She did not know that madhiy invalidates wudoo’; should she repeat the prayers?

Does a woman sin if she has sexual thoughts before marriage? Is she sinful if something comes out of her, as she feels aroused by any small reason? Please answer my question quickly as I am really worried. I did not know that there is something called madhi, and I never renewed my wudu’ when it comes out.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

A woman does not sin just because sexual thoughts cross her mind, so long as they are not accompanied by doing or looking at (anything haraam), or turn into resolve to do something. That is because of the reports which indicate that a person is forgiven for his or her thoughts. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has forgiven my ummah for whatever crosses their mind so long as they do not speak of it or act upon it.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2528) and Muslim (127). 

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, commenting on this hadeeth: A person’s thoughts, so long as he does not persist in them or dwell on them, are forgiven according to scholarly consensus, because he has no control over them occurring and there is no way that he can be free of all thoughts. End quote from al-Adhkaar (p. 345). 

And he said: The reason why what we have mentioned is forgiven is because it is difficult to avoid it; what is possible is to avoid persisting in it. Hence continuing to think of it and resolving to do it is haraam. 

Undoubtedly giving one’s mind free reign to continue thinking of these things may lead to one doing haraam things, in order to fulfil one’s desires, so a person may end up masturbating or looking at haraam images and so on. 

Hence you should stop thinking about these things and divert your thoughts from them, and occupy yourself with acts of worship and obedience to Allaah, and things that will benefit you in your religious and worldly affairs. 

See also the answer to question no. 20161.

 Secondly: 

Madhiy is usually emitted when desire is provoked. It is naajis and invalidates wudoo’, but its najaasah is light and it is sufficient to wash the private part and sprinkle the clothes with water in order to purify it. 

See the answer to questions no. 2458 and 99507. 

If madhiy is emitted due to a mere passing thought, then one is not sinning. 

Thirdly: 

If you were unaware of the ruling on madhiy and that it invalidates wudoo’, and you offered some prayers when it was present, then your prayers are valid according to the more correct view, because you were excused due to your not knowing. 

This also applies to one who is unaware of some of the things that invalidate wudoo’, such as one who is unaware that eating camel meat invalidates wudoo’, then he prays. His prayer is valid. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: based on this, if a person does not purify himself as required because the text has not reached him – such as if he eats camel meat and does not do wudoo’, then the texts reaches him and it becomes clear to him that wudoo’ is obligatory in this case, or he prays in a camel pen because the text has not reached him and has not become clear to him – does he have to repeat past prayers? There are two opinions concerning this, both of which were narrated from Ahmad.  

A similar case is if he touches his penis and prays, then he is told that it is obligatory to do wudoo’ after touching the penis. 

The correct view in all these cases is that it is not obligatory to repeat the prayers, because Allaah forgives mistakes and forgetfulness, and because He says (interpretation of the meaning): “And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning)” [al-Isra’ 17:15]. If the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning a specific matter has not reached a person, then the ruling that it is obligatory has not been proven to him. Hence when ‘Umar and ‘Ammaar became junub and ‘Umar did not pray whilst ‘Ammaar prayed after rolling in the dust, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not tell either of them to repeat the prayer. Similarly, when Abu Dharr became junub and did not pray for several days, he did not tell him to make up the prayers; and he did not tell the Sahaabah who ate until the white thread became distinct from the black to make up that fast; and he did not tell those who prayed facing Jerusalem before news of the abrogation to make up those prayers reached them. 

This also includes the woman who suffers from istihaadah (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding) who does not pray for a while, because she thinks that prayer is not obligatory for her. There are two views as to whether making up the prayers is obligatory for her, one of which is that she does not have to make them up, as was narrated from Maalik and others, because when the woman who suffered from istihaadah said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “I have been bleeding severely, heavily and awfully, and it prevented me from praying and fasting,” he told her what she had to do in the future, and he did not tell her to make up past prayers. End quote from Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (21/101). 

We ask Allaah to guide you, forgive you and protect you. 

And Allaah knows best.

Changing one’s clothes does not break wudoo’

I did a search on this site but could not find an answer to my question. My question is regarding wudu. If I change my dress do I break my wudu? Is there any difference in this rule between a woman and a man?

Praise be to Allaah.

Changing clothes does not break one’s wudoo’, if the person is in a state of tahaarah (purity) and does not do any of the things that break wudoo’. Men and women are the same in this regard. And Allaah knows best. 

The things that break wudoo’ are: 

1 – Any discharge from the front or back passage (urine, stools, wind, etc.), except for wind emitted from a woman’s front passage – that does not break wudoo’. 

2 – Emission of urine or stools from anywhere other than the urethra or anus. 

3 – Losing one’s mind, which may mean losing it altogether by losing one’s mental faculties, which is insanity, or by losing it temporarily for a certain length of time for some reason such as sleep, unconsciousness, intoxication, etc. 

4 – Touching one’s penis, because of the hadeeth of Basrah bint Safwaan, who heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Whoever touches his penis, let him do wudoo’.” (narrated by Abu Dawood, al-Tahaarah, 154. al-Albaani said in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, no. 166, it is saheeh). 

5 – Eating camel meat, because of the hadeeth of Jaabir ibn Samurah, who said that a man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Should we do wudoo’ after eating camel meat?” He said, “Yes.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Hayd, 539). 

It should be noted that touching a woman’s body does not break one’s wudoo’, whether that is done with feelings of desire or otherwise, unless anything is emitted as a result of that touching. 

See al-Sharh al-Mumti’ by Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, vol. 1, p. 219-250 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, vol. 5, p. 264.

Touching dogs and their saliva does not nullify wudoo’

does touching dogs and/or dogs' saliva nullify wudoo'?

Praise be to Allaah.

Touching dogs or their saliva does not nullify wudoo’ because if tahaarah is done according to the rules of sharee’ah, nothing can nullify it except things for which there is evidence in sharee’ah. There is no such evidence that touching dogs or their saliva have this effect. It was not mentioned by the scholars among the things that nullify wudoo’.

Ibn Qudaamah mentioned in al-Mughni (1/264) things that nullify wudoo’, and he did not mention touching dogs or their saliva. Then he said: “These are all the things that nullify tahaarah, and it cannot be nullified by anything else according to the view of the majority of scholars…”

But there is no doubt that dogs’ saliva is very dirty and extremely naajis (impure), and it can only be removed by washing seven times, one of them with earth. There is a difference between this and something which nullifies tahaarah. And Allaah knows best.

Wudoo’ is not invalidated by touching impure things

If a mother cleans her baby and touches something impure (najaasah), is her wudoo’ invalidated thereby?.

Praise be to Allaah.

The things that invalidate wudoo’ are well known, and are mentioned in the answer to question no. 14321.  Touching something impure is not one of them. But if a person touches something impure, it is not permissible for him to pray until he has washed it off. 

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: 

What is your opinion concerning a doctor whose work sometimes involves looking at the ‘awrah of the patient and touching it for the purpose of medical examination? Sometimes when doing surgery the doctor has to work in an environment that is filled with blood and urine. Is it obligatory to renew wudoo’ in this situation or is it better to do so? 

He replied: 

There is no sin in the (male) doctor touching a man’s ‘awrah in cases of necessity or touching it for the purpose of treatment, whether that is the ‘awrah at the front or the back. He may look at it or touch it in cases of necessity. Also it does not matter if he touches blood if he needs to during surgery, whether to remove it or to check on the state of the wound. But he should wash his hands afterwards to remove whatever has gotten onto them. Touching blood or urine does not invalidate wudoo’, but if he touches the ‘awrah, whether at the front or the back, his wudoo’ does become invalidated. But touching blood, urine or other impure substances does not invalidate wudoo’, rather he has to wash them off. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 6/20.

Does spotting affect the validity of prayer and fasting?

I have the problem of spotting that comes at times other than the regular monthly period, and this makes me confused as to whether my fasting and prayer are valid. What is the Islamic ruling on this?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

The spotting that comes at times other than the regular monthly period does not prevent one from praying and fasting, because Umm ‘Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “We did not regard yellowish and brownish discharge after tuhr (becoming pure) as being of any significance.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (326) and Abu Dawood (307). Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

If a woman has become pure from her menses, what she sees after that of spotting is not regarded as menses. And these secretions are pure (taahir) so she does not have to wash them from her clothes. This is the view of Abu Haneefah and Ahmad, and it is one of the two views narrated from al-Shaafa’i, and it was classed as sound by al-Nawawi. 

This view was also favoured by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen. May Allah have mercy upon them all. 

It says in al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (1/392): If these secretions result from intercourse, they are pure (taahir), because they are not the waste products of eating and drinking, so they are not urine, and the basic principle is that things are not impure (naajis) unless there is evidence to that effect. And because if a man has intercourse with his wife, he is not obliged to wash his penis or his clothes if anything gets onto them. End quote. 

See: al-Majmoo’ (1/406) and al-Mughni (2/88). 

And Allaah knows best.

She passes wind continually; does this mean she cannot go to the mosque?

Am I not allowed to pray in the mosque, because I suffer from constant emission of wind that does not have a smell? How often do I have to do wudoo' in order to offer obligatory and naafil prayers?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

Emission of wind invalidates wudoo', because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (135) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “No prayer will be accepted from one who is in a state of minor impurity until he does wudoo’.” A man from Hadramawt said: What is minor impurity, O Abu Hurayrah? He said: Breaking wind silently or loudly. 

Breaking wind is of two types: 

1.

Where there is a time when it stops, such as if it was coming out, then it stops for a while during which one can do wudoo' and pray. In this case, you have to do wudoo' and pray during the time when it stops. 

2.

Where it is continual and there is no time when it stops, rather it may come out at any time. In this case you should do wudoo' for every prayer after the time for that prayer begins, and pray the obligatory prayer and whatever naafil prayers you want with this wudoo’, and whatever wind comes out will not affect you, even if that is during prayer. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

If a person cannot remain in a state of purity for the length of the prayer, he should do wudoo' and pray, and it will not matter if anything comes out of him during the prayer, and this wudoo' will not be invalidated by that, according to the consensus of the imams. The most he has to do is do wudoo' for each prayer. End quote from Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 21/221. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (5/411): 

The basic principle is that emission of wind invalidates wudoo', but if it comes out of a person constantly, he has to do wudoo' for each prayer when he wants to pray, then if it comes out of him whilst he is praying, it will not invalidate the prayer and he has to continue his prayer until he completes it, as a concession from Allah to His slaves and so as to relieve them of hardship, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allaah intends for you ease”

[al-Baqarah 2:185] 

“and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship”

[al-Hajj 22:78]. 

End quote. 

Secondly: 

If what comes out has an unpleasant smell, it is not permissible for you to go to the mosque, because of the annoyance that this will cause to the worshippers and the angels. 

Al-Bukhaari (5452) and Muslim (564) narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah that the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever eats garlic or onions, let him keep away from us, or keep away from our mosque and stay in his house.” According to a version narrated by Muslim: “Whoever eats onions or garlic or leeks, let him not come near our mosque, for the angels are offended by the same things that offend the sons of Adam.” 

Muslim (567) narrated that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O people, you eat two plants which I find to be nothing but repugnant, this onion and garlic. I remember the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), if he noticed their smell coming from a man in the mosque, he would issue orders that he taken out to al-Baqee’. Whoever eats them, let him cook them to death.” 

This indicates that it is obligatory to keep the mosque free of offensive odours and to prevent the one who has such an odour from coming to the mosque or staying in it. 

It says in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ (2/365): It is Sunnah to protect every mosque from all kinds of dirt, filth, mucus, nail clippings and hair removed by clipping the moustache, shaving the head or plucking the armpits, because the mosques were not built for that. It is also Sunnah to protect it from offensive smells such as onion, garlic, leeks and similar things, even if there is no one in the mosque, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “the angels are offended by the same things that offend the sons of Adam.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah); and he said: “Whoever eats from these two plants, let him not come near our place of prayer.” and according to another report: “…let him not come near our mosques.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi who said: It is hasan saheeh. 

If a person who has eaten that – i.e., one who has an offensive smell of garlic and onions and the like – enters the mosque, it is strongly recommended to remove him, so as to remove the offensive thing. 

By analogy, this also applies to one who passes wind from his backside in the mosque, because that annoys others with the smell. So it is Sunnah to protect the mosque from that and to make him leave for that reason. End quote. 

But if the wind has no offensive smell, there is no reason why you should not enter the mosque and sit there. Imam al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Saheeh: Chapter on breaking wudoo’ whilst in the Mosque. 

Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Fath al-Baari: 

What he (meaning al-Bukhaari) meant was that it is permissible to deliberately break one’s wudoo’ (pass wind) in the mosque because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) mentioned it and did not forbid it, rather he stated that it interrupts the prayer of the angels. 

Al-Hasan, ‘Ata’ and Ishaaq stated that there is a concession allowing deliberately breaking wudoo’ in the mosque. 

It was stated above that it is permissible to sleep in the mosque in the case of necessity, and there is no difference of opinion on this point. That includes the sleep of the person who is observing i’tikaaf, because it is essential to the validity of his i’tikaaf, and it is also permissible in cases other than cases of necessity according to the majority, and it is most likely that one may pass wind whilst sleeping. So if it were not allowed to pass wind in the mosque, it would not be allowed to sleep in the mosque in any situation, but this is contrary to the texts and to scholarly consensus. End quote. 

And Allah knows best.

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Its the responsibility of every Moslem in learning quran and tajweed and we also must teach our kids Quran and not only the Quran teaching we should let then begin to see the basic of Islam and why it was reviled you bet it was vituperated and verity teaching of holy Quran and with tajweed quran we read Quran we can understand better all the replies that are necessitated if we study koran from a qualified Quran tutor he will let you know truth core of Islam and why koran was reviled for it we should gain the ability of the Good Book with there translation and the context of when those verses were reviled and why and that is only potential when we keep on with not simply learning quran for beginners but gaining the information of Quran tafseer and one inquiry that we all needs to ask our self that why we all are here in the world to do good acts or to do bad acts to promote correct or to promote incorrect and will we be answerable to any one after this life of not then the inquiry remains the exact same that reasons why we are here in the world but if yes then whom we have to reply is there any Divine All these response can be found when we go deep in to the Quran education do Quran reading and the so let us connect hands to full fill our responsibility. We all must do quran memorization and listen to quran online when ever we have time to stay in touch

The benefits of circumcision outweigh the pain

First I would like to thank you for operating such a service over the internet. I live in a relatively isolated part of the U.K and have had no joy from trying to get an answer to my query from the main Mosque in the U.K (Regents Pk. Mosque).
I am a Muslim happily married to an English lady. We have a 9 month old baby boy. The time has come for me to decide whether or not he should have circumcision performed. I have read your previous replies about circumcision, from which I got my first answer that circumcision is 'Sunnah' and not farz. On a medical point of view I know that it is very hygienic if a person has circumcision and those without can experience infections etc. in later life. But this cannot be used as justification because it can be also argued that a persons appendices or toneless should be removed at birth because of the chance of them causing a problem in later life. My reasons of yes 'it is Islamic to have circumcision' are sometimes outweighed by 'why should I cause a young 9 month old baby pain'.What in your mind are the implications of not having cicumcision performed on my son for the sole reason that I will be causing a small defenseless boy pain like he has not experienced before?. How does Allah justify such pain?
I know that you are busy and you can't always reply to questions, but please put my question in a que if neccesary, but please do reply because I need to make a decision before it is too late for a safe operation to be conducted. Salam

Praise be to Allaah.

Yes, there are benefits of circumcision insofar as it is part of the sunan (ways) of the Prophets and is part of the sunan al-fitrah (acts that befit the natural state of man). It is cleaner and healthier in terms of urination and intercourse, and prevents infection, etc. These and other benefits far outweigh the pain caused, which is less for infants than for adults.

Moreover, a number of the scholars have said that circumcision is obligatory for males. Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his book al-Mughni: “Circumcision is an obligation for men and an honour, not an obligation, for women.” This is the opinion of a number of scholars. Ahmad said: “It is more of an obligation for men, because if a man is not circumcised, this piece of skin will be dangling down over the head of the penis and it will be too difficult to clean left-over urine properly.” It is not so strict in the case of women. Abu ‘Abd-Allaah said: “Ibn ‘Abbaas used to be very strict in this matter, and it is reported that he said that no Hajj or salaah would be accepted, i.e., from the one who is not circumcised.” Al-Hasan was more lenient; he said: “If a person enters Islam, it is not essential for him to be circumcised.” And he said: “Black and white people embraced Islam, but not one of them was checked or forced to get circumcised.”

The evidence that it is obligatory is the fact that covering the ‘awrah (private parts) is obligatory, so if circumcision were not obligatory, it would not be permissible for the one who wants to be circumcised to uncover his ‘awrah for this purpose. Circumcision is one of the signs of a Muslim, and like the other signs, it is obligatory. If an adult male embraces Islam and is afraid that circumcision would be harmful for him, then he is excused, because a person may be excused from ghusl, wudoo’, etc., if he fears that they may be harmful for him, so it is more so in the case of circumcision. If a person is confident that it will not be harmful, then he has to do it. Hanbal said: “I asked Abu ‘Abd-Allaah about the Dhimmi (non-Muslim under Islamic rule) who embraces Islam: did he think that he should be circumcised? He said: ‘There is no alternative to that (i.e. he has to).’ I asked: what if he or she is advanced in age? He said: ‘It is better for him to be circumcised, because of the hadeeth: “Ibraaheem was circumcised when he was eighty years old,” and Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… it is the religion of your father Ibraaheem…” [al-Hajj 22:78]’”

So our advice to you is to go ahead and have your son circumcised by someone who is skilled and experienced. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Five things are part of the fitrah: circumcision, removing the pubic hair, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails, and plucking the armpit hair.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5441)

May Allaah help us and you to do good.