Fatwa ID: 07568
Answered by Alimah Shireen Mangera-Badat
Question:
Salaam, so I prayed fajr salah and after I had prayed, I found a little wet patch on my trousers, will this mean I have to repeat the prayer and wudu?
I did, however, repeat my wudu and prayer but when I did wudu the second time, I forgot to wash my legs as my leg touched the inside of the sink, will this count as an impurity on my legs?
I remembered a good few hours after that I forgot to wash it off so does that mean I have to repeat my salah even though I don’t think there are any major impurities inside it?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Firstly, may Allah ease your concerns and guide you towards clarity. The matter of purity and Salah is important, and we must approach it with the principles of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), grounded in ease and understanding.
If you found a wet patch after performing Salah, it is essential to distinguish whether it was najis (impure) or not. If you are uncertain about its nature, such as whether it was urine or something else, the principle in fiqh is that certainty is not lifted by doubt (اليقين لا يزول بالشك)- Qawaaid Fiqiyyah, This means that unless you are certain it was impure, you are not obliged to repeat the Salah.
In the Hanafi school, it is stated that if the impurity is less than the size of a dirham (approximately the size of a 2 pence coin), your prayer is valid even if impurity was present on your clothes. However, if it was more than that, the prayer would need to be repeated. Since you were unsure, and you repeated the prayer out of caution, this is commendable but not obligatory.
When your leg touched the inside of the sink, it’s important to remember that the fiqh principle is: things are considered pure unless proven otherwise (الأصل في الأشياء الطهارة). The inside of the sink, unless there is clear evidence of impurity (najasah), is considered pure. Even if your leg touched it, there’s no need to assume it became impure.
Furthermore, when a part of your body touches something you are doubtful about, there is no need to redo wudu or wash that part unless you are certain of its impurity.
In wudu, washing the feet (or wiping over socks if permissible) is a fardh (obligatory) part of the wudu. However, your concern seems to be that you did not wash your leg after it touched the sink. Since you completed your wudu properly before the incident, and there is no confirmed impurity on the sink, your wudu and Salah are valid.
As per the principle mentioned earlier, unless there’s strong evidence of impurity, you should not let doubts create unnecessary hardship in your acts of worship. In cases of doubt, you can apply the principle of istishab (continuity), meaning the original state (of purity) remains until proven.
Based on what you described, there is no need to repeat the Salah. Your actions of repeating the wudu and Salah already went above what was necessary.
- Therefore, the wet patch doesn’t invalidate your Salah unless you are certain it was impure.
- Touching the sink does not make your leg impure unless the sink had visible or known impurities.
- Your Salah and wudu are valid, and there is no need to repeat them based on the given situation.
May Allah reward you for your diligence in matters of purity and worship and grant you peace from doubts.
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Alimah Shireen Mangera-Badat
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
الدر المختار شرح تنوير الأبصار(Ibn Abidin), Volume 1, Page 317: إذا كانت النجاسة قدر الدرهم فما دونه لا تبطل الصلاة“
- الأشباه والنظائر (Ibn Nujaym), Page 60, قاعدة “الأصل في الأشياء الطهارة“
- شرح مختصر الطحاوي (Al-Tahawi), Volume 1, Page 197: “الأشياء على أصل الطهارة حتى يثبت خلافه“
