If a person enters the bathroom intending to perform wudu, but after leaving he does not know whether he performed wudu or not, and this has happened to him several times?
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The questioner : If a person enters the bathroom intending to perform wudu, but after leaving he does not know whether he performed wudu or not, and this has happened to him several times?
The Shaykh : If this doubt that afflicts him is a constant doubt, then he should not pay attention to it, because it resembles obsessive thoughts; in fact, it is obsessive thinking. However, if it is occasional, then it is obligatory for him to perform wudu, because he is in doubt about the existence of wudu, and the original state is its non-existence. Some scholars have mentioned a criterion for doubt, saying:
Doubt after the act has no effect, and likewise when doubts become frequent. So we say to this person:The questioner : If your most common habit is that you perform wudu, and you frequently doubt that you did not perform wudu, then base your action on the most common habit and on the assumption that you are in a state of wudu.
However, if the doubt is rare, then it is obligatory for you to perform wudu, because the original state is the non-existence of wudu.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : If this doubt that afflicts him is a constant doubt, then he should not pay attention to it, because it resembles obsessive thoughts; in fact, it is obsessive thinking. However, if it is occasional, then it is obligatory for him to perform wudu, because he is in doubt about the existence of wudu, and the original state is its non-existence. Some scholars have mentioned a criterion for doubt, saying:
Doubt after the act has no effect, and likewise when doubts become frequent. So we say to this person:The questioner : If your most common habit is that you perform wudu, and you frequently doubt that you did not perform wudu, then base your action on the most common habit and on the assumption that you are in a state of wudu.
However, if the doubt is rare, then it is obligatory for you to perform wudu, because the original state is the non-existence of wudu.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.