QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Can a person wash their body parts more than three times in Wudū’ if there is a doubt as to whether they have been washed properly or not?
Questioner: Brother from UK
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
If one repeatedly has doubt again and again, then this is a Waswasah [whisper of the Devil] hence one should not pay any attention to this; the body parts should be washed only three times – one should not do so more than this as this is akin to the wastage of water. And washing more than thrice with the intention of reward is Makrūh Tahrīmī [majorly & prohibitively disliked], and if the one performing Wudū’ [minor ritual ablution] is doing so with the water of a Masjid or Madrasah [Mosque or Muslim seminary] and does so more than thrice, then this is impermissible.
Just as it is stated in Durr Mukhtār alongside Radd al-Muhtār,
“(وَالْإِسْرَافُ) وَمِنْهُ الزِّيَادَةُ عَلَى الثَّلَاثِ (فِيهِ) تَحْرِيمًا وَلَوْ بِمَاءِ النَّهْرِ، وَالْمَمْلُوكِ لَهُ أَمَّا الْمَوْقُوفُ عَلَى مَنْ يَتَطَهَّرُ بِهِ، وَمِنْهُ مَاءُ الْمَدَارِسِ فَحَرَامٌوَالْإِسْرَافُ) أَيْ بِأَنْ يَسْتَعْمِلَ مِنْهُ فَوْقَ الْحَاجَةِ الشَّرْعِيَّةِ”
‘Washing more than three times is wastage, even if it is in a stream and the water is owned by the one using it. Whereas, if the water from which one is attained purity is donated and from it is the water of a Madrasah, then this is Harām [unlawful], and to use more water than one’s need is wastage.’
[Durr Mukhtār & Radd al-Muhtār, vol. 1, p. 132]
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Haider Ali Madani
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0852] Can I wash my body parts more than 3 times when doing Wudu?
