A case of obsessive whispers about purification
Fatwa No: 209290

Question

My question is ragading purity as i am very concious about purity.There are certain things which i note from Day to Day affairs , pls aclarify them. If blood comes from someone mouth , how many times he has to wash his mouth to purify it.If blood comes and someone is not able to purify it and after some time pure saliva comes out does it means that mouth is purified. Which of these things have same ruling as earth like they are pure if dry and no smell or stain of impurity remains. Walls Fixed Doors or Windows Fixed Bathroom fitting Ropes on which cloths are hanged to dry in open place. i always instruct in my house to wash my cloths in such a way that it becomes pure by noting even the minute details.If some lapse is made during that washing which my wife or mother do not note during washing and they think that the cloths are pure , will the cloths be rendered as pure. I always advise my home members to wash their hands or cloths and some times ask them to tell hw they done it and if found something wrong advise them to repeat which annoys them.I think this is my wrong practise should i discontinue that and whatever they do i sud deem as all things pure. If something ipmure is washed with solid soap , will the next cloth washed with it become impure. If sometimes something impure like cream is used on hands, then after washing with water oily feel remains on body.What wud be the order then. What wud be the order if we wash face of small kid who throw milk with wet hands, will it purify the face contaminated with milk ejected. Some times we some drops of impure water on shoes and they dry , after that we polish the shoes and bottom of our pants get some color of shoe polish as it falls on shoes.Does our cloths become impure.After washing color of that polish do not go easily what wud br the ruling. If impure cloths given to laundry and after washing we dont know that they have washed according to principal or not what is ruling.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

You should know, dear brother, that what you feel is not keenness on purity; rather, it is a form of obsessive whispers. We ask Allaah The Almighty to cure you from it. You are suffering from a strong form of insinuating whispers regarding purification and impurity.

Amongst the ways of treating the person who suffers from whispers regarding purification and impurity is not to mention to him the detailed Fiqh matters for they may only increase his whispers. Experience has taught us that going along with the one who suffers from whispers and answering all what he is asking about will never end and will increase him in nothing but whispers, especially if the problems that he suffers go against what sane people agreed upon.

Hence, what we can say to you in brief is that firstly you have to stop going to extremes and making things difficult for your family regarding washing clothes and hands. In principle, the Muslim purifies himself and does purification well from impurity and what you are doing in this regard is blameworthy exaggeration that has nothing to do with religion.

Dear brother, stop doing that, may Allaah have mercy upon you, and give up that exaggeration regarding impurity for it is the habit of the Jews who used to cut off their garments and skin due to the impurity of urine and thus the one who suffers that kind of insinuating whispers imitates them.

Kindly refer to the Fataawa 87127 and 91332 which clarify that the basic principle with regard to all matters is that all things are pure unless the contrary is proved, and Fataawa 83401 and 96089 about warning against insinuating whispers regarding purification.

Allaah Knows best.

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