Removing Impurities from Clothing, Furnishings, Etc.

4-2-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

I cannot thank you enough for your previous help to me and for your care. My question is:When I move a piece of clothes with some Najas (impurity) on it (that Najas is hardly noticeable, if I did not know that there was Najas on it, I would believe that it is clean), when I move or touch a piece of clothing with this minute amount of Najas on it, it would touch the clothes that I am wearing or another piece of clothing or furniture, I believe that this other piece of clothing becomes unclean. Then something else touches that 2nd piece of clothing or furniture and so it then becomes unclean and so on. There was a time when all my small apartment was covered in Najas to the extend that I had only two chairs to sit on and I had to try and sleep when I am sitting and could not lie down on the couch, bed or floor. How can I solve this problem?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The impure material object does not soil (make impure) anything else unless the impurity is wet and transferable. But, if the impurity is dry or un-transferable, then there is no problem.

The jurists stated that: There is no disagreement between Muslim scholars that when a dry impurity touches something dry, it does not make the latter impure.

We can deduce from your question the impurity is so small, dry and unnoticeable. Thus, we advise you to avoid such over concern and scruples, because a Muslim should not be overwhelmed by such matters.

For more benefit that impurity is not transferred from a dry body to another dry body that it comes in contact with, please refer to Fatawa 301366, 81546, 350434 and 370297.

Allah knows best.