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Issue With Soap And Cleanliness
Asalamualaikum,
I have this problem where I feel that soap is contaminating me. This usually happens after I perform istinjaa and get ready to wash my hands. If I don’t remember to rinse my hands before grabbing the soap bar in my hands and rubbing my hands, I feel as though any splashes of soap that hit my body were impure.
I read somewhere online that soap doesn’t actually kill germs, rather it surrounds micro-organisms and germs. These germs (from the matter that is cleaned after istinjaa) are only removed after rinsing the hands. This is the main reason why I have the feeling that my body and clothes have been contaminated due to splash backs of soap.
However, this is causing me a lot hardship and on top of that, I have to constantly clean my clothes. Am I wrong in my line of reasoning in any way?
Likewise, I feel that the liquid of the soap that accumulates in the soap bowl is unclean because some germs from istinjaa must have inevitably feel in there.
JazakAllah
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12 Replies
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Issue With Soap And Cleanliness
updated 2 years, 12 months ago
3 Members
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12
Replies
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This is not the spirit of Islam to give directives beyond one’s capacity.
The directives are very simple and straighforward. You need to not let these doubts go amok and turn into an OCD.
Just wash your hands via soap, and if you notice actual filth somewhere on your body, you can clean that; mere spalshbacks do not make you impure, neither does soap bubbles in the soap holder. Going into unnecessary intricacies like how soap works etc. is against the spirit of Islam.
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JazakAllah Mr. Umer Qureshi. Your points definitely make a lot of sense and are reassuring.
But, for example, there’s no defining feature of the water on my left hand following istinjaa being unclean except for me knowing that it traces back to me touching an impurity. So, it’s on this basis that the things I mentioned above make me feel unclean – because I can trace them back to an impurity. Wouldn’t I be operating in an inconsistent fashion if I ignore these things when it comes to washing hands, but not in other matters, like istinjaa water from my left hand dripping onto my clothes? Sorry for the repeated questions.
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Soap is used to achieve additional purity. In instances where you do not have a soap, washing hands properly with simple water can also suffice. Therefore, if you wash your left hand right after istinja without touching anything, basic purity of hand has been achieved. What you’re doing with soap now is an additional purity.
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Okay, I see. So even if I start by scrubbing my hands with soap, instead of starting by rinsing them, I should ignore any splash backs, etc.? Because that would be over-complicating things and any impurity in that case would be ignorable/negligible? Am I correct? And likewise for any water that splashes back when I put my hands under the faucet?
JazakAllah
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Yes, exactly.
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JazakAllah Mr. Umer Qureshi. I will definitely try to implement this InshAllah. I just want to clarify one last point, if you don’t mind. You said:
“Therefore, if you wash your left hand right after istinja without touching anything, basic purity of hand has been achieved.”
If a portion of my left hand that I know was not in direct contact with impurity during istinja comes into contact with something else, such as the toilet seat or my thigh, then I don’t have to worry about cleaning that, right? Or do I have to assume that there was some transfer of impurity? I mean like the back of the hand, above the fingers.
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And sorry, I also just wanted to confirm: it’s reasonable to ignore any splash backs of water during istinjaa even if there’s suspicion that this water contacted impurity, right?
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Or even if I know for sure that splash back of water during istinjaa directly contacted impurity.
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“If a portion of my left hand that I know was not in direct contact with impurity during istinja comes into contact with something else, such as the toilet seat or my thigh, then I don’t have to worry about cleaning that, right?“
– You do not have to worry about it. Btw toilet seats have been found to be more cleaner than other surfaces of a house becaue of continuous use of cleaners which kills most of the germs and bacteria.
“it’s reasonable to ignore any splash backs of water during istinjaa even if there’s suspicion that this water contacted impurity, right?“
– If you’re certain that splashback contains urine, then simply wash the area. But here again, don’t consciously be on an outlook for such instances, because then in no time, it will turn into an OCD. If such an instance happens in normal course of events, then just wash the affected area.
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JazakAllah Mr. Umer Qureshi. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all of these points to me. I will try to implement your advice and inshAllah things will get better for me. Please keep me in your prayers.
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Use of toilet paper and liquid soap (pump) can solve your problem
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JazakAllah Ms. Afia, I think your suggestions are most definitely very helpful. Problem is, I can already think of ways that switching to liquid soap and using toilet paper could bother me. I think it’s best I take Mr. Umer Qureshi’s advice and ignore these things.
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