Assalammualaikum all.
I didn't add any posts to this thread as most of my doubts were answered here, Alhamdulillah. For the most part, a lot of insecurities were cured and I can't be thankful enough to Allah, and then to the people who have replied on this thread for helping me remove the "severe" part from my OCD. The last post seemed ages ago, but I do hope anyone is still ready to reply to a few new questions popping up, especially brother Thariq if possible. He has been such an immense help, Alhamdulillah.
See, for a long time I thought that in wudhu, as long as we put water over the limbs, etc. and rub, it was enough. Note, though, that my perception was that I stood at the sink, let water slide over my hands and fingers till the elbows, and as for the remaining parts of the hand till elbow not affected/hit by the water, I would simply pass my wet hand with the remaining moisture from the hand over those parts and consider those previously unaffected parts now "washed". Another example. Let's say I'm washing my face. I cup water into both my hands and splash over my face. Of course, we must do it in a way that doesn't wet our clothes, preferably, right? Especially in public. So I still take a cupful of water, but in a moderate, not overflown amount, and put it on my face. That first splash as it hits my forehead (and a few other parts of the face that it manages to on the first splash, of course), is bound not to get my whole face "washed"; but in my old perception, I thought what was enough was to just pass as much of that one cupful water as I could manage from the top of my head till the chin, and then from one earlobe to the other. Some parts would be unaffected, and not considered a "wash", right? But I would just pass the remaining moisture over my face with my hand.
My problem started when I realized I was not giving myself a proper "wash", as the definition of "wash" is considered to be this, as I will take from websites:
"
And he (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Muslims are unanimously agreed that the water that is acceptable in wudoo’ and ghusl is not a specific amount; rather a little or a lot may suffice if the condition of washing is met, which is that the water should flow over the parts of the body.
End quote from Sharh Saheeh Muslim, 2/20
Al-Bahooti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Proper washing means making the water reach all of the part of the body being washed, so that it flows over it; it is not sufficient just to wipe it.
End quote from Daqaa’iq Ooli an-Nuha, 1/88
To sum up: in order for wudoo’ to be valid, the water must flow over the part of the body in question – apart from the head. But if the water does not flow on the part of the body, and he merely transfers what is left on his hand of water, then that is wiping, in which case his wudoo’ is not valid.
And Allah knows best."
(
http://islamqa.info/en/ref/164975)
"
Washing one's face is accomplished by allowing water to flow over the entire face. It is not a condition that the water actually drip from the washed skin. However, mere contact with moisture is not sufficient."
(
http://spa.qibla.com/issue_view.asp?HD=3&ID=4721&CATE=342)
"
A complete washing occurs when the entire limb (or body part) is covered in water, even if not all at once, and even if it takes many attempts. For example, if Zayd needs to scoop water to his face three times before all of it is washed, then he has just completed a single washing. In order to fulfill the sunna of washing his face three times, he needs to be confident that he covered his entire face in water two more times, even if it requires him to lift water to his face more than two times."
(
http://qa.*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!/issue_view.asp?HD=3&ID=3767&CATE=389)
Now, my intention is not to confuse other people, but to correct my understanding of this matter, in case I'm wrong. These are my direct questions, since I still don't fully get the above explanations:
1)Does taking water into our hands and wiping it across the parts needed to be washed in wudu' permissible, or must we wash the needed parts in flowing water/ water enough to seep through? Referring to the above definition, what does "flow" mean? Does this mean putting water over the face, and it drips to all parts of the face?
2)In a setting like a sink, how is this possible to do, and how must we do this, in say, 3 minutes (Maximum 5 minutes, still preferred 3 minutes due to busy lifestyle)? This problem has been making my wudhu 10 minutes, and only by washing my limbs once, according to the above definition. It's very time consuming, and very saddening to have had to cut down the sunnahs of wudhu simply to fulfill the requirement of "washing", which STILL takes 10 minutes and gets my clothes really wet enough that I can't walk into public without getting myself dried first. Can anyone give a practical way of doing a quick and proper wudhu in the setting of a sink? I get so upset and sad to the point of tears sometimes when I see people praying all the prayers they wish and need to, and managing to, while I struggle doing my wudhu', then stumble over my prayers simply to be able to perform my prayers at all before urgent business comes up.
3)In continuity with no. 2, how must we wash between our fingers with limited water? What's making me ponder is if it took so much of water to fulfill the condition of a "wash", how did the Prophet, let alone other people, manage to do it 3 times, with limited water? Again, I have limited knowledge on this, so please correct me. I'm dreading the moment when the water supply is stuck and we have to use big mineral bottles (can we?) and it seems that I can drain one whole just to wash my hands. You see my point.
4)Women have hair/bangs next to their earlobes. These are the stubborn ones that even if we tuck them behind our ear, they don't completely stay there, and get in the way of wudhu' (when we're washing the face). This can also refer to locks of hair coming onto the sides of our faces, or the hair that's already a part of the side of the face (get it??). Does this hair affect wudhu', since we're sorta trying to "wash" our face to make that one wash considered a "wash", and then these hairs make me doubt whether I got wudhu' water all over my face, and so I put water again over those parts respectively too. All to make it one wash. Imagine doing this as one "wash". Then imagine three times, without wetting clothes.
5)I know we rinse our nose before washing our face, but sometimes there is a thin residue of nose secretions/mucus coming out of our nose when we get to the part about washing our face. It's because we wet the insides of our nose previously, so of course this secretion will be present. Is this secretion considered a barrier to allowing water to flow over our face (like sticky oil etc.)? It's a little hard to get out since its constantly flowing due to wetness. My problem is that I'm washing my face once (hence getting that place even wetter with mucus) and then again cupping water in my hands to splash onto my face to get rid of that layer. Then making another wash on the now mucus-free area to make sure the first wash counted (considered one wash of the whole face). Again, imagine this whole process three times!
6)I'm curious. In Western public bathrooms, how does one wash the feet when there is no hose of water attached in the cubicles?
I know these are a very tiring set of questions and I just can't describe my gratitude to those who even bothered to read this, attempt to answer them, and perhaps, even help me. I have trust in this forum, so I really hope some people will step up to answer these questions, if possible. May Allah Bless you all tremendously if so. Truly, thank you. You will be helping a very tired person get back on the feet again, and cherish salah once more.
May Allah Bless you all once more, even to those who bothered reading.
