Are My Prayers Invalid Due to Dirt in My Belly Button?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I started praying in 2022, Ramadan. In September, I find out my prayers were invalid because I didn’t use to clean my belly button, and it had dirt in it (my parents never taught me what can I do). I added them to the rest of my makeup (qada’) count to be on the safe side. I thought I was safe now. Then I found out about this maid washing clothes in one tub, and I had whispers, “All past prayers are invalid.”
I might as well just stop praying. I want to seek knowledge, but then there is the difference of opinions in the same madhab. I just want the freedom of going fatwa-shopping in the same madhab, getting fatwas that suit me. I need help dealing with the strictness of some scholars compared to Western scholars etc.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question and for showing concern for your purification and acts of worship.
It is mindful of you to add prayers due to the uncleanliness and dirt inside your belly button. However, with the amount of water generally used when having a quick shower or showering to lift major ritual impurity, it would seem safe to assume water reaches one’s belly button.
Rubbing is sunna, and you would assume that the water reached your entire body, including your belly button –and your ghusl and subsequent prayer would therefore be considered valid. [Tahtawi, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]
Maid’s Clothes Washing
If the maid is washing clothes in a tub, there is nothing to worry about. Just remind her to get fresh water for the final wash and rinse. Rest assured that all your prayers are valid. This is just satanic whispering.
Seek Knowledge
Below are a few points and many other valuable links and answers by our inspiring teachers.
- It is essential for you to seek guidance from Allah Most High, foremost, praying two rak‘at of istikhara and prayer of need, and renewing your intentions;
- Seek knowledge from reliable local scholars teaching knowledge face-to-face in your locality, especially your local Imam and groups of scholars. Seek advice and counsel from them and take their guidance;
- Attend the local circles of knowledge and any circles of remembrance to impact your heart into practicing the knowledge you learn;
- Seek forgiveness and repent unto Allah Most High when you slip up, as knowledge is light and only enters the hearts who do not commit sin.
SeekersGuidance has a variety of inspiring curriculums and courses conducted by mindful and inspiring teachers worldwide; look into what might suit you and your time.
Allah Most High facilitate ease in seeking knowledge and opens up inspiring paths in your life in the future, amin.
Related:
- Ghusl and Makeup Prayers.
- Prayer Reader: The Ultimate Guide To Prayer in Islam.
- How Can I Find Inspiration in Seeking Knowledge?
- Devil’s Tricks – The Path of Muhammad: Birgivi’s Manual of Taqwa Explained. [Video]
- Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (Waswasa).
- A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings).
- The Application of Islamic Psychotherapy for the Treatment of OCD. [Video]
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for courses like:
- Satanic Tactics: Seven Tricks of the Devil.
- On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj): Shurunbulali’s Ascent to Felicity
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
