Does Touching Wax That Was on Me When I Was Impure Invalidate My Ghusl?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Assalam aleykum

While doing ghusl I noticed hair wax on my hair and I washed it out. Before I washed it out I touched the handle of the shower and the shampoo bottle with the hand on which the hair wax was on and some may have got on them. I then performed my ghusl normally.

Does touching the wax on the shampoo bottle and shower handle after my ghusl invalidate my ghusl because the wax is the same wax that was on my hair when I was ritually impure?

Answer: assalamu alaykum

Your ritual bath (ghusl) is valid.

The wax on your body is not impure. Your being in a state of ritual impurity does not mean you are physically impure such that anything that comes into contact with your body is rendered impure as well. Therefore, your touching of the shampoo bottle or the shower handle does not entail any transfer of impurity as the wax is not impure to begin with.

Additionally, you should note that what you described has no connection to the validity or invalidity of your ritual bath. This validity rests mainly on washing your entire body including your mouth and nose. When it comes to wax, the only relevance it has to the ritual bath in terms of validity is ensuring that water reaches the skin underneath the wax.

I would advise you to take a basic course on the fiqh of purity as this will give you a better understanding of these rulings and prevent you from suffering from baseless misgivings.

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studies Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir.