WUDHU (ABLUTION)

A Muslim is required to perform ablution (Wudhu) before Salat. Ablution prepares one mentally for Salat and it also helps concentration in prayer. It is essential to wash or moisturize those parts of the body to generate concentration because the dispersion of thoughts is due to the keenness of the body's five senses. The centers of the five senses are the eyes, ears, nose mouth, hands and feet. It has been proven from the expertise of neurologists that the chain of thought can be rerouted by cooling fingers of the hands and feet. They also say that concentration of thoughts can be achieved by cooling the nerv-ends. That is the Philosophy of Wudhu. A Mulim stands before his Creator by cooling nerve-ends of his body with Wudhu water and concentrating all his thoughts for the worship of the All-Mighty.

In Wudhu, we wash or moisturize the nerve-ends of the hands, feet, hair, mouth, nose and ears. All the main nerve-ends of the body are touched in Wudhu in one way or another. Perfect concentration of thoughts to create the proper worshipping atmosphere is thus attained.

As we learn from everyday experience that a person who has fainted can be brought back to his consciousness by sprinkling water on his face, hands and feet which clearly proves our theory. That is why a Muslim is expected to achieve his external as well as internal consciousness by performing Wudhu.

Cleanliness and dirt are not compatible. Allah is clean and whosoever loves Him must be clean, externally as well as internally. Prayer, which is contact with Allah, is therefore unacceptable unless the person, who wants to contact his Lord, is clean.

FARDH IN WUDHU

There are foru Fard (compulsory/obligatory) in Wudhu:-
1. To wash entire face once.
2. To wash both hand upto and including elbow once.
3. To make masah of one quarter of the head once.
4. To wash both feet upto and including ankle once.

These are fardh acts of wudhu. Even if one of these acts is left out, or even if a place equal to a hair's breadth is left dry, wudhu will not be complete.

SUNNAH OF WUDHU

1. To say Bismillahir Ragmanir Raheem.

2. To wash both hands up to the wrists.

3. To rinse the mouth.

4. To wash the nose.

5. To use Miswak
6. To make masah of the entire head.
7. To wash each part three times.
8. To make masah of ears.
9. To make khilal of the fingers and toes.

Dua of WUDHU
1. Before starting Wudhu:











2. Whilst making Wudhu:

3. After finishing Wudhu:

Factors that break and do not break wudhu

• The passing of stool, urine and wind breaks wudhu. However, if one passes wind from the forepart, as it occasionally happens because of sickness, wudhu will not break. If some worms or stones come out from the front or back, then too wudhu will break.
• If a worm comes out from a wound, or from the ear, or if a piece of flesh falls off from a wound and no blood comes out; then in all these cases wudhu will not break.
• If one was bleeding, or his nose was bleeding, or is injured and begins to bleed, or blood comes out from small boils (and pimples etc.), or bleeds from any other part of the body, or some matter or pus comes out - then in all these cases wudhu will break. However, if the blood or pus remains on the mouth of the wound and does not flow over it, wudhu will not break. Based on this, if a person is pricked by a pin and blood comes out, but does not flow, then wudhu will not break.
• If a person sneezes and some clotted, dry blood comes out, wudhu will not break. wudhu will only break if it is thin and flows. If a person inserts his finger in his nose, and after removing it sees a spot of blood which is more like a stain on his finger but does not flow, wudhu will not break.
• If a pimple or boil in the eye bursts, or the person bursts it himself - and its liquid flows within the eye, wudhu will not break. But if it flows out of the eye, wudhu will break. In the same way, if a pimple or boil bursts in the ear, then as long as the pus remains in the canal and does not flow to a place whose washing is necessary when making ghusl, wudhu will not break. But if it flows to such a place which is necessary to wash when making ghusl, wudhu will break.
• If someone scratches the skin of his boil or pimple and he sees some blood or pus underneath it, and it remains in the same place without flowing out, wudhu will not break. But if it flows out, wudhu will break.
• Someone notices blood in his saliva: if the blood is very little and the colour of the saliva is whitish or yellowish, wudhu will not break. But if the blood is equal to or more than the saliva, and the saliva is reddish in colour, wudhu will break.
• If one is bitten by a leech and so much of blood flows into it that if the leech is dissected, blood will begin to flow, wudhu will break. But if the leech has sucked out very little blood, wudhu will not break. If a mosquito, fly, bee, or bug sucks out blood, then wudhu will not break.
• If water comes out from the nipple (of a male or female) and this is accompanied by pain, then this water is also regarded as impure and wudhu will therefore break. But if this is not accompanied by pain, the water will not be impure and wudhu will not break.
• If someone vomits out food, water or bile, and it is a mouthful, wudhu will break. But if it is not a mouthful, wudhu will not break. "Mouthful" here means that the vomit cannot stay in the mouth except with difficulty. If a person vomits phlegm only, wudhu will not break irrespective of the amount and irrespective of whether it was a mouthful or not. If blood comes out in the vomit and it is thin and flowing, then wudhu will break irrespective of whether it is less or extra, and irrespective of whether it is a mouthful or not. But if the blood comes out in clots or bits and pieces, then wudhu will only break if it is a mouthful.
• If one vomits small quantities several times and all these quantities would have equalled a mouthful, and in addition to this the person still feels nauseous after each time that he vomits, wudhu will break. But if a person does not feel nauseous after vomitting the first time, but feels better, and later feels nauseous and vomits a little, and again feels better, and then feels nauseous a third time and vomits a little again - then wudhu will not break.
• If one falls asleep while lying down, or falls asleep while leaning on something for support and gets into such a deep sleep that if that support is removed, he will fall - wudhu will break. If one falls asleep while sitting or standing in salât, wudhu will not break. But if one falls asleep while in sajdah, wudhu will break.
• If one is not in salât and falls asleep while sitting down with his buttocks pressed on his heels and without leaning against a wall or anything else - then wudhu will not break.
• While sitting, if one is suddenly overcome by sleep and falls down, then wudhu will not break if the person's eyes open immediately after falling down. But if even a few moments lapse for the eyes to open, wudhu will break. But if, in the sitting position, the person sways from side to side without falling down, wudhu will not break.
• If one falls unconscious, or loses his senses because of insanity, then wudhu will break even if the unconsciousness or insanity was for a few moments. Similarly, if some drug or intoxicant is consumed and one is intoxicated to the extent that he cannot walk properly and his steps are unsteady - then too wudhu will break.
• If one laughs so loudly in salât that he hears the laughter himself and those near him hear it as well, then both wudhu and salât will break. If only the one who laughed hears the laughter and those near him do not hear it, then only salât will break and not the wudhu. But if one only smiles without any sound coming out, neither the wudhu nor the salât will break. However, if an immature person (na-bâligh) laughs aloud in the salât, or if a mature person (bâligh) laughs while making sajdah-e-tilawat - then wudhu will not break. However, the sajdah-e-tilawat (of the mature person) and the salât (of the immature person) will break.
• If liquid comes out from the front organ by touching a person of the opposite sex or merely having such thoughts, wudhu will break. This liquid which comes out at the time of excitement or passion is called mazi (pre-coital fluid).
• If, due to illness, some sticky fluid similar to mucus, comes out from the front organ, then as precaution it should be regarded as impure. By it coming out, wudhu will break.
• If a drop of urine or pre-coital fluid comes out from the urinary passage, but remains within the foreskin, even then wudhu will break. In order for wudhu to break, it is not necessary for any liquid to come out from the foreskin.
• If a man's organ touches the private part of a woman and there is no cloth or any such barrier between them, wudhu will break. Similarly, if the private parts of two women touch each other, wudhu will break. But to indulge in such acts is a very serious sin. In both instances, whether any fluid comes out or not, wudhu will break.
• If after performing wudhu, one clipped one's nails, or scratched the dead skin of a wound - then no harm comes to the wudhu. It is not necessary to repeat the wudhu, nor does one have to wet that place.  
• If after performing wudhu, one sees the private area (aurah) of someone, or one's own private area gets exposed, or one had a bath or made wudhu while being naked - then in all these cases wudhu will remain and there will be no need to repeat it. However, it is a great sin to intentionally look at someone's private area, or to intentionally expose one's own private area.
• The same rule will apply to a small child who has been fed with milk and thereafter vomits it out. That is, if it is not a mouthful, it will not be impure, and if it is a mouthful, it will be impure. If the mother performs her salât without washing out that vomit from her clothing, her salât will not be in order.
• If one remembers making wudhu but is unsure as to whether the wudhu is still intact or broken, the wudhu will be regarded as not broken. Salât with that wudhu will be proper but it is preferable to repeat the wudhu.
• If someone is in doubt as to whether a particular limb has been washed in wudhu or not, then that part should be washed. But if the doubt crops up after completing the wudhu, he should not worry, wudhu is complete. But if he is certain that a particular thing has been left out, he should complete it.
• It is not permissible to touch the Qur'ân without wudhu. But if it is touched with a cloth which the person is not wearing, then it will be permissible. To touch it with a scarf or sleeve of a shirt while it is being worn will not be permissible. But if he touches it while it (i.e. the scarf or shirt) is not being worn, it will be permissible. It is permissible to read the Qur'ân from memory without wudhu. If the Qur'ân is open and one looks into it and reads from it without touching it, then this is also permissible. In the same way, it is not permissible to touch an amulet (ta'wiz) or a plate on which the verses of the Qur'ân are written without wudhu.
• To touch any page of the Qur'ân is makruh tahrimi (not permitted) irrespective of whether he touches that part where something is written or that part which is blank. But if it is not the whole Qur'ân, but one complete verse written on a page, or cloth, or thin skin, and the balance of it is blank; then it is permissible to touch the blank portion if the hand does not touch the verse.
• It is not makruh to write the Qur'ân (without wudhu) as long as the written portion is not touched and only the blank places are touched. But according to Imam Muhammad (rahmatullahi alayhi) even the blank place cannot be touched. As a precaution, this is best. The first ruling was according to Imam Abu Yusuf (rahmatullahi alayhi). The same difference of opinion exists in the previous mas'ala as well. This rule only applies to anything other than the Qur'ân, such as a piece of paper, cloth, etc. on which some verse is written and the balance of it is blank.
• Swearing is not one of the things that invalidate wudhu. But it is mustahabb for the one who commits a sin to do wudhu, because wudhu expiates for sins, as is proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It was mentioned by al-Shiraazi in al-Muhadhdhab (2/73) and Ibn Hazm said in al-Muhalla (1/241), narrating from ‘Aa’ishah, Ibn Mas’ood and others among the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), that it is enjoined to do wudoo’ after speaking bad words

Does bad words break wudhu

Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo’ (2/72):

• The correct view is that it is mustahabb to do wudoo’ after saying bad words, such as backbiting, malicious gossip, lying, slander, false speech, immoral speech and the like. The purpose of that is expiation for sins, as is proven in the ahaadeeth, but that is not obligatory.  Ibn al-Mundhir said in his books al-Ishraaf and al-Ijmaa’: The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is not obligatory to do wudoo’ after saying bad words such as backbiting, slander, false speech and the like… al-Shafaa’i, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Bayhaqi and our companions quoted as evidence the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever says in his oath ‘By al-Laat and al-‘Uzza,’ let him say ‘Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah,’ and whoever says to another, ‘Come and gamble with me,’ let him give charity.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim. End quote. i.e., he did not tell him to do wudoo’.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in al-Ikhtiyaaraat (p. 15): It is mustahabb to do wudoo’ immediately after committing the sin.


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