What Is the Ruling on Peeled Skin?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What is the ruling on peeled skin? I get a lot of waswasa about its possible impurity.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Ignore, Ignore, Ignore

The advice given to you is to ignore this issue and, furthermore, to immediately desist in delving into the finite details of purification, reading texts on these details, and perusing Islamic answers on these details.

The reason for this advice is the dangers of falling into misgivings (waswasa) and/or OCD. Ibn Abidin, the seal of the scholars of verification, says, “Misgivings (Waswasa)

The Obligation for Those Afflicted with Misgivings

For the one who is constantly in doubt, abandoning caution is often the best cure.

“As for the one who is often inflicted with misgivings, it is necessary for them to sever the cause of the misgivings and not to give it any consideration. This is because it is the doing of, Shaytan and we have been commanded to oppose him.” [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

This is, therefore, special permission for you. Simply, for you – peeled skin is pure. Ignore what the general ruling may be for your circumstance is specific, not general. Therefore, the ruling does not apply.

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.