Ask an Alim

Ignoring Doubts on waswas

Assalam alaikum. I recently asked a question about waswasah (http://askanalim.org/node/2816), which was answered, but I still had some follow-up questions. I asked, “Would you agree if an impurity on an object cannot be seen, smelled, or felt, then the object is pure?”
Based off what you wrote and the Sistani links you sent, it seems like the answer is “Yes, if impurity can’t be seen, smelled, or felt, then the object is pure.” Am I correct? If so, I can continue to apply this logic to every situation and I can overcome this waswasah.

If not, I have some instances where I fear I am spreading filth.

1. I washed my hand with water from a bottle over a wastebasket where a used feminine pad was laying face down. I felt a prick of water on my leg, but am not sure if water actually fell on my leg, or I just felt a random pinprick. I’m not sure if the water was clean, as it may have bounced off the clean part of the trash or off a clean part of my hand. I wiped that part of my leg with the towel. Is the towel dirty? I see, feel, and smell nothing bad on the towel. If the towel is dirty, what do I do? I have used it multiple times since then, and have laid that wet towel out on multiple chairs. How do I go about this situation if the towel is dirty, esp. since lots of furniture might be dirty?

2. I flushed my toilet in my bathroom and felt a random pinprick on the top of my foot. I hadn’t started washing my hands yet, so the only source of water was the toilet flushing, but I’m not sure if water got on my foot, because it doesn’t make sense from where my foot was in relation to the toilet, or if I just felt a random pinprick. I didn’t check my foot, nor did I wash it. I came back to my room, and a minute later, I accidentally rubbed the top of that foot on the pink carpet, but I didn’t feel anything wet as I did that. I’m not sure if anything got onto the carpet. I got scared and tried to clean it. What I’ve done so far is I poured water (probably 1-2 oz, which is probaly more than 100 times the size of the filth) from a water bottle on that spot of the carpet, rubbed with a dry paper towel (not to the point of getting the carpet completely dry, but removed some water), and then repeated that twice more with a new paper towel each time, all within 5 minutes. Later (maybe 10 hours later), I also poured some more water (maybe 4 oz) from a bottle on it and allowed the carpet to air-dry, but my sister accidentally stepped on the carpet 12 hours after pouring water saying it felt damp, and she stepped on another part of the carpet. Is the entire carpet clean? If not, which parts are dirty and how do I clean them? The pink carpet cannot be removed, as it is stapled to the ground. I also try avoiding that carpet area when my feet are wet, like after shower or wudu, because dry impurity can pass to wet stuff, but I can only avoid it so much, and have stepped on floors and carpets in other rooms with wet feet, but I am not sure if the filth is spreading. I see smell and feel nothing on the pink carpet.

3. I came out of the shower into my bedroom and I was on my period. I wiped my private area with wet toilet paper which had wet blood on it and the paper accidentally fell on the carpet. I immediately picked it up and I’m not sure if anything got onto the carpet as I didn’t check. I scrubbed that part of carpet with clean wet toilet paper, and now I can see smell and feel nothing on the carpet. Is the carpet clean?

4. I took a shower and my hair was starting to dry, but was still wet. I put it in a ponytail. I used my toilet and the end of my hair hit the toilet lid, the lid you put down over the seat. I didn’t see or feel anything dirty or wet on the seat, and I’m not sure which part of my hair hit the seat, the wet ot dry hair. I didn’t wash my hair ends, and got into bed. I could feel my wet hair tips between my shirt and bedsheets. Are my sheets dirty? I can see smell or feel nothing

I know this is really excessive and probably waswasah and OCD, but I just want to confirm that I am not spreading filth with the examples I gave and that as long as you can see smell or feel nothing, it is pure? Once I have the answer, I can confidently move on and stop freaking out. I want to let go of these doubts and I will once it is confirmed I am not spreading filth. Please answer as thoroughly as possible with any supporting texts, and in plain English, so I don’t misunderstand any links you provide. This would be greatly appreciated so I can move on and be happy again. I used to find joy in praying, doing wudu, reading Quran, etc, but I have been very depressed lately. Thank you, and may Allah (SWT) bless you. Ameen!