Can One Wash Impure Clothing in a Sink Filled with Water?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Do handwashing clothes become pure if one fills a sink with water and then puts the clothes in it to wash?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The clothing does become pure if washed in a basin of water. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Even though reason dictates that putting impure clothing into a small amount of water makes the water impure. However, due to the undue hardship that this ruling entails, a dispensation is given, and the clothing is considered pure.

This ruling applies whether one puts impure clothing in a basin and then runs water over it or if the basin is filled with water first, the clothing is added. As long as the water remains in the basin, it is considered pure, but any water that separates from the body is impure.

Due to a difference of opinion amongst the scholars, it is recommended to put the clothing in the basin first and then run the water. However, it is considered pure in either circumstance.

Note that the same ruling applies to impure clothing and an impure limb. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar citing al-Bahr al-Ra’iq and al-Tahtawi]

Likewise, this ruling applies to laundry machines.

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.

رد المحتار على الدر المختار لابن عابدين

قَالَ فِي الْبَحْرِ: اعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْقِيَاسَ يَقْتَضِي تَنَجُّسَ الْمَاءِ بِأَوَّلِ الْمُلَاقَاةِ لِلنَّجَاسَةِ، لَكِنْ سَقَطَ لِلضَّرُورَةِ سَوَاءٌ كَانَ الثَّوْبُ فِي إجَّانَةٍ وَأُورِدَ الْمَاءُ عَلَيْهِ أَوْبِالْعَكْسِ عِنْدَنَا، فَهُوَ طَاهِرٌ فِي الْمَحَلِّ نَجِسٌ إذَا انْفَصَلَ، سَوَاءٌ تَغَيَّرَ أَوْ لَا، وَهَذَا فِي الْمَاءَيْنِ اتِّفَاقًا، أَمَّا الثَّالِثُ فَهُوَ نَجِسٌ عِنْدَهُ؛ لِأَنَّ
طَهَارَتَهُ فِيالْمَحَلِّ ضَرُورَةُ تَطْهِيرِهِ وَقَدْ زَالَتْ طَاهِرٌ عِنْدَهُمَا إذَا انْفَصَلَ.

وَالْأَوْلَى فِي غَسْلِ الثَّوْبِ النَّجِسِ وَضْعُهُ فِي الْإِجَّانَةِ مِنْ غَيْرِ مَاءٍ ثُمَّ صَبُّ الْمَاءِ عَلَيْهِ لَا وَضْعُ الْمَاءِ أَوَّلًا خُرُوجًا مِنْ خِلَافِ