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Fatwa CenterDoubting about the State of Purity
Question
If you feel like your probably in the statr of major impurity and you make ghusl, does it count since you didn't know 100 percent if your in that's state and also could you make ghusl for major impurity just in case
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If what you mean by major impurity is the Janaabah (state of sexual defilement) as it appears, then the Janaabah is not an impurity. The believer does not become impure as proven by the Prophet .
If a person doubts about being in the state of sexual defilement, then he is not obliged to perform Ghusl (ritual bath) unless he is certain about that.
If he is affected with whispers, then he should not get carried away with them or pay any attention to them because being carried away with them leads to a great evil.
Moreover, if he performs Ghusl with the intention of purifying himself from the state of sexual defilement, then this is sufficient for him and he is no longer in a state of sexual defilement if we presume that he was in a state of Janaabah.
The jurists of the Hanbali School of Jurisprudence stated that the state of impurity is removed by having the intention for what requires purity, or for which purity is desirable. They stated that it is desirable to purify oneself in order to remove the doubt, so purifying oneself with the intention of removing the doubt necessitates that the state of impurity [the condition of not being is a state of ablution] is removed.
However, the Shaafi'i School of Jurisprudence distinguished between being certain about being in a state of purity while doubting about being in a state of impurity; so the person’s purity is not valid [i.e. if he performs ablution then his purity is not valid because of being hesitant in his intention, which [hesitation] is something that invalidates the act of worship according to the School]; and between the case when he is certain that he is in a state of impurity and doubts about being in a state of purity, then his purity [i.e. if he performs ablution (or Ghusl) to come out of the state of minor or major impurity] then this is valid from him in this case, because in principle he is not in a state of purity and he is certain about this.
Al-Ghurar al-Bahiyyah, which is one of the Shaafi'i School books, reads: "And his ablution is not valid if he intended to be on the safe side like if he doubts after having performed ablution that he is not in a state of ablution, and he performs ablution in order to be on the safe side, then it comes clear to him that he is not in a state of ablution, so his ablution is not valid because of hesitation in intention without necessity. In the same way if he makes up for a missed Thuhr prayer while doubting that he has to perform it, and then it turns out (he becomes sure) that he has to perform it, then the prayer that he made up is not sufficient for him, and he has to perform it again.
Rather, the ablution of a person who is in doubt about his purity is valid after he becomes certain that he is not in a state of ablution while he is in a state of hesitation, because in principle he is still in a state of impurity [not in a state of ablution] if he intends to perform ablution in this case, because of him not being in a state of ablution. Otherwise, if he renews his ablution just in case he was not in a state of ablution and then he remembers that he was in a state of ablution, then it is valid from him. This is reported in Al-Majmoo’ [by An-Nawawi] from al-Baghawi, and the latter confirmed it." [End of quote]
The Shaafi'i School of Jurisprudence is of the view that both cases are valid.
Al-Ghurar al-Bahiyyah also reads:
"It (him performing ablution) is not valid, this is the chosen opinion, and it was also said it is valid because it is a purity that coincided with the condition of not being in a state of ablution, so it removed such a state." [End of quote]
In our view, a person who is affected with whispers can act according to this view as a way of warding off hardship.
Allah knows best.
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