Fatwa ID: 09195
Answered by Mufti Yusuf Badshah
Question:
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
A person has ghalabat al-zann that he broke his wudhu while praying salah (say that he is 95% sure).
Since he is not 100% sure, he can, however, not take an oath on that it happened.
Should he break his salah and renew the wudhu based on the qa’idah غلبة الظن منزلة منزلة اليقين
Or should he continue praying based on the fact that he did not have actual yaqin and the statement of Ibn al-Mubarak quoted in some fatawa:
وقال ابن المبارك: إذا شك في الحدث، فإنه لا يجب عليه الوضوء حتى يستيقن استيقانا يقدر أن يحلف عليه
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
The difference between doubt where one has no predominant opinion (Shak) and having a predominant opinion (Ghalabat Al-Zhan) is that doubt should be ignored [1], while one’s predominant opinion should be followed as long as it does not contradict known facts [2].
Thus, if one’s predominant opinion is that they have broken their Wudhu, then they have broken their Wudhu. Their Salah is broken and they must repeat their Wudhu.
The quote you have brought is regarding Shak, not Ghalabat Al-Zhan, and the statement provides an unreliable measure of certainty given that one is never truly 100% certain and different people are willing to give oath at different levels of certainty, with some refusing even when they are fully confident. Thus, since it would be incorrect to ignore one’s predominant opinion, Wudhu should be repeated when one’s predominant opinion is that they have broken it. It is only those who struggle to control their doubts rationally, such as those with OCD or similar symptoms, who should wait until they are completely confident they have broken Wudhu before repeating it given the unreliability of their predominant opinion.
Only Allah ﷻ knows best.
Written by Mufti Yusuf Badshah
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
[1]
أَنَّ الْحَدَثَ كَانَ ثَابِتًا بِيَقِينٍ فَلَا تَحْصُلُ الطَّهَارَةُ بِالشَّكِّ، وَالْعُضْوُ وَالثَّوْبُ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا كَانَ طَاهِرًا بِيَقِينٍ فَلَا يَتَنَجَّسُ بِالشَّكِّ
Bada’ius Sana’i, vol. 1, pg. 65, Darul Kutubul Ilmiyyah
وَلَوْ شَكَّ فِي نَجَاسَةِ مَاءٍ أَوْ ثَوْبٍ أَوْ طَلَاقٍ أَوْ عِتْقٍ لَمْ يُعْتَبَرْ، وَتَمَامُهُ فِي الْأَشْبَاه
Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 151, Darul Fikr
[2]
وَإِنْ كَثُرَ) شَكُّهُ (عَمِلَ بِغَالِبِ ظَنِّهِ إنْ كَانَ) لَهُ ظَنٌّ
Raddul Muhtar, vol. 2, pg. 93, Darul Fikr