Q: There was a time few years ago when, due to OCD, I would remain in a napaak state, na’oodhoobillah. One day my father insisted that I should make Wudhu and perform Salah as Shaytaan was playing with me.I did not want to perform Wudhu because I felt that my feet were napaak and therefore if I washed my feet and wore the slippers that my parents use & then walked in the room in which they perform Salah with wet feet, the carpet in that room would become napaak. I however had no choice but to do so. Hence I proceeded to wash my feet and walked in to their carpeted room.
Since this incident occurred a few years ago, I can’t recall if, whether at the time of wearing the slippers, prior to Wudhu, they were already wet, because if they were, any napaaki on my feet would have transferred to the slippers, which my parents use to perform Wudhu. I also do not know if my feet had urine, semen or other napaaki on them as the incident took place some time ago. Something in my mind is telling me that the immense mental discomfort I felt at the time of that incident means my feet must have been napaak. I proceeded to perform Wudhu & walked in my parents carpeted room with wet feet. I do not recall washing the slippers. I only washed my feet. Ever since that time, the following question has been on my mind: “What if the carpet is napaak, then all these years the Salah performed on it by them would be invalid & I would be liable on the Day of Judgement?” Recently whilst they were on holiday I took the opportunity to hire a carpet washing machine called rug doctor and washed the carpet at their house. I also washed all the slippers in the house to remove all doubt. It has been a few weeks since I washed the carpet & I have had no doubts that the carpet in their room had now become paak. Today however the following thought occurred to me: Whilst emptying the tank contains the dirty water in to the sink, water inevitably splashed out & on to the edge of the sink. In order to empty the container with the dirty water in it, I have to first balance the tank on the edge of the sink before emptying it. This is because the volume of water collected in it was a significant amount & therefore the dirty water tank is heavy. Logic tells me that some of the dirty water from the sink transferred on to the outside of the tank containing the dirty water. This tank is then re-attached to the machine and therefore the few drops of water on the outside inevitably drips in to the tank containing the clean water. I did not personally see this happening at the time because I was not aware of the potential of this happening. Secondly after emptying the tank in to the sink, a few drops will roll down the outside of the container. This container is then re-attached to the machine directly above the tank in to which clean water is poured in to, in order to wash the carpet. Logically, therefore a few drops would fall in to the clean water from the dirty container. In addition, whilst the machine is used, the water in the clean tank inevitably touches the outside of the tank containing the dirty water. This is evidenced by the fact that when the tank containing the dirty water is emptied, it is wet. This wetness could have only come about by the clean water within the machine touching the outside of the container which has the dirty water inside it.
Now I don’t know what to do. I feel like I need tell my parents to rewash the carpet, but if I do so, they will say it’s OCD & ignore me. They will also get worried that I am again plagued by doubts. No napaaki is visible on the carpet & it is highly unlikely that there is a smell of napaaki on it. Do I let them carry on performing Salah on the carpet & walking with wet feet on it, or do I tell them to re-wash it?
A: The carpet is paak. There is no need to rewash it.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & Approved:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)