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Can the hadith "He washes his penis and performs ablution" be used as evidence for the permissibility of masturbation, and what is the ruling on one who is unable to stop it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim from Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad, in which Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I was a man who experienced madhy (pre-seminal fluid) frequently, and I felt shy to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) due to the position of his daughter (Fatima) to me. So I asked Al-Miqdad to ask him, and he (the Prophet) said: 'He should wash his penis and perform ablution (wudu),'" does not indicate the permissibility of masturbation. Rather, it refers to madhy, which is discharged during foreplay. If the reason for the emission of madhy is intentionally looking at what is forbidden, then the one who does so is sinful for violating Allah's saying: (Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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