Advice of Scholars - ISTIBRÂ

It is wâjib for men to make an istibrâ, that is, not to leave any drops in the urethra, by walking, coughing. Women do not make an istibrâ. One must not make an ablution unless one is satisfied that there are no drops of urine left. One drop oozing out will both nullify the ablution and make one’s underwears dirty. If less than a palmful (?? if anything from the size of a pinhead to less than a palmful) oozes onto the pants, it is mekrûh for one to make an ablution and perform namâz. If more oozes, the namâz will not be sahih. Those who have difficulty with istibrâ must put a cellulosic cotton wick as big as a barley seed into the urinary hole. The cotton will absorb the urine oozing out, which will prevent both the ablution from being broken and the pants from getting najs. Only, the end of the cotton must not jut out. If the cotton wick is long and its end remains outside and gets wet with urine, the ablution will break. Shâfi’îs should not put cotton there during the blessed month of Ramadân; it will nullify one’s fast according to the Shâfi’î Madhhab. When a Hanafî Muslim imitating the Shâfi’î Madhhab in ablution and namâz uses the cotton wick likewise, it will not nullify his fast.