Bleeding and ablution
Question: When blood issues from someone who is in a state of minor ablution, and it comes from a body part that the ablution water reaches—such as the face or the hand—whether the blood flows or merely appears without running, does the ablution break in both situations? And if the blood comes from a place the ablution water does not reach, does the ablution break then as well?
Answer: If the blood exits from either of the two natural passages (front or rear), the ablution is nullified outright, regardless of whether the amount is small or large.
If, however, the blood comes from any other part of the body, the ablution is not nullified unless the bleeding is profuse and excessive. A small amount of blood that issues from somewhere other than the two passages does not break ablution, whether it appears on a limb washed in ablution or elsewhere. The determining factor, according to some scholars, is a large amount—that is what invalidates ablution—whereas a slight amount does not.
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Ablution with water whose characteristics have changed without impurity
Question: Our village mosque has a basin set aside for ablution. The water remains in it for five months or more, during which its color and taste change, yet the people continue to perform ablution from it at all times. Kindly inform us—may Allah bless you—whether this practice is valid. May Allah reward you abundantly.
Answer: There is no objection to their continuing to perform ablution from the basin for as long as water remains in it, so long as they carry out their ablution outside the basin itself. Even if a long time passes and the water’s properties change merely because it has been standing, such a change does no harm. What renders the water impermissible to use is only if its characteristics change due to impurity. Likewise, if they were