Fatwa ID: 08191

 

Answered by: Maulana Yusuf Badshah

 

Question:

 

Assalamu Alaikum. I have a condition (or conditions) that makes performing salah time-consuming to a degree unimaginable. It significantly affects my life but doesn’t exactly continue for a whole fard salah time. And mostly recedes if I’m a madhur. I often end up considering myself a madhur.

 

1 – Excess gas
Verified by U/S imaging

 

2 – Purity waswas
Alhamdulilah, I successfully managed to somewhat get over doubts when it comes to passing wind (but this is kind of problematic because if I’m a madhur I wouldn’t take time to just think about whether each instance of gas is internal, doubt, or real)

 

3 – Frequent bowel movements
I usually have three bowel movements a day (I can manage with only one or two bathroom visits if it wasn’t for salah) accompanied by huge amounts of gas especially when experiencing diarrhea. After I relieve myself (thus releasing most of the gas) I either get little to no gas immediately after but it becomes worse slowly over time or I would be experiencing relatively more gas. Now when I say no gas, that’s somewhat not common and usually happens when I consider myself a madhur due to time constraints and tiredness. I also get increased gas immediately after eating.

 

4 – Anxiety-induced flatulence (only as non-madhur)
The moment I’m going to make wudu I start experiencing anxiety that causes me to pass some wind even if I had just relieved myself. This is very hard during wudu and puts me into weird postures to stop the wind. If I successfully manage to make wudu without passing wind, salah is relatively easier (preparing for salah i.e., putting on prayer gown and socks is still hard) but I am not able to completely and fully focus on my salah due to anxiety of passing wind, not to mention the excessive almost reflexive movements that I get in spasms during salah when my anxiety spikes, and it’s quite possible I could pass wind if I try to stop them or not give in to them.

 

That is if I’m not a madhur. If I am, the problems I face are mostly 1 and 3.

 

The problem is in initiating my status and continuing it. If I qualify as a madhur, it is hard to maintain it because I could wake up late for fajr, for example, and sometimes my body takes time to return to usual state after sleeping so I would have no gas and thus my madhur status is broken. Or that I manage to make my wudu without passing wind because anxiety plays a significant role in me passing wind during wudu after relieving myself well (and that anxiety goes away if I’m sure or at least reasonably sure that I’m a madhur). So I try my best to pray salah without passing wind, but then if I go into sujud or sitting between two sajdas and I feel an irresistible urge to pass wind, I start questioning my madhur status and whether I should pray sitting on a chair (although I suspect that will not help or even make things worse). Or if I manage to pray many salahs without passing wind due to reduced anxiety and then I pass wind in a salah, I feel like I’m obliged to repeat it.

 

It’s pretty much like a cycle: I need madhur status, I get it, now I no longer actually need it (somewhat), so I lose it, which makes me need it again. It’s so confusing.

 

So to sum it up: I can manage to pray without passing wind but that requires spending time in the bathroom (at least half an hour) to relieve myself really well thus reducing gas significantly, putting actual effort to not pass gas during wudu (by clenching muscles tightly and doing postures that help), restarting wudu many times because of wind passing until I manage to make a perfect wudu, then try to reassure myself that I have done my best to reduce anxiety-induced flatulence while preparing for salah, and later on moving a little bit excessively in salah from time to time to stop my anxiety from making me pass wind.

 

 

 

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

 

Answer:

 

You appear to be burdening yourself unnecessarily in this issue. If you are not yet a Ma’zhur and cannot easily do Wudhu and perform Salah without some flatulence, then you should wait until near the end of the current Salah time. If the flatulence does not settle down by then, then you may be deemed a Ma’zhur. Thus, you may now do Wudhu and perform Salah, ignoring any flatulence [1].

 

Once you are a Ma’zhur, you can perform a single Wudhu for each Salah time, ignore any flatulence, and perform Salah as desired [2]. You may then remain a Ma’zhur until a full Salah time passes with no flatulence or incontinence [3].

 

What is not required is to take extreme measures such as spending a lengthy period in the bathroom or exerting effort holding back your flatulence. If the flatulence won’t stop, then there is no need to force it to stop. Simply let it continue, and once you reach near the end of the Salah time, you will become a Ma’zhur.

 

When you are a Ma’zhur, none of these problems should apply, since as a Ma’zhur you are excused from all of them.

 

Beyond this, if you haven’t done so already, then it is important that you seek a medical professional opinion as to the cause of your incontinence and flatulence, and determine if there is an underlying medical issue that is the cause and whether or not measures can be taken to treat it.

 

As for the Waswasa you mentioned, such thoughts are irrelevant. When it comes to matters of purity, all that matters is what you know for certain. Thus, anything you are not more certain of is to be dismissed outright [4].

 

 

 

only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Yusuf Badshah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

 

 

 

 

[1] Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 305, Darul Fikr:

بِأَنْ لَا يَجِدَ فِي جَمِيعِ وَقْتِهَا زَمَنًا يَتَوَضَّأُ وَيُصَلِّي فِيهِ خَالِيًا عَنْ الْحَدَثِ (إنْ اسْتَوْعَبَ عُذْرُهُ تَمَامَ وَقْتِ صَلَاةٍ مَفْرُوضَةٍ)

 

Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 305, Darul Fikr:

(وَصَاحِبُ عُذْرٍ مَنْ بِهِ سَلَسٌ) بَوْلٍ لَا يُمْكِنُهُ إمْسَاكُهُ

 

 

[2] Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 305-306, Darul Fikr:

(وَحُكْمُهُ الْوُضُوءُ) لَا غَسْلُ ثَوْبِهِ وَنَحْوِهِ (لِكُلِّ فَرْضٍ)

 

Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 306, Darul Fikr:

(فَإِذَا خَرَجَ الْوَقْتُ بَطَلَ) أَيْ: ظَهَرَ حَدَثُهُ السَّابِق

 

Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 306, Darul Fikr:

(ثُمَّ يُصَلِّي) بِهِ (فِيهِ فَرْضًا وَنَفْلًا)

 

 

[3] Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 305, Darul Fikr:

(وَفِي) حَقِّ (الْبَقَاءِ كَفَى وُجُودُهُ فِي جُزْءٍ مِنْ الْوَقْتِ) وَلَوْ مَرَّةً

 

 

[4] Bada’ius Sana’i, vol. 1, pg. 65, Darul Kutubul Ilmiyyah:

أَنَّ الْحَدَثَ كَانَ ثَابِتًا بِيَقِينٍ فَلَا تَحْصُلُ الطَّهَارَةُ بِالشَّكِّ، وَالْعُضْوُ وَالثَّوْبُ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا كَانَ طَاهِرًا بِيَقِينٍ فَلَا يَتَنَجَّسُ بِالشَّكِّ

 

Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 151, Darul Fikr:

وَلَوْ شَكَّ فِي نَجَاسَةِ مَاءٍ أَوْ ثَوْبٍ أَوْ طَلَاقٍ أَوْ عِتْقٍ لَمْ يُعْتَبَرْ، وَتَمَامُهُ فِي الْأَشْبَاهِ