Is a Prayer Offered on a Carpet Stained With Blood Valid?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I have a few pimples on my face and at times after performing wudu, blood flows from them. I have prayed in the Mosque with blood flowing from my face and the mosque’s carpet has some blood stains on it due to this. Is the prayer offered on such a carpet valid?

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

Blood which appears on the surface of a wound and the like, without actually flowing, is not considered to be legally filthy. Consequently, the presence of stains from such blood on a carpet doesn’t affect the validity of your prayer.

Ignore misgivings, but if you are become aware of stains on the carpet after the prayer, from your own doing, please consider cleaning the area (1) for hygienic reasons, and (2) out of respect for the mosque.

[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah (1.140)]

Please also see: A Reader on Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) and: Could You Please List All the Nullifiers of Ablution According to the Hanafi school?

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.