Slight trace of blood on garment is pardonable
Fatwa No: 358738

Question

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh, Shaykhs. In your fatwa, I have read about menstrual blood removal that if the color remains after washing, the garment is pure. I have also read in another fatwa of yours, "If it is known with certainty that an object has become impure, then it should be washed under running water until the impurity is removed. Any of the color or smell of the impurity that is not possible to remove is pardonable." I had washed my clothes that were stained with menstrual blood and maybe other impurities too in the washing machine, but the traces at some garments were seen after washing them. I had used a new detergent and thought that maybe it was due to that. Then I put the old detergent that I used to use before and rewashed all those clothes in the machine right after it, and the stains were still there. Some I noticed, so I avoided praying in them, but I did not notice them on one shirt and prayed one or two or more prayers with it. Later on, I used a ceramic cleaner to wash those garments, and this time the stains were removed, praise be to Allah, except for a little that was left on one of them only. My question is, am I required to repeat those prayers? I do not know exactly which prayers they were nor how many. My concern is that the stain did get removed from that shirt by using the ceramic cleaner. I do not know if it was blood or an other impurity, though it most probably seemed to be blood, and Allah, the Exalted, knows best. Also, please advice regarding the one garment on which I can still see some stain, do I need to rewash it, or is it considered pure? Please advise, Shaykhs. May Allah reward you.

Answer

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

The insignificant amount of blood, even if it is menstrual blood, is pardonable. Hence, you were not obliged to remove that trace which you exhausted yourself in removing in the first place; rather, it is excused and pardonable. Accordingly, you are not obliged to repeat any of these prayers.

The Fiqh book Kashshaaf Al-Qinaaʻ reads:

"The insignificant impurity is not excused ... except the insignificant amount of blood and pus and the like that may result from it, it is pardonable (in other than food and drink). This means that it is pardonable in prayer, because it is often hard to avoid. This is the view of a group of Companions and Taabiʻoon and the scholars who came after them. Because such an impurity is difficult to avoid, the insignificant amount of it is pardonable, like the case with the traces of Istijmaar (cleaning oneself with stones or another material in its place, such as wood, toilet paper, or the like, after answering the call of nature) ... This even applies to menstrual blood, post-partum blood, and non-menstrual vaginal bleeding, as evidenced by the statement of Aa’ishah 'None of us had more than a single garment, and we used to have our menses while wearing it. Whenever it got stained with blood, we used to apply our saliva to the blood stain and rub it off with our nails.'"

We advise you to not delve deeply into such matters and overburden yourself for no reason. Indeed, immoderation in religious matters is forbidden.

Allah knows best.

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