Question

Selamun aleykum,

I have a new apartment and the oven is very old and used. I gave my best to wipe it clean and used chemical cleaning substances, but there remain rests which are hard to remove and particularly the Heating coils have brown greas on them. I removed it as best as possible but I won’t get it completly clean. It is most probable that these rests are among other things also from haram meat. Maybe even Pig.

Question 1: Can I use this oven provided the oven tray on which my food cooks is clean and it is on Parchment paper? Or will my food be contaminated because the air and heat comes in contact with impure substances and the impurity on the heating coils may evaporate and get on my food?

Question 2: I was heating some water in this oven and when I opend it, steam came on my face and on my clothes. Is this steam impure and subsequently my clothes?

Question 3: The oven tray I want to use for cooking has grease stains too. I washed it many times and used cleaning product specifically for fat removal. But there remain stains. I suspect them to be from Haram meat. Can I use it?
And if I put it in the dish washer, together with glasses and plates, will these glasses and plates be impure afterwards because the water which cleand them came in contact with the unremovable stains of the oven tray?

Question 4: Off topic…. This is not related to the other Questions, but what is the ruling in the following situation:

I bursted a pimple and there came out blood and pus. I patted it dry with some toilet paper. After that I washed my face in Wudu. Water ran down my face and subsequently on my clothes and there were splashes here and there. Was this impure water and do I need to wash these clothes? I prayed with them. Salah invalid? Also I had used face cream beforehand and even after Wudu my face was still oily from it. Was my face still unclean then because the cream may have mixed with the blood? Or can I concidere the rest cream on my face after washing it as pure?

Answer

If you have tried your best to remove as much grease as you can and it will no longer come off no matter how hard you scrub then it will be permissible for you to use the oven and oven tray. It is very unlikely that any unlawful substances will detach from the heating coils and make its way onto your food. When it comes to impurities, you would always consider your items to be pure until you are certain that some impurity has contaminated it. This would be known by the transfer of smell, taste or colour. As long as these factors do not change you can consider your food to be pure and should avoid paying attention to any doubts.

The same would apply to the steam. Steam itself is pure, and until there is no certain indicator that it has become polluted, it will be considered pure.

If you dried the pimple and then washed your face, the water will be considered pure. Hence, everything the water went onto, will also be considered pure. If you see actual blood, or its stain on your clothing or a part of your body, then that would be impure. But as long as you do not see this, you can consider yourself pure.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel