Question:
How do I deal with doubts regarding the purity of clothing, if I cannot remember whether it was pure or not?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate,
All doubts with regards to impurity are to be ignored. The basis is that everything is purity. Since purity is the basis, you must be reasonably sure of the presence of impurity to deem the garment impure.[Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
Furthermore, there is a certain amount of impurity that is excused where the prayer remains valid despite its presence. The excused amount is 5 grams of weight for solids and 5cms in surface area for liquids. [Ala’ al-Din Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]
Forgetting Impurity
If you cannot remember whether or not a garment is pure, consider it pure, and act accordingly until and unless you recall with reasonable surety the contrary.
If you are sure of the presence of impurity on a garment, however, you forgot the location of the impurity, then estimate to the best of your ability and wash that one section. By doing this, the garment is considered pure, despite the possibility that you may be wrong. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
Advice
Piety is to do what Allah Most High wants from you in each situation. Allah Most High tells us that He does not charge anyone beyond their capabilities and that He has not put upon us any undue hardship in the religion. [Qur’an: 2: 286 and 22:78]
With these in mind, remember that you are not responsible for anything beyond your ability nor are you required to put yourself in undue hardship to fulfill your duties.
Acting on doubts and inspecting for impurities are both beyond one’s ability and unduly hard. Therefore, you are only charged with acting on that which you are reasonably sure about or certain – all else ignore! Your ignoring of doubts is piety and will draw you nearer to Allah.
I hope this helps,
Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani