Did I Do the Right Thing by Ignoring the Sensation of Passing Wind When I Was Not 100% Sure That I Did?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Once during prayer, a few moments before the Salam, my passage opened, but I couldn’t detect any gas coming out, so I continued and thought it was just a waswasa. I am afraid whether I judged wrong out of haste as I was hungry and wanted to eat something quickly as well. Was this correct? I just couldn’t tell 100% if it passed or not. After the prayer, it was released, but during prayer, I was not sure if it did. Will it be sinful if it did and I judged wrong? Obviously, I didn’t want to pray without Wudu, and I also keep getting waswasa, so I am afraid that to keep waswas away I judged even the real gas as waswasa. I am very confused.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
If you are not reasonably sure that you actually passed wind, which is something that, if it happened, you would not likely be in doubt about, you should ignore and continue the prayer.
This is based on the principle: when in doubt return things to their basis [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair]
The basis is that your ablution (wudu) is intact until proven otherwise. Mere doubts or what if’s are not sufficient as a proof to judge contrary to the basis.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he 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 studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding 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 Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
