Fatwa ID: 08352

Answered by: Alimah Maryam Badshah

Question:

I have a question about purity I would like to ask you. The Shaytan may be messing with my head I’m unsure. I used a shaver to cut the perianal hairs. Then the shaver had a slight but foul smell, like that of faeces. I was unsure why so I then wiped with a tissue and there was a very small streak of brown which had a stronger bad smell.

This makes me very confused. Each time I do Istinja (after wiping with tissue I then wash with water until the fingers are clean), I do this until the fingers are clean after Istinja. I don’t know how there can be bad smell + very small streak of brown on tissue despite doing Istinja properly?

Please provide me with some advice if I should simple ignore this or not according to the Shariah. Of course such small matter in that area is negligible but I am trying to live in accordance with the shariah so I am trying to follow what Shariah will allow.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Since the substance smells like faeces and was also brown it would be more cautious to treat it as such. You should clean or replace your shaver and clean yourself again when you find such impurities on yourself.

If you do not clean this impurity from yourself, then your salah would be invalid if the impurity is more than the size of a dirham. If the impurity is less than a dirham it would be makhruh (disliked) but the salah will be accepted. However, to clean an impurity which is less than a dirham if one is aware of it and able to clean it would be mustahab.

References:

عَنْ عُمَرَ أَنَّهُ سُئِلَ عَنْ الْقَلِيلِ مِنْ النَّجَاسَةِ فِي الثَّوْبِ فَقَالَ: إذَا كَانَ مِثْلَ ظُفْرِي هَذَا لَا يَمْنَعُ جَوَازَ الصَّلَاةِ … أَنَّ غَسْلَ الدِّرْهَمِ وَمَا دُونَهُ مُسْتَحَبٌّ مَعَ الْعِلْمِ بِهِ وَالْقُدْرَةِ عَلَى غَسْلِهِ، فَتَرْكُهُ حِينَئِذٍ خِلَافُ الْأَوْلَى، نَعَمْ الدِّرْهَمُ غَسْلُهُ آكَدُ مِمَّا دُونَهُ، فَتَرْكُهُ أَشَدُّ كَرَاهَةً…

وَالْحَاصِلُ أَنَّ مَا جَاوَزَ الْمَخْرَجَ إنْ زَادَ عَلَى الدِّرْهَمِ فِي نَفْسِهِ يُفْتَرَضُ غَسْلُهُ اتِّفَاقًا…

Raddul Muhtar (Vol.1, pg.316-7 & 339, Dār Al-Fiqr)

Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.

Written by Alimah Maryam Badshah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham