Question

Since you’ve always answered my previous questions good and reliable, I will ask another one about a topic thats bothering me. I feel like I go way iver the top with this but it seems that this is the ruling. My Question is about washing the bathroom floor when there is najasa on it. My Mother always did it like this: She took a bucket, filled it with water and cleaning product, dipped a rag in it rinsed it a little bit and then mopped the floor with it. Then she washed the rag in the same bucket with the same water and mopped the floor a seccond time and then she did the same a 3. Time. There was never a problem with this as our floor was always clean afterwards. But now I live alone and after some research it seems as if this is wrong. Hanafi scholars say that you have to wash and rinse the rag and the bucket and use new water after mopping the floor once so you can then mop the second time and then wash and rinse the rag and the bucket again and use new water again for the third time. Isn’t this a little over the top as it is way more work and you have to use much more water which costs money? Also I did all this but now I realized that my floor will still be regarded najis because scholars say you can only mop smooth surfaces but the floor in my bath is not completly smooth as it is a tiled floor which has cement grooves in between the smooth tiles which are a little bit deeper then the tiles. So how should I wash such a floor? Is it Still regarded najis now after I mopped 3× over it because of the deeper cement grooves? If yes, how should I wash such a floor? I can’t just flood my whole floor with water to clean it. That will make a mess. Isn’t this all too much?

I also have a second question. Is ear wax on the part of the ear which needs to be washed in Ghusl a barrier to water? I did Ghusl and after that I prayed. Then it came to my mind that I couldn’t remember having washed my ears in Ghusl. I wasn’t entirely sure but I also found some ear wax on my ear so either I didn’t wash them or I did but there remained ear wax. So was this ear wax a barrier to the water? Do I need to repeat that salah after having washed my ears?

Answer

Brother … thank you for another question. We have realised that we have received many questions related to overthinking matters of purity from you in the past. Please watch the following video from Mufti Muhammad Ibn Adam, which discusses how to deal with this matter in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok7Byi9u8Z0

As for your question, assume what you are thinking is correct., i.e., your mother has once used a dirty mop and you are now struggling to clean what you regard to be impure, especially the deeper cement grooves. Let us assume that this line of thinking is correct. What is the consequence of this “impurity” on your prayers and purity? Nothing. Yes, that is correct. Zero.

If something is impure and dry, wetness will transfer this impurity onto the other surface/entity ONLY if the traces of impurity can be found on the other surface/entity.[1] Even if we assume that your bathroom surface is impure, unless traces of urine or faecal matter end up on your clothes, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. The transfer of impurity in your circumstances is extremely farfetched.

Now, in relation to mopping floors, with a bucket of warm water and cleaning solution, one will thoroughly clean the floor first, wiping the entire section and then wring their mop. Thereafter, one should swap out the water, clean the mop and do this again. At the end, they may wring the mop as dry as possible, and then dry the floor. This is advisable and how floors are cleaned in our household. The bathroom is small surface in the UK, so not a lot of water is used through this process. Of course, cleaning the floor three times is not a necessity for the cleanliness of the floor. It is necessary that one has dominant opinion that the impurities have been removed, and this can be achieved through one or two thorough washes.

If one is cleaning impurities from the floor, they will first lift the impurities, clean the section, then replace the water and clean the mop. They may thereafter clean the surface as above.

Lastly, in relation to cleaning one’s ears of earwax, this is not necessary as it entails unnecessary hardship which is not mandated in ghusl.[2] For washing the ear, using wet fingers inside and tracing the innards of the ear is sufficient. Directing water precisely to the cavity of the ear is not necessary.

[1]              حاشية الطحطاوي على مراقي الفلاح شرح نور الإيضاح (ص: 158) ولو ابتل فراش أو تراب نجسا” وكان ابتلالهما “من عرق نائم” عليهما “أو” كان من “بلل قدم وظهر أثر النجاسة” وهو طعم أو لون أو ريح “في البدن والقدم تنجسا” لوجودها بالأثر “وإلا” أي وإن لم يظهر أثرها فيهما “فلا” ينجسان….  “من عرق نائم” قيد اتفاقي فالمستيقظ كذلك كما يفهم من مسألة القدم ولو وضع قدمه الجاف الطاهر أو نام على نحو بساط نجس رطب إن إبتل ما أصاب ذلك تنجس وإلا فلا ولا عبرة بمجرد النداوة على المختار كما في السراج عن الفتاوى قوله: “عليهما” أي على من نام على الفراش أو التراب النجسين قوله: “أو كان من بلل قدم الخ” أي كان ابتلال الفراش أو التراب الخ قوله: “لوجودها بالأثر” أي لوجود النجاسة بوجود أثرها في جنب النائم أو قدمه قوله: “فلا ينجسان” أي البدن والقدم

[2]              حاشية ابن عابدين = رد المحتار ط الحلبي» (1/ 152):(وَيَجِبُ) أَيْ يُفْرَضُ (غَسْلُ) ‌كُلِّ ‌مَا ‌يُمْكِنُ ‌مِنْ ‌الْبَدَنِ ‌بِلَا ‌حَرَجٍ مَرَّةً كَأُذُنٍ وَ (سُرَّةٍ وَشَارِبٍ وَحَاجِبٍ وَ) أَثْنَاءِ (لِحْيَةٍ) وَشَعْرِ رَأْسٍ وَلَوْ مُتَبَلِّدًا لِمَا فِي – {فَاطَّهَّرُوا} [المائدة: 6]- مِنْ الْمُبَالَغَةِ (وَفَرْجٍ خَارِجٍ) لِأَنَّهُ كَالْفَمِ لَا دَاخِلٍ؛ لِأَنَّهُ بَاطِنٌ، وَلَا تُدْخِلُ أُصْبُعَهَا فِي قُبُلِهَا بِهِ يُفْتِي»

بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع» (1/ 34): (وأما) ركنه فهو إسالة الماء على جميع ما يمكن إسالته عليه من البدن من غير حرج مرة واحدة حتى لو بقيت لمعة لم يصبها الماء لم يجز ‌الغسل، وإن كانت يسيرة لقوله تعالى {وإن كنتم جنبا فاطهروا} [المائدة: 6] ، أي: طهروا أبدانكم، واسم البدن يقع على الظاهر، والباطن فيجب تطهير ما يمكن تطهيره منه ‌بلا ‌حرج، ولهذا وجبت المضمضة، والاستنشاق في ‌الغسل، لأن إيصال الماء إلى داخل الفم، والأنف ممكن ‌بلا ‌حرج، وإنما لا يجبان في الوضوء لا، لأنه لا يمكن إيصال الماء إليه بل، لأن الواجب هناك غسل الوجه، ولا تقع المواجهة إلى ذلك رأسا، ويجب إيصال الماء إلى أثناء اللحية كما يجب إلى أصولها، وكذا يجب على المرأة إيصال الماء إلى أثناء شعرها إذا كان منقوضا كذا ذكر الفقيه أبو جعفر الهندواني لأنه يمكن إيصال الماء إلى ذلك من غير حرج»

الفتاوى العالمكيرية = الفتاوى الهندية» (1/ 13): العجين في الظفر يمنع تمام الاغتسال والوسخ والدرن لا يمنع والقروي والمدني سواء والتراب والطين في الظفر لا يمنع والصرام والصباغ ما في ظفرهما يمنع تمام الاغتسال وقيل كل ذلك يجزيهم للحرج والضرورة، ومواضع الضرورة مستثناة عن قواعد الشرع. كذا في الظهيرية»

حاشية ابن عابدين = رد المحتار ط الحلبي» (1/ 154): (وَلَا يَمْنَعُ) الطَّهَارَةَ (وَنِيمٌ) أَيْ خُرْءُ ذُبَابٍ وَبُرْغُوثٍ لَمْ يَصِلْ الْمَاءُ تَحْتَهُ (وَحِنَّاءٌ) وَلَوْ جُرْمَهُ بِهِ يُفْتَى (وَدَرَنٌ وَوَسَخٌ) عَطْفُ تَفْسِيرٍ وَكَذَا دُهْنٌ وَدُسُومَةٌ (وَتُرَابٌ) وَطِينٌ وَلَوْ (فِي ظُفْرٍ مُطْلَقًا) أَيْ قَرَوِيًّا أَوْ مَدَنِيًّا فِي الْأَصَحِّ بِخِلَافِ نَحْوِ عَجِينٍ. (وَ) لَا يَمْنَعُ (مَا عَلَى ظُفْرِ صَبَّاغٍ وَ) لَا (طَعَامٌ بَيْنَ أَسْنَانِهِ) أَوْ فِي سِنِّهِ الْمُجَوَّفِ بِهِ يُفْتَى. وَقِيلَ إنْ صُلْبًا مَنَعَ، وَهُوَ الْأَصَحُّ»

Answered by:
Maulana Ikramul Hoque Miah

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