Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Qibla.com » Wudu or Ghusl: Drops of Thick, Cloudy Stuff, & Dealing With Misgivings (Waswasa)

Wudu or Ghusl: Drops of Thick, Cloudy Stuff, & Dealing With Misgivings (Waswasa)

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Every time I pass stool “may be” or “may be not” a single drop of cloudy color oozes out before urine, I used to have doubt so I started checking, so whenever I check sometimes I find, sometimes there is only urine, now, I am concerned whether, should I be checking every time, so whenever I found a drop I will directly take ghusl. Respected Brother, what are the rulings in regards to such a situation, I feel that this is due to some illness, for which I am not very sure. What is my status if I did not check for the drop and there is already a single drop passed, still, I am praying my regular prayer without any ghusl? This problem of mine has put me in delirium.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

This “cloudy colored” liquid is called wady. There is absolutely no need to do ghusl for this liquid, by scholarly consensus.

Ibn Abidin explains:

When there is discharge of the thick, cloudy white fluid (wady) (that exits before or after urinating) or the un-lustful discharge of thin, sticky, white fluid (madhy) caused by play or kissing, it does not necessitate ghusl. However, it does necessitate wudu. [Hashiya Ibn Abdin]

There are two considerations:

First, exercise caution.

It is necessary that you check after you urinate and ensure that possible remaining urine drops pass by. This is absolutely necessary for men as mentioned in fiqh books. It is termed istibra (freeing oneself of urine drops). It entails ensuring that drops of urine have stopped, and that one’s heart is a at ease according to one’s habit, either by walking, coughing, lying down or any other method, such as gently pressing one’s penis or placing a tissue under one’s lower garment and walking. Methods may differ according to the severity of one’s problem. [Maraqi al-Falah] The essential thing is that one be free of urine (and, less commonly, the cloudy fluid called wady) before one does wudu, because anything that comes out during or after wudu invalidates one’s wudu. Along with this, it is recommended that one do this in a way that does not get even a small amount of filth onto one’s body or clothes.

Second, don’t have baseless misgivings.

It is essential that one not have baseless misgivings (waswasa). This usually occurs from ignorance of the sunna, as operationalized by the fuqaha, or by lack of intelligence (in one’s behavior). As such, we should take the proper means, as described above, and not go beyond them. Our legal responsibility (taklif) is within the limits of reason: Allah Most High has informed us, “Allah does not burden souls with more than they can manage.”

Once you have taken the reasonable means, the default assumption is that you are now free of urine. Then, we return to the important fiqh principle:

Certainty is not lifted by a doubt.

[Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa’l Nadha’ir, and Majallat al-Ahkam al-`Adiliyya]

This means that if one is certain about something, such as the purity of the carpet, with purity being the basic assumption for all things, then we will keep assuming it pure until certain that it has become impure.  Mere possibilities and likelihoods do not change this.

The important fiqh principles related to this matter include:

1.    Certainty is not lifted by doubt;

2.    Certainty is only lifted by another certainty;

3.    The default assumption about a matter is akin to certainty;

4.    The default assumption about all matters is validity and soundness;

5.    Mere doubts and suppositions are of no legal consequence.

As such, until you are certain that any urine has come out, you ignore it. It is not from caution to keep checking, and so on.

Ibn Abidin points out that following waswasa is blameworthy in the Shariah: it is from the Shaytan, and Allah Most High has commanded us to refuse his enticings.

The guidance of the Chosen One (Allah bless him & give him peace), whose guidance is the only guidance worth seeking, is that if one has such misgivings (after having taken the reasonable means) one should sprinkle water on one’s undergarments. Then, if one has doubts, one assumes that it is from the wetness of the sprinkling.

This deen is mercy. The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) is mercy. It is a means of mercy, success, and felicity. When one does not find this, one must be doing something wrong.

“Ask the people of remembrance when you know not,” Allah tells us in the Qur’an.

This is an important final point: when in doubt, one should not make up legal rulings. Rather, one should seek reliable knowledge, either from a reliable book one is able to understand or from persons of sound traditional learning.

May Allah grant us success in doing that which He loves.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.