Jurisprudence

a. If you leave out even a small part of your forehead or the back of your hands in tayammum intentionally or forgetfully, or even due to ignorance, your tayammum will be void. You should be careful but not be overly particular, if it can be adequately assumed that the forehead and the backs of the hands have been wiped it would be sufficient. 55

b. As a precaution the wiping of the head and the hands should be done from up to down. 56

c. It is Ihtiyat mustahab that the forehead, the palm of the hands and the palms and the back of the hands be ritually clean. 57

d. When performing tayammum, rings have to be removed and any obstructions to the forehead or the palms or the back of the hands have to be removed. 58

Making things ritually clean that are stained by Semen

Clothing or Bed Sheets

If the bed sheets or an item of clothing or a towel becomes najis with semen it can be made ritually clean in the following ways:

a. Using running water

1. If the item is still wet with semen, one needs to be careful that it does not come into contact with other clothes or things because they will also become najis.

2. One must wash the najis item once under a tap (kurr water) in such a way that:

a. Water reaches every part of the najis area

b. There is no trace of the actual semen left on the clothing (i.e. rub and squeeze the clothing during the wash in such a way, that there is no trace of semen left on the clothing, discolouration)

3. It the item is a piece of clothing then it is not necessary to wring or squeeze it after it has been made ritually clean (as per the above method), although this is generally done out of habit.

4. When the item has been washed once and made ritually clean (per the above method) this is adequate; it does not have to be washed twice or three times.

5. If a najis thing is immersed once in kurr water or running water, in such a way that water reaches all its najis parts, it becomes ritually clean. And in the case of a carpet or dress it is not necessary to squeeze, wring or press it. 59

b. Using washing machines

The ruling applicable to a washing machine is that of kurr water. 60 Thus, an item that has become najis by semen can be put directly into the washing machine, and as long as there is no trace of semen left after the cycle is completed, then the item is deemed to have become ritually clean, and it does need to be washed again, or squeezed and wrung.

However, as a precautionary measure, it may be a good idea to make the najis clothing ritually clean first (per above) and then put it into the washing machine, because if one puts the item straight into the washing machine and for whatever reason the semen still remains on the clothing after the wash it will not become ritually clean, and if that clothing comes into contact with other wet clothes those clothes will also become najis.

A Mattress

a. Using running water

If a mattress becomes najis by semen for whatever reason, it is possible to make it ritually clean by running water from a tap or hose:

‘If one wants to purify the mattress by using pure water connected to the kurr source (e.g. by using a hosepipe or a tap) there is no need to wipe the water off using the cloth or a vacuum cleaner etc. As soon as the kurr water covers the najis area it will become pure as long as the ayn najasat has been removed – the semen (and the water will also be considered as pure)’. 61

It is important to remember the following when a mattress has become najis by semen: The semen only transfers from the mattress to another item through flowing wetness (i.e. there is so much wetness in the najis item that it permeates to another item and makes it najis). The najasat is not transferred when it is dry, so if you place your body or hand on the dry najis mattress your hand or body will not become najis.

Therefore, it is possible to sleep on a mattress that has become najis without your clothes becoming najis, provided that the patch that has become najis remains dry so that the najasat does not get transferred to the clothes from the mattress. b. Using water less then kurr (Qali-l)

Water less then kurr is used in cases where either kurr water is not available or that you cannot take something like a mattress under kurr water (a tap).

The method of making something ritually clean with qalil water is as follows:

Step 1: Removing the naja-sat

The semen has to be removed from the mattress. A possible method of doing this is to first pour water from a glass covering the whole area of the stain. Then take a towel and place it over the wet area and apply pressure and press over it in such a way that the water is sucked out and no semen is left behind. When the water dries up there should be no trace of semen left behind. The towel used will become najis and needs to be made ritually clean.

Step 2: Pouring water less than kurr

After removing the semen the area needs to be made ritually clean. This is done by taking another glass of water and re-pouring water over the whole area again (that had become najis).

The water must be squeezed and wrung out of the mattress before it becomes ritually clean. This can be done by taking a separate towel and placing it over the wetted area in such a way that when pressure is applied over the towel all the water is squeezed out. The mattress has now become ritually clean. As a confirmed opinion and not as an obligatory precaution, the towel and the water removed from the mattress will be considered najis.

If anything becomes najis with an impurity other than urine, it becomes ritually clean by first removing the impurity and then pouring under kurr water once, allowing it to flow off. But if it is clothing etc. it should be squeezed and wrung so that the any remaining water should flow off. 62

NOTE: It is important to note that even if the surface of the mattress is made ritually clean with qali-l water by following the above method, the inside of the mattress will become najis due to the rules of qali-l water. Even if the mattress is angled, it will inevitably seep through the mattress. 63

RECOMMENDATION: To avoid this extra workload and hassle of cleaning the mattress, it is extremely useful that one puts a plastic sheet in between the bedsheet and the mattress, so that if any semen leaks on to the bedsheet it does not leak through to the mattress.

Notes:

55 Islamic Laws, Rule 710

56 Islamic Laws, Rule 712

57 Islamic Laws, Rule 714

58 Islamic Laws, Rule 715

59 Islamic Laws, Rule 160

60 Confirmed with the office of Ayatulla-h Si-sta-ni-, Qom

61 A Code of Practice for Muslims in the West, Ayatulla-h Si-sta-ni-.

62 Islamic Laws, Rule 163

Adapted from the book: "From Marriage to Parenthood; The Heavenly Path" by: "Abbas and Shahin Merali"