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LAWS OF JABĪRAH WUḌŪʾ

‘Jabīrah’ refers to the thing with which a wound or a break in a bone is bandaged, and to medication applied to a wound and suchlike.

Ruling 323. If on one of the parts of the body on which wuḍūʾ is performed there is a wound, boil, or broken bone, in the event that it is uncovered and water is not harmful for the person, he must perform wuḍūʾ in the normal manner.

Ruling 324. If a wound, boil, or broken bone is on one’s face or arms, and it is uncovered, and pouring water over it is harmful, then the area around the wound or boil must be washed from top to bottom in the manner that was explained regarding wuḍūʾ. If drawing a wet hand over it is not harmful, it is better that one draw a wet hand over it, place a pure cloth over it, and then draw a wet hand over the cloth as well. As for the case of a broken bone, it is necessary to perform tayammum [instead of jabīrah wuḍūʾ].

Ruling 325. If a wound, boil, or broken bone is on the front part of the head or on the feet, and it is uncovered, then in the event that one is unable to wipe it – meaning that the wound, for example, covers the entire area that is to be wiped, or for some reason he is unable to wipe even the unaffected areas – in such a case, it is necessary for him to perform tayammum. And based on recommended precaution, he should also perform wuḍūʾ and place a pure cloth over it and wipe over the cloth with the wetness of the wuḍūʾ water left on his hand.

Ruling 326. If a boil, wound, or broken bone is covered, and uncovering it is possible without causing excessive difficulty, and water is not harmful for the person, then he must uncover it and perform wuḍūʾ, irrespective of whether the wound and suchlike is on the face, arms, the front part of the head, or the feet.

Ruling 327. If a wound, boil, or broken bone that is covered is on the face or arms, in the event that it is harmful to uncover and pour water over it, one must wash as much of the area around it as possible. And based on obligatory precaution, one must also wipe over the jabīrah.

Ruling 328. If it is not possible to uncover a wound but the wound and the thing that has been placed over it are pure, and if making water reach the wound is possible and not harmful, then one must make water go over the wound from top to bottom. If the wound or the thing that has been placed over it is impure, in the event that it is possible to wash that thing with water and make the water go over the wound, one must wash it with water and at the time of performing wuḍūʾ he must make the water reach the wound. In the event that water is not harmful for the person but washing it with water is not possible, or if uncovering the wound causes excessive difficulty or is harmful for him, he must perform tayammum.

Ruling 329. If the jabīrah completely covers one of the parts of the body on which wuḍūʾ is performed, then performing jabīrah wuḍūʾ is sufficient. However, if the jabīrah covers all or most of the parts of the body on which wuḍūʾ is performed, then based on obligatory precaution, one must perform tayammum and jabīrah wuḍūʾ.

Ruling 330. It is not necessary for the jabīrah to be made of something that one is permitted to wear when performing prayers. Therefore, if the jabīrah is made of silk or pure parts of an animal whose meat is unlawful to eat, it is permitted to wipe over it.

Ruling 331. If someone has a jabīrah on the palm of his hand or on his fingers, and at the time of performing wuḍūʾ he draws his wet hand over it, he must wipe his head and feet with the same moisture [that has gathered on the jabīrah].

Ruling 332. If the jabīrah covers the entire surface of the top of the foot except for an area over the toes and at the top of the foot, one must wipe the places that are uncovered and over the jabīrah that is covering the other parts.

Ruling 333. If there are several jabīrahs on one’s face or arms, he must wash between them; and if the jabīrahs are on the head or the feet, he must wipe between them. As for those places covered by the jabīrah, he must act according to the rules of jabīrah.

Ruling 334. If the jabīrah has covered more than the normal area around the wound and it is not possible to remove it without causing excessive difficulty, one must perform tayammum unless the jabīrah is on a place of the body that tayammum is performed on, in which case based on obligatory precaution, it is necessary to perform both wuḍūʾ and tayammum. In both cases, if it is possible to remove the jabīrah without causing excessive difficulty, the jabīrah must be removed. Therefore, if the wound is on the face or arms, the area around it must be washed; and if it is on the head or top of the feet, the area around that must be wiped; and for the place of the wound, one must act according to the rules of jabīrah.

Ruling 335. If there is no wound, cut, or broken bone on a part of the body on which wuḍūʾ is performed but water is harmful for the person for some other reason, he must perform tayammum.

Ruling 336.* If phlebotomy[1] has been performed on one of the parts of the body on which wuḍūʾ is performed and water is not harmful for it but the person is unable to wash it because the blood does not congeal and suchlike, then it is necessary for him to perform tayammum. However, if one can wash it with water but water is harmful for it, then he must act according to the rules of jabīrah.

Ruling 337. If something is stuck on a part of one’s body on which wuḍūʾ or ghusl is performed and it is not possible to remove it, or the difficulty involved in removing it is such that it cannot be endured, then the person’s responsibility is to perform tayammum. However, if the thing that is stuck is on a part of the body on which tayammum is performed, it is necessary to perform both wuḍūʾ and tayammum. Furthermore, if the thing that is stuck is some form of treatment, it is ruled to be jabīrah.

Ruling 338.* For all ghusls – apart from the ghusl given to a corpse – jabīrah ghusl is performed like jabīrah wuḍūʾ; however, based on obligatory precaution, one must perform it in sequence. If there is a wound or boil on the body, one has the choice of performing ghusl or tayammum; and in the event that one chooses to perform ghusl and the wound is not covered, the recommended precaution is that he should place a pure cloth over the wound or the uncovered boil and wipe over the cloth. However, if there is a broken bone in the body, one must perform ghusl, and as a precautionary measure, he must also wipe over the jabīrah; and in the event that it is not possible to wipe over the jabīrah or the place of the broken bone is uncovered, it is necessary to perform tayammum. Therefore, if the place of the broken bone is uncovered, he must perform tayammum, and if it is covered, he must perform ghusl and wipe over the jabīrah. If wiping over the jabīrah is not possible, then in the event that the jabīrah is not on a part of the body on which tayammum is performed, he must perform tayammum. If the jabīrah is on a part of the body on which tayammum is performed, then based on obligatory precaution, he must perform both ghusl (without wiping over the injured area) and tayammum.

Ruling 339. If someone’s responsibility is to perform tayammum but on some of the parts of his body on which tayammum is performed he has a wound, boil, or broken bone, he must perform jabīrah tayammum in accordance with the rules of jabīrah wuḍūʾ.

Ruling 340. If someone must perform prayers with jabīrah wuḍūʾ or ghusl, in the event that he knows his legitimate excuse for not performing normal wuḍūʾ or ghusl will remain valid until the end of the time for prayers, he can perform prayers at the beginning of their time. However, if he has hope that his legitimate excuse will expire before the end of the time for prayers, it is better that he wait; and in the event that his legitimate excuse remains valid, he must perform prayers with jabīrah wuḍūʾ or ghusl at the end of the time for prayers. If he performed prayers at the beginning of their time and his legitimate excuse expired by the end of the time for prayers, the recommended precaution is that he should perform wuḍūʾ or ghusl and repeat the prayers.

Ruling 341.* If there is a dressing over one’s eye and the illness is in his eye, he must perform tayammum.

Ruling 342.* If someone does not know whether his duty is to perform tayammum or jabīrah wuḍūʾ, he must perform both of them.

Ruling 343.* The prayers that one performs with jabīrah wuḍūʾ are valid, and he can perform subsequent prayers with that wuḍūʾ as well. However, if his duty was to perform both jabīrah wuḍūʾ and tayammum, then after his legitimate excuse has expired, he must perform wuḍūʾ for subsequent prayers.

[1] Phlebotomy is the practise of bloodletting, i.e. a treatment in which a vein is cut to release blood.
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