Purification Issues Because of Being Uncircumcised.

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I am uncircumcised so when I do istinja I pull back the skin while washing and then it goes back forward again while I wash to purify myself.

When I am doing this the opening of my private part looks slightly open while water is going over it and once I have finished pouring water over it.

This leads me to think that water has gone in and out while doing istinja and so I am impure.

What can I do?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

There is no need to worry about this.

Whilst cleaning oneself after using the bathroom (istinja’), the water which passes over the point of exit of your private organ, even if some of it goes inside and then exits, remains pure. This is on condition that there is no remaining urine inside the organ. Clearly, minuscule amounts are of no legal consideration.

At any rate, the assumption is that the water is merely flowing over the area and not entering and exiting, even if the point of exit appears very slightly open. If we disregard the above, and assume that the water is in fact entering and exiting, the water is flowing as you are pouring it, so the area would be immediately purified.

Ignore misgivings, and don’t look too hard. Matters related to purification are expansive and forgiving, so focus on the point of purification itself which is the prayer.

(Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar; al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya)

Please also see this answer.

And Allah Most High knows best.

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.