How Can Impurity on a Groovy Kitchen Counter Be Purified?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I know that a smooth surface is purified by wiping, but my kitchen counter is old, has scratches, and has tiny holes on the surface that can be seen if looked closely. Washing it would be hard as ill have to empty the cabinets underneath to do so. My mother scrubs the counters with a soapy sponge and then wipes them with a wet cloth.
Is that enough for purification? The food comes in contact with the counters, and sometimes, if there is water on the counter, my clothes get wet, are my prayers valid? I have Religious OCD, and it’s causing me mental anguish.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
It is enough for your mother to scrub the counter with a soapy sponge and wipe it clean. As you have OCD, it makes you feel anguished and worried. I suggest your mother use a board when cleaning meat, poultry, or similar items. This way, the surface of the counter will not have been used.
If a smooth surface, such as glass, the worktop is filthy; it is enough to wipe this surface with a dry cloth. Caution would entail using a moist cloth. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
As for objects which are not smooth, such as wood or, in your case, a worktop with grooves, you will have to wipe clean until you are reasonably sure it is clean. [IbnʿAbidin, Radd al-Muhtar; ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]
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May Allah (Most High) give you ease and relief from OCD.
I pray this helps with your question.
[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 hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching 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 personal interest is the love of books and gardening.
