After urinating, I pass out some drops of urine and then it stops, but after that there is some release of water. I cannot differentiate between the two. What should I do? How to know whether it is water or not and if I can pray then. While prayer some water also comes out. I think that is just a normal secretion, not a problem. But how to differentiate between them?

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 is His slave and Messenger.

Making a distinction between the discharges that you release has no effect because these discharges invalidate the ablution in any case, regardless of whether it is urine or what is called as the wetness of the vagina of the woman or otherwise.

The wetness of the vagina invalidates the ablution according to the view of the majority of the scholars, and it is the view that we adopt here at Islamweb. Ablution is invalidated by anything that comes out of the vagina or the anus. Please, refer to fatwa 82539.

Manaar As-Sabeel, in the chapter of what invalidates ablution, reads, “They are eight matters (which invalidate ablution): one of them is what comes out of the private parts or anus whether it is little or much; and whether it is pure or impure.” 

Moreover, Zaad al-Mustaqni' reads, “Anything that comes out of the private parts or anus invalidates the ablution.”

Therefore, if anything comes out of your private parts or anus after having performed ablution, then your ablution is invalidated and you are obliged to renew it. However, if such discharges continue to an extent that you do not find the time to pray with a valid ablution or that they come out disorderly in a manner that they come out sometimes and are interrupted some other times and sometimes they come out at the beginning of the prayer and sometimes at the end of the time of the prayer and it is difficult for you to pray with a valid purity, then the ruling that applies to you is the ruling of the one who suffers from urine incontinence. In this regard, please refer to fatwa 82085.

In terms of issuing a ruling in regard to the impurity of what comes out if it is urine or purity if it is the wetness of the vagina – according to the view that we adopt here in Islamweb – then if you cannot distinguish between the urine and the wetness of the vagina, then there is a conflict between what is the apparent condition (the Thaahir), and the basic rule (the Asl); by what is the apparent condition, we mean impurity because this is what comes out of the private parts or anus in general; and the basic rule is purity, which is the original state of all things.

Some scholars said that such a person should favor the basic rule, which is purity, and others said that he should favor what is the apparent condition, which is the ruling of impurity. The view that we adopt at Islamweb is to favor the basic rule, which is that it is pure.

An-Nawawi said in Rawdhat At-Taalibeen, “The matter about which we are not sure on whether it is impure or pure while the apparent condition in it is impurity, then there are two opinions, as there is a conflict between the basic rule (the Asl) and the apparent condition (the Thaahir). The preponderant opinion here is that purity should be favored pursuant to the basic rule." 

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that in order to be on the safe side, one should consider such discharges as impure. So you should perform ablution after releasing water because some scholars consider it impure.

The Standing Committee was asked, “At times, I release white water, and sometimes this happens to me while I am praying: what should I do in this case? Should I interrupt the prayer and go to perform ablution or should I continue my prayer? Is this water impure and I am obliged to perform ghusl (shower taken in a state of major impurity) or is it enough for me to only perform ablution?

The Committee replied, “This water is impure and takes the ruling of urine and you have to perform ablution after having performed istinjaa' (cleaning the private parts with water) but you are not obliged to perform ghusl if it comes out without lust; however, you must wash your clothes and the parts of your body that are stained by it.”

Allah knows best.