliged to make their actions valid in accordance with the sound teachings of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace).

Misgiving and Doubts (Waswasa)
If one’s fear is merely due to baseless doubts, what-ifs, and conjectures about their deeds they must abandon such doubts and act only on the basis of reasonable surety and certainty.
For the one who is constantly in doubt abandoning caution is often the best cure.
“As for the one who is often inflicted with misgivings (waswasa), it is necessary for them to sever the cause of the waswasa and not to give it any consideration. This is because it is the doing of Shaytan and we have been commanded to oppose him” [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar].
Allah Most High tells us, “…for ˹it is˺ He ˹Who has chosen you, and laid upon you no hardship in the religion…” [Qur’an; 22:78].
If you find yourself in undue hardship in the religion, it is a sign that something is wrong and you should consult a local scholar regarding the issue.
Fear of Acceptance

It is a good quality for the Believer to have a level of fear in regard to their deeds not being accepted. This fear stems from our belief that no matter what we do of righteous works, Allah Most High deserves greater than that. However, if this fear becomes excessive, it may lead one to despair.It is sufficient as a consolation that Allah Most High says, “Say, ˹O Prophet, that Allah says,˺ “O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” [Qur’an; 39:53].

For this reason, it is important for the Believer to have both hope and fear. We hope that Allah, out of His Divine Mercy, accepts our deeds, however, we fear that our deeds were deficient and could have been performed better, with more presence of heart or more sincerity etc…

This brings us to one last point which is that the Believer must have a good opinion of Allah Most High.

Having a Good Opinion of Allah

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) narrates that Allah Most High says, “I am according to My slave’s opinion of Me; So let them think of Me as they wish…” [Tabarani].

In another narration, Allah Most High says, “I am according to My slaves’ opinion of Me. If they think of Me in a good way, then they have it (i.e. good) and if they think of Me in a bad way, they have it (i.e. bad)” [Ahmad].

Summary

Remind yourself that Allah Most High wants you to succeed and He wants to show you His mercy. The fact that you are concerned about your faith shows that He has concern for you. Had He not cared about you, He would have made your concern about otherworldly things.

Strive to learn your faith, start with the basic foundation of knowledge regarding Islamic beliefs, Worships, and Spirituality, and strive to implement what you learn.

Whenever you slip, turn back to Allah Most High, ask for forgiveness, and return to striving.

May Allah grant you the success of this life and the next and bless you with that which only He can give.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh]Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a graduate from Tarim; a student of Habib Umar and other luminaries; and authorized teachers of the Qur’an and the Islamic sciences

When Does One Need to Perform Ghusl From a Wet Dream?

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Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question: When does one need to perform ghusl from a wet dream?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Hope this finds you in the best of faith

Noticing Wetness When Awaking

If you wake up and notice wetness you must perform ghusl regardless of whether you saw any dreams or not. If you have a dream but do not see any wetness when awaking ghusl is not necessary. The basis in this matter is the wetness, not the dream.

When Does A State of Impurity Occur?

The ghusl will only be necessary when semen comes out to the visible surface of the private part. Thus, you are not obliged to push out the semen. If it has not come out to the surface you are still pure and only when it comes out fully will you need to perform ghusl.

Applying Caution

Although it is not obligatory to check oneself for impurity when awaking a quick glance would be a cautious stance for one who often has nocturnal emissions. If nothing is visible when you are not in a state of impurity.

[Reference: Maraqi al-Falah; Hashiyah Ibn Abidin]

May Allah bless you

Allahu A’alam

[Shaykh] Yusuf WeltchDre

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a graduate from Tarim; a student of Habib Umar and other luminaries; and authorized teachers of the Qur’an and the Islamic sciences.

Ghusl and Make Up Prayers

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Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

Alhamdulillah after many years I finished my make ups. I didn’t know that scholars mention to put your finger in your bellybutton when making ghusl. It seems even without this though in modern showers plenty of water gets into my bellybutton. Is it pretty safe (ghalabat dhann) to assume that water got in and I can consider all my prayers done?

Answer:

Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

Given the amount of water used in prevalent, powerful showers, it would seem to be safe to assume that water reached the area, even if you didn’t specifically wash the navel.

The basis is that you have to ensure that water reaches your entire outer body, yet including mouth and nose as they are legally both from the inner and outer body. Allah Most High says, “If you are in a state of full impurity, then take a full bath.” (Sura al-Ma’ida 5:6) And it is reported that the Blessed Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to rinse his mouth and nose in his ritual bath (ghusl) without fail. (Bukhari)

Keep in mind that there is a difference between bathing or showering to lift major ritual impurity (janaba), and merely doing so for cleanliness or to attain a sunna. In the latter case, rinsing your mouth and nose, and getting water to your navel would be from completion, and a sunna, but not an obligatory duty.

Now that you’ve finished making up your missed prayers, you should strive to ensure you have no other religious debts due, such as missed fasts, zakat or end of Ramadan charity (sadaqat al-fitr) and the like. Thereafter, work on lifting your monetary debts, if any, and learning about the unlawful (haram) and removing it from your life. Continue to ask Allah Most High to grant your facilitation and sincerity in seeking His pleasure.

(Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, with Tahtawi’s Gloss (1.152/156); al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya)

And Allah Most High knows best.

Wassalam,

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.

Ritual Bath and Retainer

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Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question: Assalamu alaykum

What is the ruling regarding the validity of ghusl if one has a retainer in their mouth?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is permissible to keep the retainer in your mouth. Especially if there is direct need in doing so. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

If the retainer can be taken out without undue hardship or any perceived harm, it should be removed for the sake of ghusl. However, if it is not removable or removing it will cause difficulty, it is not necessary to remove, and the ghusl is valid. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Hope this helps
Allahu A’alam

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a graduate from Tarim; student of Habib Umar and other luminaries; and authorized teachers of Qur’an and the Islamic sciences.

Permanent Dental Retainer and Wudu

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Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan is asked about the validity of wudu and ghusl when wearing a permanent retainer.

I have a permanent retainer fixed to my top teeth. If they are removed my teeth will move.

In the past I have committed sins but now I want to do the right thing.

In terms of prayers will my wudu be valid with the fixed retainer? Before having the fixed braces put in I wasn’t making ghusl and had the bad habit. Does that mean I will not be in a state of purity unless the permanent brace is removed?

I don’t want my teeth to move, but I want my prayers, wudu, and ghusl to be accepted too.

Shukran for your question.

The presence of a retainer in your mouth does not impact the validity or invalidity of your wudu or ghusl.

In the Shafi‘i and Maliki schools, rinsing ones mouth (madmadah) in wudu and ghusl is not compulsory, but recommended. Even if you were to omit the madmadah all together, your wudu and gusl will still be valid.

In addition, it is not a requirement that the entire inside of the mouth be rinsed during madmadah. Accordingly, madmadah will be valid with the presence of retainers or braces in one’s mouth.

And Allah knows best.

Abdurragmaan Khan

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

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Speaking in the Bathroom

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Shaykh Farid Dingle is asked about the permissibility of speaking in a place that is built for relieving oneself such as a bathroom.

Question:

Assalam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

What is the ruling in the Shafi‘i school about speaking beside the sink in a bathroom if one is far from the toilet?

Jazak Allah khayr.

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

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

Speaking in a place built for relieving oneself is permissible does not any name of Allah or any other noble name, and one is not in the process of relieving oneself. This is the position of Ibn Hajar al Haytami. According to a number of other late Shafi‘i scholars, it would still be offensive. (Al-Hawashi al-Madaniyya)

That said, given that the discussions of the Shafi’i on this topic revolve around ‘a place build for relieving oneself’ or ‘a filthy place’, are modern bathrooms, that are built both for relieving oneself and for washing, especially large ones that are kept clean—are they really the same as what our scholars were talking about?

The default is that they are. However, what we have seen and heard from some modern Shafi‘i scholars is that by being at a distance from the toilet itself, or by the toilet seat being down, they no longer consider a person to be in a place built for relieving oneself or “a filthy place,” and hence they do not find any problem in speaking or even saying Allah’s name or the like in such places.

So in answer to the question, the default is that either permissible or offensive, as mentioned above, to talk next to a sink in a bathroom with a toilet. However, it may well be simply permissible given the nature of certain modern bathrooms.

And Allah knows best.

Farid

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

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Purity of Bathtub

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Ustadh Salman Younas answers a question on purity and the use and cleaning of bathtubs for ghusl if there is urine in the water.

Question:

Assalam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

According to the Hanafi madhab, how do I purify a bathtub if a little bit of urine comes out.

We use a stool and bucket, so would all that need to be purified as well? If yes, does it all need washing three times and letting them dry in between the washes, or would merely passing water over everything make it pure?

Jazak Allah khayr.

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

If urine does exit while one is in a bathtub (and one should not assume it has unless they actually see it), all you have to do is wash it away with water.

The stool and bucket will not have to be washed unless they are actually effected by filth. Even then, all you have to do is pour water over the area where the filth is and wash it away. There is no need to wash it three times.

Wassalam,

Salman

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

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Do I Have to Use a Sink to Perform a Ritual Bath If My Shower Doesn’t Work? [Shafi’i]

Must I Make Wudu after Ghusl?

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Ustadh Tabraze Azam is asked if it is necessary to perform ablution (wudu) immediately after one has had a ritual bath (ghusl).

Question:

Assalam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

Is it necessary to make wudu after taking a bath, even if I am naked in the bathroom?

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

No, if you perform a ritual bath (ghusl), you have entered the state of ritual purity and thus no longer need a separate ablution (wudu) in order to pray.

You shouldn’t remain completely undressed unnecessarily, but if you did for some reason, it wouldn’t affect your ritual purity because no filth exited from your body.

Please also see: https://seekersguidance.org/answers/hanafi-fiqh/the-ritual-bath-ghusl-obligatory-recommended-and-disliked-acts/

And Allah Most High knows best.

Wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

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Invalid Ghusl, Prayer, and the Fast

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Shaykh Abdul Rahim Reasat is asked about the conditions of a valid ghusl and if not having a valid ghusl invalidates the fast.

Question:

Assalam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

I got my first period when I was around ten years old. I was told that I would have to take a bath once it was over in order to uplift the impurity, but I was never taught the proper steps involved in the ghusl. I simply continued taking a bath for many, many years and thought that I had become pure.

Just recently came to know that what I was doing was completely wrong, and it’s really made me upset knowing that I prayed and fasted many Ramadans in a state of impurity.

My question is that, in addition to making up the missed prayers, do I have to make up all the fasts of Ramadan, too?

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

I pray you are well.

Purity is simple.

A valid ghusl is very simple. All a person has to do is rinse the mouth and nose, and make water flow over the rest of the body. There is very little to do to render it invalid.

If you submit another question with the reason why you think your ghusls have been invalid, it may be the case that they were valid – if not in the Hanafi school, then perhaps in another.

If the ghusls were indeed invalid then you would have to repeat all the prayers that were performed invalidly, but not the fasts. Purity is not a condition for the validity of a fast. (Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah).

If they were invalid, see it as it being better for you to realize it in this world, so you can have the reward of compensating for this deficiency, and as a means for you to draw closer to Allah.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.

Abdul-Rahim

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

Is Ghusl Valid If I Wash My Mouth More Than Three Times?

Does Filth Touching the Skin Render a Ghusl Invalid?

Can I Wear the Same Clothes I Was Wearing Before Performing a Ghusl (Ritual Bath)?

Waswasa and Ghusl in the Shafi‘i School

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Shaykh Qasim Hatem is asked about the rulings on waswasa in the Shafi‘i school and how to handle misgivings in relation to purification.

Question:

Assalam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

I require an answer according to the Shafi‘i school.

1. After taking a ghusl, when I rub myself dry with a towel body hair, and hair from my beard and head fall out. I also get very itchy so I usually scratch myself and this obviously results in some skin coming off even though it can’t really be seen. After this if I remember that I forgot to wet a certain part on my body in the ghusl, then will only washing that place suffice or must I wash the areas from where hair has fallen out and also where I’ve scratched myself?

I do suffer from waswasa and it badly affects my life. Would you say that the above are also waswasa? And, in such situations should I simply wash the area that was left out ignoring the places where hair has fallen out from etc., that I understand need re-washing?

2. Even during ghusl and wudu, if ever get an itch somewhere then I either don’t scratch it until I’ve finished or if I do scratch the place the I’ll repeat the washing of that place.

According to the rules of the book this understanding would probably be correct but I wanted to ask if I should ignore this because it seems like waswasa and delving into fine details.

Should I ignore these things?

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

I pray all is well with you. I’m sorry for the late reply. May Allah give you success in this life and the next. Amin.

1. Once you’ve made the intention for fard ghusl and washed the skin and hair on the body, then you don’t have to re-wash the parts you already washed, even if some of the skin or hair comes off before you wash the whole body. You just have to wash the part that you left out of the ghusl.

Yes, it does sound like a case of waswasa and you should just ignore the places where skin and hair had fallen out in this situation.

2. Once you wash the limbs of wudu in wudu, then you don’t have to return to them, even if you scratch them before you finish your wudu. This also sounds like it could be waswasa and would be better to ignore.

I hope this helps.

Wassalam,

Qasim Hatem

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