Vaginal Discharge

Question: What should a woman do if she is not sure whether a secretion is madhy or just moisture? Sometimes I feel a tingling in my private part when I see a sexual word or hear a male voice or for no reason. I also get constant moisture most days so I assume that it is madhy. But I don’t feel any sexual feelings or have sexual thoughts, I just assume I am aroused because of the secretion. This had become difficult for me as these two things together occur often and I end up changing my underwear or washing it around three times on some days. Is it normal for me to get this as a teenage girl? Am I worrying unnecessarily? Should I assume it is pure? How do I purify myself and my underwear when I get a madhy secretion and does this differ at all between madhabs?

Answer:

Assalamu alaykum,

Thank you for your question.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you and this is completely normal for a teenage girl. It is very good that you asked instead of facing years of confusion and possible mistakes.

Madhy

Madhy is a sticky discharge that exits from arousal. If you are fairly certain that madhy has exited, especially after feeling a thrill in the private parts, you should simply wash your private parts, wash the underwear, or remove it, and make wudu and pray. One of my friends visited Yemen and said it was very common for women there, who are all Shafi’is, to remove their undergarments, and then make wudu and pray.

Other discharge

If you are having other discharge during the day, you should assume that is pure. You don’t need to remove your underwear, nor wash it, because it is not filth. You only need to perform wudu. To purify your underwear, you can just hold it under the tap and rub it until it is gone. You can use soap as well, just be sure to wash all the soap off. There are different opinions between the madhhabs, you can see some here:
https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/answers/hanafi-fiqh/clear-white-vaginal-discharges-invalidate-wudu/
https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/answers/general-counsel/does-vaginal-discharge-break-wudu/
https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/answers/hanafi-fiqh/releasing-pre-sexual-fluid-allowed-pray/

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.