Fatwa ID: 06671
Answered by: Alimah Zakiratul Hoque
Question:
If you touch the image of that p_g animal on your phone or in a book do you have to wash your hands? I can’t even write the name. I suffer from ocd my anxiety increases and I keep wiping down my phone. I can get through half a packet of wipes in one go.
This is the intrusive thought I struggle with every day. My mind relates it to almost everything. It causes me to spend several hrs a day in the bathroom washing. I doubt the purity of everything and struggle to do most things for myself anymore. Recently I stopped praying because I saw the image on my prayer mat. Please make dua Allah gives me the ability to do sujood again.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Allah says in the Qur’an: Say, “I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden to eat except carrion, running blood, swine—which is impure—or a sinful offering in the name of any other than Allah. But if someone is compelled by necessity—neither driven by desire nor exceeding immediate need—then surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Qur’an, 6:145) (1)
The physical pig itself is what is impure. The ruling of impurity does not apply to images or anything other than the physical pig itself. Touching them does not render the body or clothes impure.
As you are aware that you often have these doubts, you should not act on them. You should not spend hours a day washing, as it is a waste of water and time. As long as you have performed Wudhu (or Ghusl when appropriate) and cleaned yourself of any other physical impurities, you should ignore the doubts regarding your purity.
You should not allow the doubts to prevent you from praying. You mentioned you saw the image on your prayer mat. However, no prayer mat would have an image of a pig (or another animal) on it, which is a certainty. Your thought that you saw such an image is doubtful and does not affect the certainty of the prayer mat being free from such images (Qawaaid Fiqhiyyah, Pg 15) (2). Therefore, you should continue to pray, even if you think you see such images, as the certainty is that no such images are present.
May Allah make it easy for you
(1)
قُل لَّآ أَجِدُ فِى مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَىٰ طَاعِمٍ يَطْعَمُهُۥٓ إِلَّآ أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍ فَإِنَّهُۥ رِجْسٌ أَوْ فِسْقًا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
(2)
اليقين لا يزول بالشك
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Alimah Zakiratul Hoque
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
