0508P - HYGIENE

By Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr.

NAJASAT

The following are najasat: human feces and urine, spilled blood, menstrual discharge, pus/discharge, vomitus, intoxicants, saliva of dogs and pigs, prostatic and urethral fluid, dead animals or those not slaughtered according to the Law, dead tissues or organs from living animals, milk and hair of inedible animals. The following are not najasat: saliva, nasal discharge, throat clearings, sweat, tears, fresh blood, fresh internal body fluids (cerebro-spinal, peritoneal, pericardial, pleural, and amniotic fluids), the normal vaginal discharge, male and female human sexual discharges, milk (human or edible animals). A human, dead or alive, believer or non-believer, is not najasat.

FECAL HYGIENE

Excrement, hadith (feces, urine, and flatus) nullifies wudhu. Salat, sujuud, tawaaf, and carrying the mushaf are prohibited without wudhu. A book whose material is more than 50% non-Qur’anic can be carried. Children can carry Qur’an without wudhu. Adults without wudhu can read Qur;an from memory. Deep sleep abrogates wudu. Excreta of animals are treated as human excreta.

Istinjah is cleaning away excreta required for feces and urine but not flatus. When flatus is passed there is no cleaning but wudhu is repeated. A solid cleanser (paper or stone) is followed by water (the universal and best cleanser). The following are forbidden in the toilet: facing the qibla, facing al quds, conversation, giving or returning salaam, dhikr al llaah, use of golden or silver utensils, using containers of doubtful cleanliness, carrying any object with Allah’s name. The following are recommended: using the left hand, entering with the left foot, exiting with the right foot, exposing the minimum of nakedness, avoiding environmental contamination, brief toilet stay, a dua on entering, and tahmiid on exit. Hand washing is required after istinjah and before wudu and on waking up from sleep.

URINARY HYGIENE

Urinary contamination of the body and clothes is a sin. Bladder emptying including urethral massage is required. Wudhu is followed immediately by salat in cases of urinary incontinence. Urination is forbidden on hard ground, in a vessel, in a bath, in a hole, in stagnant water, on any edible material, or facing Makka or al Quds. Urination is allowed standing or sitting down whichever causes least contamination. Urine of adults (male and female) is washed away. Floor contaminated by urine is washed with water. Water is splashed over urine of breast feeding boys. Urine of breastfeeding girls is washed with water.

PHYSIOLOGICAL SECRETIONS

Wudhu and ghusl wash away skin secretions on the face, upper arm and hands, the feet, and the external meatus of the ear. Tears, morning eye discharges, nasal secretions, throat clearings, and saliva are not najasat. Upper GIT vomitus is not najasat but lower GIT vomitus is najasat. Normal vaginal moisture, inter-menstrual vaginal discharges, and sexual discharge on a wet dream are not najasat. A woman with a chronic vaginal discharges or bleeding washes and pads the vagina, makes wudhu, and prays immediately because delay nullifies the wudhu. Menstrual blood is washed or scraped off the cloth which is then used for salat. Touching the penis or the perineal area of the self, of an adult, or a child, or of an animal nullifies wudhu. Semen, mani, is not najasat. Prostatic discharge, madhi, and urethral discharge, wadi, najasat. Blood of epistaxis and fresh blood are not najasat. Pleural, peritoneal, pericardial, and synovial fluids are not najasat. Saliva of a dog is najasat and has to be washed with water 7 times one of them with soil. Saliva of the cat and the camel saliva are not najasat. Saliva of domestic animals whose meat is halal is not najasat.

THE SKIN

Rubbing the hair with wet hands in wudhu removes air-borne pathogens and toxins. Hair can only be dyed with colors other than black. Shaving part of the head with no medical indication is makruuh. A woman cannot shave all her scalp hair without the husband’s permission. The following are sunnat: trimming the moustache, growing the beard, cutting axillary and pubic hair, trimming finger and toe nails. Wudhu cleans parts of the body exposed to environmental pollution. Bathing the whole body is obligatory after haidh, nifaas, and coitus. It is obligatory before hajj and umrah. It is recommended on Fridays. A man can use henna if he does not resemble women. Tattoing is haram. Circumcision is sunnat for males and is recommended for females. Male circumcision is removal of the prepuce for hygienic purposes. Female circumcision is symbolic.

PATIENT HYGIENE, nadhafat al mariidh

The following are not najasat: fresh blood inside the body, interstitial space fluids, effusions, and physiological secretions (esophageal, gastric, and naso-gastric). The fluids from an ileostomy are not najasat but those of a colostomy are najasat. A person with a discharging fistula makes wudhu and prays. Fistulas (vesico-vaginal, vesico-intestinal, urethro-vaginal, urethro-rectal, or urethro-cutaneous) may discharge stool or urine. Persons with discharging stomas and fistulas make wudhu and offer salat immediately and cannot wait.