How to wiping over the bandages in islam? How to do wudu if you have bandages? How do you perform wudu when injured?
If washing with water a limb, covered with a bandage, while performing wuḍū or ablution will cause harm to one’s health, one does not have to untie this bandage and it is sufficient to wipe over it. This wiping is regarded as having washed that limb. If the wiping will cause harm, it can also be abandoned.
The legitimacy of wiping on the bandage is established by the sunnah. Ali (ra) said: “My ankle was broken. I asked the Prophet (saw) and he told me to wipe over the bandage.”[1] Jabir (ra) narrated that the Prophet (saw) said about the person who performed ablution after being wounded in the head and died afterward: “It was enough for him to perform tayammum, tie a cloth to his wound, wipe over it and wash the rest of his body.”[2]
In Islam, the facility comes after every hardship. In this regard, the principle of “necessities make things that are objectionable permissible” is applied. It is obvious how harmful it can be for health to remove band-aids or bandages with the thought of washing the skin underneath. Sometimes, wiping the wound or wiping it with a wet hand can also lead to infection. Therefore, when there is harm in wiping, this too is abandoned.
It is sufficient to wipe the majority of the bandage only once. It is not necessary to wipe it entirely, repeat the wiping or even state the intention before wiping. As a matter of fact, the intention is not sought either in the case of wiping over the khuffs or wiping over the head. Moreover, if removing the excess part of the plaster or bandages surrounding the wound under the bandages will harm the wound, it is also permissible to wipe over the excess part since bandages are often wrapped widely to avoid the risk of infection to the wound.[3] Furthermore, the wiping of wounds on which there is medicine and ointment is also similar to wiping over a bandage.
Also, the wrapping does not have to be wrapped while being in the state of wuḍū. It is permissible to wipe over the bandage, whether it is put on in the state of wuḍū, or not or being in the state of janabah. When the person regains his health, he does not have to re-perform his or her ritual prayer either. The ruling in this matter is based on the general principle of removing difficulty and rationale reason also requires it since it is uncertain when the person will be injured or will need to be covered in a cast due to a fracture or dislocation. It is evident that requiring him or her to be in the state of wuḍū at such a time would create unnecessary distress and difficulty.
Wiping over the bandages is not bound by a certain time limit. Wiping is permissible as long as the health problem continues.
If a bandage is changed after wiping, no re-meshing is required. Again, after wiping a bandage, if another bandage is wrapped on it, there is no need for re-wiping it. If the bandage is removed before the health problem gets well, the wiping will not be invalidated. However, if the bandage falls off because the wound has healed, the wiping on the bandage will be invalid because the justification is no longer functional. Similarly, if the bandage over the healing wound falls off while praying due to the wound having been healed, the prayer must be performed again after performing a full ablution.
It is important to note that if one of the two feet is wiped due to a legitimate reason, it is necessary to wash the other foot because the wiping of the first foot is also considered washing.
There is a consensus that if the wuḍū of a person who performs wuḍū by wiping on the bandage is invalidated, his wiping will also be invalidated.[4]
Filled or coated teeth are also like wounds with bandages or ointments – as is paint that is difficult to remove from the skin and which prevents the water from reaching the skin. Accordingly, it is sufficient for the water to just touch the coating and filling while performing minor or major ablution.[5]
[1] Al-Zaylaī, Naṣb al-Rāya, I, 186 ff.
[2] Al-Zaylaī, ibid, I, 187; al-Shawkanī, ibid, I, 258.
[3] Al-Kāsānī, ibid, I, 12, Ibn al-Humām, ibid, I, 109; Ibn Abidīn, Radd al-Mukhtār, I, 260; al-Zuhaylī, ibid, I, 348 ff.
[4] Ibn Abidīn, ibid, I, 129; al-Zuhaylī, ibid, I, 356; al-Kāsānī, ibid, I, 14 ff.; Ibn al-Humām, ibid, I, 109 ff.
[5] Komisyon, Ilmihal, İman ve İbadetler, TDV, İSAM, Istanbul 1998, I, 203.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ilmiḥal) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications