What to Do If I See Maniy but I Am Unsure If It Came Out with Desire?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I had a question about ghusl and maniy. Sometimes I see maniy, but I’m unsure if it came from sexual desire. Like, I have sexual thoughts, and I see maniy. Does that mean I do ghusl, or do I have to reach an orgasm to do ghusl? Because sometimes, when I have a thought, my lower abdomen has some sensation.

I also discharge maniy a lot, that’s why. Oh, and when doing wudu and I have ear piercing, does the water need to go inside the piercing hole itself? Can you answer these according to Hanafi fiqh and also Shafi’i fiqh? Also, how do I know if I’m suffering from waswasa or not because sometimes I overthink everything?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

If one has sexual thoughts and sees a discharge of sexual fluids, the discharge can be taken as pre-seminal fluid (madhy), not sexual ejaculate (maniy). [‘Ala al-Din ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]

If one is fully or greatly aroused sexually due to sexual activity or foreplay, then one can assume that any discharge is sexual ejaculate (maniy). [Ibid.]

One of the signs that a discharge is an ejaculate, and not the pre-seminal fluid, is if one’s sexual desire subsides after the discharge. If the arousal does not subside after the discharge, this is a sign that the discharge is pre-seminal fluid. [Ibid.]

Note that pre-seminal fluid does not require a ritual bath (ghusl). Only an ablution (wudu) is required. A ghusl is required, however, for sexual ejaculation (maniy). [Ibid.]

Nose Piercing

One does not have to ensure water gets inside the nose-piercing hole if the hole closes tightly and the nose ring is not in. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

If the hole remains open, even slightly, when the piercing is removed, then one must take care that water gets inside. [Ibid.]

This can be done by merely guiding some water to that area. One is not required to insert anything into the hole for this purpose. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then 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 stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest 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 Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.