How to Deal With Doubts About the Validity of My Ritual Bath? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Jamir Meah

Question: Assalam aleikum, could you please help clarify a few questions associated with Ghusl (Ritual Bath).

1) What if some part of my body was left dry even though I tried my best to wash it all?

2) Do I have to pay Fidia on fasts that may have been broken due to masturbation? I don’t earn.

3) Does Qada and Fidia increase each year if paid soon enough?

Answer: Walikum Salam, Thank you for following up on your previous questions. Please see below for answers to your latest questions:

1. As long as you are reasonably sure that you covered the whole body during the ghusl, this suffices, and therefore your prayers would be valid. Ignore any doubts and do your best. Please also refer to the following reader:
A Reader on Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)

2. Make up your missed day as soon as possible. If you are unable to pay the fidia, then it remains a debt to paid whenever you are able to afford it. The fidia for one day is not much, approximately $10 for one day missed, so do your best to pay it off as soon as possible.

3. The qada fast does not repeat each year, but it is sinful to delay making it up without a valid excuse. As for the fidia, the reliable opinion of the Shafi’i school is that the fidia repeats each year. However, there is a weaker opinion in the school that states the fidia does not repeat each year. [Tuhfa al Muhtaj, Bushra al Karim]

Warmest salams,
[Shaykh] Jamir Meah

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. In 2007, he traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years studying the Islamic sciences on a one-to-one basis under the foremost scholars of the Ribaat, Tarim, with a main specialization and focus on Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies in a range of Islamic sciences, as well as teaching. Jamir is a qualified homeopath.