Fatwa ID: 07552

 

 

Answered by: Alimah Saleha Bukhari Islam

 

 

Question:

 

I have OCD and I’m also taking therapy for that. Because of my OCD, I have this fear and doubt that I might have opened the tap with impure hands which would then make other people’s hands impure as well when they close the tap with their wet hands.

 

I have started counting numbers to make sure that I opened the tap properly and didn’t make it impure. But sometimes doubts still come into my mind.

Yesterday after changing my baby’s diaper, after washing my hands, I later on started having a doubt that I might have opened the tap with a dirty hand and made it impure. But I wasn’t sure about that, so I dismissed that thought and tried to forget about this doubt.

 

My husband also uses the same tap and same towel in our bathroom. Later this doubt kept on coming and coming. I have not acted on this doubt but I have some fears. Please tell me what is the ruling on these conditions.

1- I touched the tap after washing my hands, if the tap was impure but had no sign of impurity, can that make my hands impure?

 

2- if in case the tap was impure and I made my hands impure by touching that impure tap and dried my hands with the towel then will the towel also become impure?

 

3- if later me and my husband use this towel to dry their clean wet hands, will our hands also become impure?

 

4- I dried my hands with this towel and then touched my wet and washed clothes. Will that make my washed clothes impure?

 

 

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

 

 

Answer:

 

 

I’m sorry to hear that you suffer from OCD and alhamdulillah glad that you are receiving treatment for it. In Islam, there is a principle which is applied to actions in situations where a doubt arises, ‘Certainty is not removed by doubt’. The certainty of ritual purity remains intact as long as the doubt that has entered your mind has not been proved with evidence. Therefore, unless you’re certain and can remember details clearly to establish your doubts, no consideration is given to them and certainty of ritual purity remains. 

 

 

You can rest assured that your doubts are just that unless there is certain evidence to prove otherwise. You are doing well to dismiss these thoughts and not act upon them.

 

In the first scenario – if you touched the tap after washing your hands, and if there are no signs of impurity that have transferred from the tap (colour, smell or taste) and onto your hands then it is unlikely that the tap is impure. Therefore, you can rest assured that your ritual purity is intact. Additionally, as a precaution, you may pour some water over the tap before touching it with your hand to put your mind at rest.

 

 

In the second scenario – if your hands were impure and you established this and thereafter wiped your hands on the towel – then it’s possible for impurity to transfer. However, again as a precaution, you may rinse the tap with water before touching it to put your mind at rest.

 

In the third scenario – if your husband were to wipe his wet hands on the impure towel then there is a risk that if he touches the affected part, the impurity may transfer to his hands. However, this would need to be established with the presence of two of the three impurity signs.

 

In the fourth scenario, if you dried your hands with the impure towel, there is a risk that if you touch the affected part, the impurity may transfer to your hands. If you were to then touch the wet clothes, there’s a possibility that the impurity may transfer to them. However, again impurity would need to be established with the presence of two of the three impurity signs (colour, smell or taste).

 

Obsessive thoughts (waswasa) are a form of trouble from the Shaytan. Anas ibn Malik reported to this effect: 

 

The Messenger of Allah, said, “Verily, Satan flows through the human being like the flowing of blood.”

  

Your concerns for purity are commendable but should not be to the extent of creating a difficulty for yourself. Additionally, with regards to constantly questioning and checking, then it is not required. This method of overthinking can feed the obsessive thoughts (waswasa) and this is a form of trouble from Shaytan.

 

Once you have washed and ensured that you are free from any impurity, thereafter you should ignore any feelings or doubts because you have taken the necessary precautions. 

 

This aligns with the legal maxim, “there is no consideration for mere suspicion,” meaning that legal judgments cannot be based on a mere possibility of occurrence. [Qawaid Al Fiqhiyyah P25]

 

 

 

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Alimah Saleha Bukhari Islam

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham