Registered: Aug 2000
Location: In a Blue, Blue State
Posts: 13494

Thoughts and Reality During Prayer
Adil Salahi



Q. A person feels very uncomfortable during prayers because he gets recurrent thoughts that he might have discharged wind and invalidated his ablution, or wudhu. This happens very frequently, almost in every prayer. And it is all without sound or smell. This person often wonders whether he actually discharged wind or it was merely a bowel movement. Please advise.

MKM

A. An important rule in Islamic worship is that a certainty cannot be removed or contradicted by a doubt. Therefore, we should always rely on what we know to be certain. Thus, if prayer is due and one is unsure whether he needs to have ablution or not, there are one of two cases. The first is that he had already done his ablution, or wudhu, but is unsure as to whether he might have invalidated it. The certainty here is that an ablution has been done. The doubt is about its invalidation. Therefore, he is considered to still have a valid ablution. The second situation is that he is not sure whether he did the ablution in the first place. In this case, he is deemed not to have done it and a new ablution is required. Thus, in the case of doubt, we always act on the basis of what is certain.

If we look at the case mentioned by the reader, we have a person who is certain to have had ablution, but then he experiences a feeling that he might have invalidated it by a wind discharge. He is unsure. We say that a certainty cannot be removed except by a counter certainty. A wind discharge is ascertained by sound or smell. If neither is present, then no wind discharge has taken place. It is a mere sensation that might have no substance.

Scholars in all generations warn against giving in to such thoughts because they can become an obsession. In this case, the reader describes this person as permanently uncomfortable in prayer. The best thing for him to do is to ignore the prompting to have a fresh ablution and repeat his prayer. When he does this for a few days, he will find that the whole thought is removed, God willing.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=26000

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35782

Thus the Koran proves what most already believed to be true.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
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It is this kind of piercing insight that draws one to the faith of star and crescent.

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oxsan


Don't kick until yer spurred.

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Registered: Jan 2002
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I am more worried about smug's sense of conviction - a refuting of smell or sound does not negate it actually being there.

Last edited by weedy on 05-10-2003 at 04:23 AM

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
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You're just not seeing the big picture.

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Canada
Posts: 99

This begs the question:

If a tree falls on a praying flatulent Muslim in a forest and there's nobody around, does it make a sound?

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: atlanta
Posts: 6505

quote:

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Originally posted by Lintinator
This begs the question:

If a tree falls on a praying flatulent Muslim in a forest and there's nobody around, does it make a sound?

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