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Fatwa CenterAre impurities on clothes of sewage workers pardoned?
Question
assalam alaykum.please is it true that people whose work involve sewages are pardoned concerning impurities in their cloth?dear sheikh,i want you to enumerate those that shari'ah has pardoned in regard to impurities.may Allah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The basic ruling is that removing impurities for prayer is something obligatory except for the one who finds difficulty in avoiding it. Jurists stated that any impurity that one finds difficulty in taking precautions to avoid is pardoned. Amongst the examples that the jurists have stated of the impurities that can be pardoned for difficulty are:
1- Blood of the small insects and their excrement such as fleas and lice. Also, jurists have stated that it is difficult to take precautions against flies if they fall on stool, urine or the like and then fall on a garment or body, then it will be pardoned for difficulty.
2- The one who has incontinence, i.e. impurity which comes out of the body unintentionally such as urine, Mathy, semen and excrement that flows from the private parts by itself, it is pardoned and should not be washed out of necessity.
3- The sick person who finds difficulty in taking precautions against impurities or purifying himself. The impurity of the baby of the breastfeeding woman that affects her clothes is also pardoned. As for the one whose work includes direct handling of impurities such as the butcher, dustman and the like, they have to do their best in taking precautions to avoid impurities or having a special garment for prayer; however, if this is something difficult for them, then the impurities that affect them are pardoned. Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah (The Fiqh Encyclopedia) reads : "The one whose craft makes impurity affect his garment or his body such as the butcher and sweeper, he should have a clean garment to pray in or do his best to keep his garment away from impurity. If it is difficult to have another garment and to keep his garment away from impurities while it is most likely to be affected with impurities, then he can offer prayer in it and the impurity that affected it is pardoned out of necessity. This is what the Maaliki scholars have stated." [End quote]
4- Menstrual blood after washing it, if its color is not removed and it is difficult to remove it or that the garment will be damaged by that, then it is also pardoned. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 7842.
In fact, the one who works in cleaning sewage has more direct contact with impurities than the breastfeeding woman; therefore, he has more right to be excused (from removing impurity) than her because he has a greater difficulty. Scholars have a rule that controls the forms of difficulties that include such cases. Mawaahib Al-Jaleel by Al-Hattaab Al-Maaliki reads: "A basic rule: Any obligatory matter that is difficult for people to do, then its obligation is dropped and every prohibited matter that is difficult for them to avoid, then its prohibition is dropped. Difficulty is of three categories:
1- Highest degree of difficulty and thus it is pardoned in the case that purification from Al-Hadath (ritual impurity) and Al-Khabath (physical impurity) causes death or damage to the organs; and thus it is pardoned according to the consensus of the scholars.
2- Lowest degree of difficulty that is not pardoned according to the consensus of the scholars such as purification from Al-Hadath and Al-Khabath with cold water in winter.
3- A degree between the two previous difficulties. It may be closer to the highest degree and thus it will affect dropping it, or to the lowest one and thus it will have no effect." [End quote]
Allaah Knows best.
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