Language Block
This page is also available in Urdu language.
یہ صفحہ اردو میں بھی موجود ہے۔ زبان کی تبدیلی کے لیے نیچے بٹن دبائیں۔
I follow the Shafi’i madhhab:
- I have waswasah (whispering doubts) regarding wudu, especially concerning washing the feet or leaving them unwashed.
- I experience discharge of fluid upon movement (to be honest, I am afraid of moving too much or running to avoid its discharge) does this break wudu?
- My menstruation usually lasts for seven complete days or until the beginning or middle of the eighth day so that I can be certain, but in the past menstruation, I remember that at the end of the seventh day I was seeing water, on the eighth day at noon or Asr time I would sometimes see water-tinged blood perhaps when I cleaned, then I started seeing only colorless water. At night I performed ghusl and wudu and prayed and fasted the next day. The next day I saw thick discharge, I don’t know what it was.
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ، اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
One point is clarified at the outset: our scholars and respected muftis know and understand Hanafi fiqh well. The other madhhabs which are proven from the reliable Imams are considered valid by us, but we do not have mastery over them. Therefore, the answer to this question is not written by us based on Shafi’i sources themselves, but rather based on other fatwas etc. of the Shafi’i madhhab, and references have also been provided. If more information is required, it is better to contact the scholars and respected muftis of the Shafi’is.
1) Waswasah in Wudu — What should you do?
(a) Remember the “minimum correct” method of wudu in Shafi’i fiqh
According to the Shafi’is, the obligatory acts/pillars of wudu include (summary):
- Intention (at the time of washing the face)
- Washing the face
- Washing the hands including the elbows
- Wiping the head
- Washing the feet including the ankles
- Performing wudu in this order (i.e., if you wash the hands before the face, according to Shafi’i fiqh, wudu will not be valid, for example)
(SeekersGuidance)
That is, regarding the feet, it is only obligatory upon you that the entire foot including the ankles is washed; unnecessary repeated washing is not obligatory.
(b) Shari’i/psychological recognition and treatment of “waswasah”
What you are describing (especially the recurring doubt) has been termed waswasa / religious scrupulosity by the people of knowledge, and the basic treatment for it in Shafi’i fatwas is to ignore these whispers; meaning, do not even give them a slight thought and do not believe in them, rather do not pay any attention to them at all, otherwise they increase to the point of making worship difficult. (SeekersGuidance)
(c) The “correct practical” method of washing the feet in wudu
- Place the feet under the tap, let the water flow well once and lightly rub the entire foot (top/bottom/ankle) with the hand.
- To let water reach between the toes, passing the finger once (doing khilal) is sufficient (do not dig and scrape excessively to check).
- Then consider yourself “in a state of wudu”: do not repeat wudu based on the recurring doubt of “maybe it was left.” (In the case of waswasah, this is the method the people of knowledge prescribe)
(SeekersGuidance)
(d) If there is “actual” doubt during wudu (not waswasah)
It is also found in Shafi’i texts that if there is doubt during wudu about washing a limb, then washing it and completing the subsequent limbs in order is obligatory. (LAW BY AHMAD IBN NAQIB AL-MISRI)
Meaning, if a limb actually remained dry during wudu, even if it is very minor, then shari’ah-wise it is as if it was not washed, and when you washed it after completing wudu, then according to Shafi’i fiqh, since washing the limbs in order is obligatory, the subsequent limbs must be washed again in order, otherwise, according to the Shafi’is, wudu will not be valid.
But since you yourself mentioned “waswasah,” therefore the primary treatment for you is to cut off this doubt by considering it waswasah. (SeekersGuidance)
2) Fluid (vaginal moisture) from movement/running — Does this break wudu?
This issue is detailed in Shafi’i fiqh, and in your description (discharge upon movement) generally this “vaginal moisture” comes:
Types of moisture (according to Shafi’i fatwas)
An important detail in Shafi’i fiqh is described as follows:
- General wetness/clean moisture of the outer surface (which some consider “like sweat of the vaginal wall”): This is pure, meaning if it gets on clothes, the clothes do not become impure, just as they do not from sweat, and according to some Shafi’i researchers, it does not break wudu either. (IslamQA)
- Another clean/white moisture that comes out from inside to the outside: This is pure but upon exiting, wudu breaks (this detail is mentioned with reference to Ibn Hajar al-Haytami etc.). (IslamQA)
- Thick/sticky/clot-like moisture: This has been called impure in some Shafi’i books and it also breaks wudu. (IslamQA)
Clear answer to your question
- If that fluid actually exits from inside to the outside, then according to Shafi’i fiqh, wudu will break. (IslamQA)
- If it is only external wetness/dampness (i.e., “exiting” is not proven), then the principle is that you should consider yourself in a state of wudu—until you are certain that something actually exited. Meaning, wudu will not be nullified merely on the doubt that some moisture might have come out.
(IslamQA)
What to do if there is continuous/frequent discharge of material?
- In Shafi’i fatwas, the method in the condition of frequent moisture/istihadah is described as: clean after the prayer time has entered, place a pad/dressing, then perform wudu and pray immediately. (IslamQA)
- And most importantly: It is not obligatory upon you to “keep checking” all the time; do not consider wudu broken without certainty. (IslamQA)
3) “Water” then “water-tinged blood/turbidity” on days 7–8 of menstruation — When should purity be considered? What is the ruling on prayer/fasting?
(a) Shafi’i principle (the duration and standard of menstruation according to the Shafi’i school of thought)
According to the Shafi’is:
- Minimum duration of menstruation: 24 hours (if intermittent, the total is 24 hours)
- Maximum duration of menstruation: 15 days
- Minimum purity between two menstruations: 15 days
(IslamQA)
(b) What is the sign of purity?
In Shafi’i fatwas, the recognition of purity is generally described as:
- Either complete dryness (the cloth/cotton comes out clean),
- Or whiteness/clear sign of purity (some women see a clear “white”).
(IslamQA)
And if any color (red/brown/yellow/turbid etc.) is present, then it will be considered a “sign of blood”; therefore, in the Shafi’i Dar al-Ifta, it is said in the answer that one should wait for the color traces to disappear before starting prayer.
(SeekersGuidance)
(c) If blood/turbidity stops and then returns within 15 days
- According to Shafi’i books/fatwas, if blood returns before at least 15 days of purity, then (in most cases) it is considered a continuation of the same menstruation.
(IslamQA)
- Therefore, in Shafi’i examples, it is clearly written that if it is later found out that the “interval” was actually within the menstruation, then the prayers offered/fasts kept during that interval are not valid.
(IslamQA)
Practical application of the Shafi’i principle to your situation
You said:
- Usually 7 days complete, or until the beginning/middle of the 8th
- In the past menstruation, “water” at the end of the 7th day
- On the 8th day at noon/Asr time sometimes “water-tinged blood”
- Then colorless water, performed ghusl at night, prayed, fasted the next day; then the next day thick discharge
According to the Shafi’i rule, the decisive point for you is:
- If the “water-tinged blood/color” on the 8th day was actually color/blood, then you will be considered in menstruation until dryness or a clear sign of purity, i.e., white/colorless moisture/water, begins to come. (SeekersGuidance)
- If you performed ghusl before that (i.e., before the color completely disappeared), then it became known that menstruation was still ongoing, then:
- The prayers during this period are not obligatory anyway during menstruation
- But the fast that was kept will not be valid and its qada will be obligatory.
(IslamQA)
- If at the time of ghusl you had actually found the sign of purity (dryness/clean) and after that no color came, then the ghusl/prayer/fast are correct—the later “thick discharge” if colorless will not be considered menstruation, however, everything that exits from the vagina, even the wind that exits from the front of a woman due to illness, according to the scholars of the Shafi’i madhhab, breaks wudu.
(IslamQA)
(e) Ruling on the obligation of prayer upon becoming pure from menstruation according to the Shafi’i madhhab
In the Shafi’i madhhab, if a woman becomes pure within the time of a prayer, then in some cases the performance of that prayer’s time (and that which can be combined with it) is described as obligatory (for example, if purity occurs in Asr, then Dhuhr+Asr etc.).
(IslamQA)
وَاللّٰہُ اَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
