How to Deal with Waswasa and Doubts regarding Wudu?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I have put myself in a terrible situation. I did wudu in boxers, so my boxers and vest are wet. When I did iqama, I felt a weird feeling in the private front part, I checked and saw no trace of urine, but the bad part was that my boxers were wet from wudu, so I was in doubt.

I convinced myself it was water that’s in my pants and started salah. In salah, the feeling came again, and I ignored it. After salah, I checked inside the private front part’s hole and saw no urine trace. Some features of my boxers dried, but a small amount hasn’t dried. I also touched that part with my hand that had some food on it, and when I sniffed that part, it smelled weird. I can’t say it’s urine; I don’t know; I’m in doubt!! Is my prayer valid or not?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful

Certainty is Not Removed by Doubt

We must consider a basic principle of our religion in these situations. The principle is that certainty is not removed by doubt. If you are sure that you have wudu, then you can consider yourself in the state of wudu until you have the assurance that you broke it.

Pay no mind to assumptions of passing wind. If you did pass the wind, it is implausible that you wouldn’t realize.

After making wudu, you are not obliged to check your private part constantly. Consider yourself in wudu until you are sure that something has come out.

In both situations, your prayer is valid and should not be repeated.

The Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “After the prayer is complete, the same prayer should not be prayed (again).” The interpretation of this narration is that He prohibited repeating the prayer due to misgivings.” [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Due to people’s sincerity in the religion, they try to be cautious regarding purification. They want to make sure their prayers are valid. Because of this, Shaytan uses these feelings to put Believers in undue hardship in the name of caution.

What is True Caution?

True caution is to follow the Sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Misgivings

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

“As for the one who is often inflicted with misgivings, it is necessary for them to sever the cause of the misgiving 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]

Check this reader:

A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)

Knowledge

The long-term cure for these constant doubts is to seek a deeper understanding of Islamic Knowledge. With knowledge, Shaytan can not deceive you with his whispers and plots. I would advise you to find authentic scholars in your area and study a basic text in Islamic Jurisprudence with them.

Please note that SeekersGuidance.org has classes available in Islamic Jurisprudence and many other subjects.

May Allah ease all of your affairs and protect you and us from the plots of Shaytan

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.