Performing ablution with the remaining water which a woman used for ritual purity
Fatwa No: 92198

Question

Please, I would detail on the following Questions. 1. If one wash forget a part of the body during Ablution and washes it two times instead of three times, does this invalidate ones ablution, if one remember after the ablution. 2. I one do not say Bismillay befrore the Ablution and the concluding Prayer at the End of the Ablution, do these invalidate the Ablution. 3. Using the water to perform Ablution that has been used by a Woman for her own Ablution perform, does it invalidate ones Ablution.

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 is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

Washing the limbs during ablution twice instead of three times does not invalidate one's ablution, as washing the limbs during ablution thrice is only recommended and not an obligation. Similarly, saying 'Bismillaah' at the beginning of one's ablution is recommended and not an obligation according to the view of the majority of the scholars . Likewise, the supplication that is said after concluding the ablution is recommended and not an obligation. Therefore, if a person failed to utter 'Bismillaah' at the beginning of his ablution and did say the supplication after finishing ablution, his ablution is not rendered invalid.

For more benefit on the method of performing ablution, its obligations and recommended acts, please refer to Fatwa 84841.

As regards performing ablution with the remaining water which the woman used to perform her ablution, it is permissible and acceptable according to the view of the majority of the scholars . The evidence for this is that Ibn 'Abbaas said: "One of the wives' of the Prophet performed Ghusl (i.e. a ritual bath) from a container and then he wanted to perform ablution from the same water, so his wife said: ''O Prophet of Allaah I was in a state of major impurity.'' Thereupon, the Prophet said: ''The water does not become impure (because you used it while in a state of ritual impurity)."

An-Nawawi said: 'It is permissible for a man to perform ritual purity from the water which his wife used for the same purpose, according to view of our School [i.e. Shaafi'ee], and the Schools of Maalik and Abu Haneefah, and according to the view of the majority of the scholars and this is whether or not she performed ablution alone (i.e. without her husband). Some scholars of our School said that this is not disliked.'

Allaah Knows best.

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