Is the Sweat from the Private Parts Impure? Is Instinja Required?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is the sweat that comes from a male or female private part pure or impure? If it is impure, is instinja required?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Sweat from humans is pure, regardless of where it comes from. Due to this, purifying oneself is not a requirement, as there are no impurities to remove.

Understanding the Quranic Verse

There is no evidence in the below verse that one should wash their private areas of sweat before praying:

Allah Most High says, “Surely Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves.”  [Quran; 2:222]

Looking at the commentary of the above verse, we find that the Companions and the Followers understood this verse to mean “those who purify themselves” from physical (najasa) and ritual (ahdath) impurities. [Baghawi, Ma’alim al-Tanzil]

A general meaning of cleanliness can be applied to the above verse in a secondary way. However, this would not indicate obligation.

Cleanliness

If one washed themselves of sweat for the sake of cleanliness, there is nothing wrong with doing so. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Indeed, Allah loves … cleanliness…” [Tirmidhi]

Even though cleanliness is essential, which can be seen by the Prophetic example of cleanliness – it is not obligatory to wash away sweat before prayer, and the above Quranic verse is in no way legal evidence of obligation.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.