How should we perform ablution?
Wudu or minor ablution is explained as “the practice of washing certain organs with water and apply masah over some others with a wet hand by following a procedure” (Marghinani, al-Hidayah, I, 93-94).
It is stated in the Holy Qur’an on ablution, “O ye who believe! When ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to elbows; rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles…And ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands.” (Ma’idah, 5/6) Prophet Muhammad (saw) practically showed Muslims how to perform ablution (Marghinani, al-Hidayah, I, 102) and also stated that no prayer established without ablution would be accepted in the presence of Allah (Bukhari, Wudu, 2; Ibn Majah, Taharah, 47).
Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence have agreed on the four essential pillars of ablution that are stated in this verse. However, it can be seen that the other three Sunni schools except Hanafi added some more essential pillars to them. For example, intention (niyyah) is a fardh for these three schools, for Hanbali school to recite Basmalah while starting to perform ablution, for Shafii and Hanbali schools to perform these four essential pillars in the order stated in the verse (tartib), and for Maliki and Hanbali schools to perform these acts without giving a break between them (muwalat). According to Hanafi School, the above mentioned acts are sunnah acts of minor ablution (wudu).
In accordance with its sunnah and recommended acts, minor ablution is performed as follows: (Bukhari, Wudu, 7; Abu Dawud, Taharah, 50)
HOW TO PERFORM ABLUTION IN ISLAM
- Start ablution by intending to perform ablution and reciting Basmalah, firstly, wash your hands three times up to the wrists by rubbing the spaces between your fingers.
- Clean the materials such as dough, dye, and gum on the skin, if any.
- Move the ring on your finger.
- Clean your teeth by means of miswak or toothbrush, if not available, by means of the fingers of the right hand.
- Rinse your mouth and draw water into your nose three times with your right hand and blow it out with the help of your left hand.
- Wash your face three times. Then, wash your right and left lower arms up to and including the elbows three times.
- Wipe over your head once by wetting your right hand and using palm and inner part of your fingers.
- Although it is enough to wipe over one fourth of the head in this manner, it is a requirement for Maliki school and sunnah for other schools to wipe over the whole head by two hands (Ibn Juzay, al-Qawanin, p. 84).
- Wet your hands again and wipe back of your ear by your thumbs and inside of your ears by index finger or little finger, after that, wipe over on the neck by the back of the both hands together.
- Wash right foot first, then wash left one up to the ankles starting from fingertips, including ankle bones. Take due care for washing the space between fingers (Kasani, Bada’i, I, 23-25).
Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS
What Do Ritual Impurity/Hadath and Ritual Purification/Taharah From Hadath Mean?
