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Is it obligatory for someone who suffers from waswas (obsessive doubts) concerning madhy (pre-seminal fluid) to perform wudu for every prayer, and istinja (washing of private parts), and to take precautions, given the difficulty this entails for them? And is it obligatory for someone who suffers from سلس ريح (incontinence of gas) to perform wudu for every prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a woman's feeling of madhiy (pre-seminal fluid) discharge is merely an illusion or a whisper from Satan (waswas), she should disregard it. However, if she is certain of its discharge and it is not a continuous flow (salis), she must perform istinja' (washing of private parts) and wudu' (ablution) from it. The Malikis, however, are lenient in this regard and do not mandate istinja' for it. If the madhiy or wind is a continuous flow (salis), then the majority of scholars obligate performing wudu' for each prayer, whereas the Malikis hold that wudu' is not necessitated for every prayer and that continuous impurity does not nullify wudu'. For someone experiencing waswas, it is permissible to adopt the Maliki view to alleviate hardship.

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

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