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Cleaning Impurity

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Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question: How do I properly clean urine? If I step on a rug that is damp with impurity does the impurity transfer to my foot?

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

Important Note in Cleaning Impurity

With regards to cleaning impurities, such as urine, first, minimize the amount of impurity. Pouring water on urine will only spread the urine further. You should dry as much of it as possible then wash the area, being careful to minimize any spreading.

You may want to mop the floor once again to be cautious.

Regarding the rug that became damp during the process which you mentioned. If the water poured onto the urine spread to the rug, the rug would be impure as well. Your stepping on that damp rug would only cause your foot to be impure if there was a transference of wetness to the foot. [Hashiyah Ibn ‘Abidin]

In this case, it was correct for you to have washed your foot. [Hashiyah al-Tahtawi ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah}

In short, when dealing with impurities, the impurity should first be minimized, as best as possible. Secondly, it should be cleaned, carefully, such that the impurity doesn’t spread.

May Allah bless you

Allahu A’alam

[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.

Wudu and Prayer Time

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Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question: Assalamu alaykum

Does the exiting of a prayer time invalidate the ablution (wudu)?

Answer: Assalam alaykum,

The exiting of the prayer time does not invalidate the ablution. However if one is considered ‘excused’ by the Sacred Law the ablution terminates at the exiting of every prayer time.

One is only considered excused if, for example, they have a nose bleed and it never ceases for them to be able to make an ablution and prayer. [Maraqi al-Falah]

How To Deal With Waswasa

For the one who is constantly in doubt abandoning caution is often the best cure.

“As for the one who is often inflicted with 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.” [Hashiyah Ibn Abidin]

Knowledge

The long-term cure for these constant doubts is to seek a deeper understanding of Islamic Knowledge. With knowledge, Shaytan can not deceive you with his whispers and plots. I would advise that you find authentic scholars in you area and study with them a basic text in Islamic Jurisprudence.

Please note that SeekersGuidance.org has free classes available in Islamic Jurisprudence and many other subjects.

May Allah ease your difficulty
Allahu A’alam
Yusuf Weltch

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.

Does Touching My Uncle Nullify My Wife’s Wudu? (Shafi`i)

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Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question: Assalamu alaykum

If my wife touches my paternal or maternal uncle, does it invalidate his wudu? If I touch her maternal or paternal aunt, does it invalidate her wudu?

Answer: Yes, in the Shafi`i school, it does nullify the uncle’s ritual purity in the above case. The same applies to the aunt. The ritual impurity of both parties (in both cases) is nullified, the one who touched, and the one who was touched because of the skin-to-skin to contact.

Wassalam,
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad

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. Afterwards, 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.

Nosebleed and Wudu

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Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question: Assalamu alaykum

If a nosebleed occurs when blowing water in your nose, should you stop
blowing water into your nose? Also your nose wont be able to recover
because of constantly blowing water in your nose. Should you skip
blowing water?

Answer: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

I pray you are well.

Apologies, but I was unable to ascertain the exact scenario from your question. If you get a nosebleed when sniffing water into your nose, doing this gently still makes it bleed, you can skip this part of the wudu.

The same applies when blowing the water out of your nose. If you can blow gentle without making it bleed, do so. Otherwise, skip it.

You should intend that you would have followed this sunna if you did not have this problem preventing you. A good dhikr at this point would be:

سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ

“We hear and obey, Our Dear Lord. [We seek] your forgiveness, and to you alone is the ultimate return.” (2:285).

I hope that helps. May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.

Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.

In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.

His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.

When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.

Are You Making the Most of Your Wuḍūʼ? (Podcast Transcript) – By Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

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The following is a transcription of “Are You Making the Most of Your Wuḍūʼ?” podcast.

 

People ask: “What are the spiritual meanings of our ritual ablution?” – the wuḍūʼ. 

Very often people forget that the ritual ablution – wuḍūʼ – is an act of worship. Very often our wuḍūʼ turns into a routine: “I need to pray, so let me do my wuḍūʼ, let me finish my wuḍūʼ.” So sometimes it just becomes routine: “I’m doing this, so I can now go and pray.” 

And this is true, in that wuḍūʼ is a means to be able to pray, but it is at the same time an act of worship. So one needs to pay attention to it. 

Other people make a mistake with respect to the wuḍūʼ, in that they become excessive and fall into misgivings about it. They put all their focus on worrying and that is a mistake, because the Prophetic teachings give us a balance, that we do things in a right way, as best we can, but we attach our hearts not to our actions but to the One we are doing the actions for. 

So what is the wuḍūʼ? The word wuḍūʼ in Arabic, comes from waḍā’a, from radiance, and naẓāfa, cleanliness. So the purpose of wuḍūʼ is to clean oneself in a ritual manner to be ready to pray, and it is a means of radiance, because the outward washing has a sense of spiritual purification and spiritual illumination. 

So when we make wuḍūʼ we have to keep in mind that we begin the wuḍūʼ with intention: “Why am I making wuḍūʼ?” For the sake of Allāh. This is an act of worship. It contains a beautiful reminder that God loves purity, God loves beauty. So you are readying yourself for the encounter with your Beloved. 

So you begin with the intention. In fact, some of the great masters of spirituality, like Imām Aḥmad Zarrūq, he says that presence of heart in prayer begins with presence of heart in the ritual ablution, in the wuḍūʼ. So you begin with intention: “I am seeking Allāh through this action,” and you behold the meaning that each of the limbs that you wash, that you are seeking to rid it of blameworthy qualities, and to adorn it with the qualities of spiritual illumination, the qualities beloved to Allāh. So that when you wash your hands, intend to wash yourself of all acts that are sinful that you may have committed with your hands, in your dealings, in your actions. And to acquire with your effort, and your actions all those qualities that are beloved to Allāh. When you rinse your mouth, you intend to rid yourself of vile speech, and the consumption of anything that is displeasing to Allāh, and to characterize yourself with speech that is beloved to Allāh, of remembrance and supplication and recitation of Qur’ān, and speech that inspires others, that encourages others, that assists others. Likewise, when wash your face, you intend to wash away directing yourself in life towards all that is displeasing to Allāh, and to characterize yourself with those radiant concerns, the concerns for God Himself and for all that is beloved to Allāh in your life. When you wash your arms, the same meanings, that you be of those who receive their book of good deeds in their right hand, the hand in which the righteous receive their book of good deeds on the Day of Judgment, not to be of the people of perdition, those who receive their book of deeds in their left hand. That you perform the actions of the servants of good, not the actions of those who turn away. Likewise, with your feet, that you direct your feet towards all that is pleasing to Allāh, and that you rid yourself of directing yourself in life towards all that is displeasing to Allāh. 

In the ritual ablution, in the wuḍūʼ, not only is it from the Prophetic example to begin in the name of Allāh, by saying bismiLlāh, but it is also from Prophetic practice to remain in remembrance of Allāh throughout the wuḍūʼ, So with each of the actions that we perform, before you wash your mouth engage in remembrance, before you wash your face engage in remembrance. You can say lā ilāha illa Allāh, or subḥān Allāh, or to make a du’ā, make an interactive wuḍūʼ. With each action ask Allāh for meanings related to that particular action. This was not only from the broad Prophetic practice, but the early Muslims used to engage in frequent supplication at each of the stages of wuḍūʼ. In some of the great books of Islām, like the Beginning of Guidance by Imām al-Ghazālī, are suggested particular supplications that you can recite at each stage of your wuḍūʼ, and this is the kind of wuḍūʼ that results not just in physical cleanliness and then to be outwardly ready to pray, but it results in inward purification, inward radiance, and a spiritual readiness to pray. And this is why when we finish the wuḍūʼ, we take a sip of the water source from which we are making wuḍūʼ, and then we look up to the Heavens, we raise our finger, and we make the testification of faith, and we make the du’ā: 

“رَبِّي اجْعَلْنِيْ مِنَ التَّوَّابِيْنَ وَ اجْعَلْنِيْ مِنَ الْمُتَطَهِّرِيْنَ”

“Oh Lord, make me of the oft-repentant and make me of those who purify themselves completely!” 

And these are the two meanings of the ritual ablution: complete repentance and complete purification, illumination, and readiness for the prayer.

In Need of Advices for Ritual Purity.

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Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question: Assalamu alaykum

My condition is that I have an urge to frequently urinate.

I have seen that from 2 incidents that when I have actually gone to the bathroom I can see some substance thing at the tip.

The issue is that I cannot tell when this happens this I don’t know when my wudu is broken.

Would I be required to go to the bathroom prior to every prayer and check to see if anything has dried up?

I am looking to study the deen at a later point in my life. Could you please give me some advise and also are there examples of scholars of the past who have pursued the deen full time regardless of their illnesses?

Answer: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

I pray you are well.

Don’t Obsess

Let’s keep things simple. If you see something has come out and dried then you can assume it did so at the most recent moment possible. In other words, if you made wudu and prayed, and then half an hour later you went to the bathroom only to find a dried substance, you can assume it happened within the last few minutes. The amount of time it was take to exit an dry – so within 5 or 10 minutes.

Beyond that, you do not need to have a routine of checking. Make wudu and pray. If you need to renew it or go to the bathroom, do so. If you are certain something has exited renew your wudu.

Getting Help

In all likeliness the discharge you see is wadi (prostatic fluid). This discharge usually exits before or after urination, but can exit when pressure is exerted on the prostate when sitting, etc, if the prostate is enlarged. This symptom and the need to urinate are commonly found together. Sometimes the cause of these issues is psychosomatic, so therapies like EFT can help.

Try to find a good practitioner of Tradition Chinese Medicine, as TCM can easily remedy you symptoms.

Don’t worry about ‘opening the hole’ and checking. This might open up a can of worms which will only complicate matters.

Studying and Trials

Your intention to go and study the region is commendable, and a huge blessing from Allah. Make your intention for Him alone, and find a reliable scholar and consult with him every step of the way.

As for trials – whether they take the form of illness, finances, or otherwise – they come no matter what. You can think of them as an occupational hazard. They are the means by which Allah helps a person grow.

Everyone is tested. In fact, there are many instances of the ulema serving the umma selflessly through teaching, writing, or otherwise, whilst mountains of trials are crumbling upon them. What is amazing is that Allah give them the ability to persist and keep serving the Muslims despite what they endure.

Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghudda wrote a whole book (Safahat Min Sabr al Ulamaʾ – Pages from the Patience of the Scholars) on the matter.

Make your intention for Allah and follow through. Know that what hits you was never going to miss, and what misses you was never going to hit. If Allah tests you He will also give you the ability to get through the tests too.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.

Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.

In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.

His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.

When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.

Praying and Cold Weather.

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Answered by Shaykh Jamir Meah

Question: Assalamu alaykum

I want to pray five times a day but my problem is that sometimes I feel too lazy to make ablution because of cold weather. Please suggest me ways or alternatives so that I don’t miss my prayers just because of laziness of making ablution.

Answer: Wa’alaykum assalam, I hope you’re well inshallah.

Sometimes it can be quite hard to get oneself motivated to renew ablution during cold weather, but prayers are obligations which must be fulfilled, so we must brace ourselves and make wudu regardless of the weather.

Suggestions

Perhaps the following suggestions will be of benefit to you:

1. Remember that sins are washed away with each wash of the limbs in wudu, and that we are preparing to meet Allah each time we stand in prayer, so we should want to be pure in every way for these occasions.

2. Make sure you have warm water available.

3. Have a bathroom heater fitted and have a heater in your room turned on at those times.

4. While generally it is disliked to wipe away the water from wudu on one’s limbs (because of suggestion 1), if you need to due to the cold, then have a towel on hand to dry yourself as soon as you finish wudu, or even after each limb washed.

5. Consider wearing khuffs which will save you washing your feet in wudu.

6. If you need to, you may restrict your washes to the minimum one wash for each limb and not perform the sunna of three washes.

7. If you really feel you may miss prayers due to this issue, then you may consider praying two prayers closer together, for example, you pray Dhur closer to the entrance of Asr (while ensuring there is ample time to pray Dhur on time) and Asr at it’s earliest time etc. However, this should only be resorted to out of real necessity and fear of missing prayers, and one should be reasonably confident that they will remember to pray the prayer at the later time (Dhur in our example). Generally, it is always best to pray prayers at their earliest times when possible.

8. Pray to Allah to keep laziness away using this supplication:

اَللّهُمَّ إِنِّيْ أَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعِجْزِ ، وَالْكَسْلِ، وَالْجُبْنِ ، وَالْهَرَمِ ، وَالْبُخْلِ ، وَأَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، وَأَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ

‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, anxiety and sorrow, and I seek refuge in You from the torments of grave, and I seek refuge in You from the trials and tribulations of life and death’. [Sahih Muslim]

I hope the above is of use.

Warmest salams,
[Shaykh] Jamir Meah

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. In 2007, he traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years studying the Islamic sciences on a one-to-one basis under the foremost scholars of the Ribaat, Tarim, with a main specialization and focus on Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies in a range of Islamic sciences, as well as teaching. Jamir is a qualified homeopath. 

Drought and Wudu.

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Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Assalam aleykum

Cape Town, South Africa is still experiencing a major drought and we try to introduce measures to reduce water wastage. Considering that one can sometimes waste water taking wudoo by a tap I wanted to know if it permissible to take Wudoo using the same bottle one cleans oneself for Istinja?

Answer: assalamu alaykum

As long as the bottle is pure, which is the basic assumption unless there is clear proof to the contrary, then it would be valid to use it for wudu’.

On an additional note, your concern to preserve water is very noble. God willing, you will be rewarded for this action, especially in a context where there is an actual shortage of this essential resource. The Prophet (blessings upon him) advised his companions not to waste water when performing ablution stating that wastefulness applies to ablution ” even if you were on the banks of a flowing river.” (Ibn Maja) Similarly, someone who reflects on the Qur’anic verses relating to water will realize what an enormous blessing it is.

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas  graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman where he spent five years studying Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford and continues his traditional studies with scholars in the United Kingdom.

Wudu and Water Wastage.

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Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Assalam aleykum

Cape Town, South Africa is still experiencing a major drought and we try to introduce measures to reduce water wastage. Considering that one can sometimes waste water taking wudoo by a tap I wanted to know if it permissible to take Wudoo using the same bottle one cleans oneself for Istinja?

Answer: assalamu alaykum

As long as the bottle is pure, which is the basic assumption unless there is clear proof to the contrary, then it would be valid to use it for wudu’.

On an additional note, your concern to preserve water is very noble. God willing, you will be rewarded for this action, especially in a context where there is an actual shortage of this essential resource. The Prophet (blessings upon him) advised his companions not to waste water when performing ablution stating that wastefulness applies to ablution ” even if you were on the banks of a flowing river.” (Ibn Maja) Similarly, someone who reflects on the Qur’anic verses relating to water will realize what an enormous blessing it is.

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas  graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman where he spent five years studying Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford and continues his traditional studies with scholars in the United Kingdom.

Does the Collection of Fluid Under One’s Skin Invalidate One’s Ablution?

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Shaykh Abdurrahim Reasat answers a question related to the discharge of fluid under one’s skin and its effect on ablution, according to the Hanafi school of thought. In addition, he clarifies what is meant by an external agent.

 

Question:

Assalamu alaikum,
I am slightly confused regarding what is meant by an external agent in http://seekershub.org/ans-blog/2014/07/21/wudu-and-flowing-filth/.
In my case I washed my feet in the sink and one of my toes had a patch of peeled skin, caused from wearing new shoes. By me walking normally and the normal pressures applied on the foot be considered an external agent i.e. considered similar to squeezing? The little liquid that did exit didn’t go beyond the peeled skin, but is it considered pure despite the above, and does anything need to be washed?

Answer:

Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

The scenario you described above does not invalidate your wudu, and, because the liquid didn’t pass beyond the point of exit, your foot is deemed pure. Nothing needs to be washed.

The ‘agent’ referred to above would be anything which would make the blood/liquid exit and flow, such as squeezing.

The liquid is considered to have flowed if it exits and flows due to its own momentum. (Midani, al Lubab).

Don’t try to over-think it. The principle is simple. Remember, the Messenger of Allah said, “Indeed, the [practice of] the religion is ease itself, and no one makes the religion hard on themselves except that it overwhelms them.” (Bukhari).

I hope that helps.

Abdul-Rahim

 

 

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani