What is the wudu in islam? What are the conditions that invalidate of wudu? What are the things that invalidate wudu in islam?
Any of the following things invalidate the wuḍū:
1) If a liquid or solid substance such as urine, feces, blood, semen (if it comes out without sexual arousal), madhi, and wadi exits from the front or the back. While Allah Almighty is speaking about the person who needs to perform the wuḍū, He says, “or if you have just satisfied a want of nature…”[1] Here, this sentence alludes to going to the bathroom to urinate or defecate. Moreover, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said to Fatima bint Abi Hubaysh, who was experiencing prolonged bleeding (istiḥāḍa): “When the blood of the menses comes, it is black blood which can be recognized; so when that comes, refrain from prayer; but when a different type of blood comes, perform ablution and pray, for it is (due only to) a vein.”[2]
2) Passing of wind from the back. The Prophet stated that the wuḍū of a person who is in doubt whether he/she has passed wind or not, will not be nullified unless he/she hears a sound or smells the odor.[3]
3) The discharge of blood, pus, or other types of fluid from any part of the body. If the flowing blood coming out of the mouth is more than or equal to saliva, it invalidates the wuḍū. As long as the blood that comes out of the body does not flow or spread around the place where it came out, it does not invalidate the wuḍū. The same judgment applies to pus or yellow water coming out of a wound. If the discharge is a very small amount and does not spread by itself then it does not invalidate the wuḍū to wipe these liquids by hand or with a cloth.
According to the Shafiʿis and the Malikis, blood and similar liquids coming out of the body do not invalidate the wuḍū except when such liquids come out from the front and back private parts.
According to the Ḥanafis, the invalidation of wuḍū by blood coming out of the body is based on the following hadiths: “For every blood flown, one must perform wuḍū.”[4], “Whoever vomits or bleeds from his nose while praying, let him leave the prayer and go and perform ablution. As long as he does not speak after that, let him come and complete his prayer from where he left off.”[5], and “There is no requirement of ablution due to one or two drops of blood coming out – except in the case of flowing blood.”[6]
According to the Shafiʿis and the Malikis, blood coming out of the body does not invalidate the wuḍū. The evidence they rely on is the following hadith narrated by Anas (ra): “The Messenger of Allah (saw) had blood drawn and prayed without performing the wuḍū. He did nothing but wash the places where he had blood drawn.”[7] Moreover, while the Messenger of Allah (saw) was in the Battle of Dhat al-Riqa, an arrow hit a man, and he completed his prayer by bowing down and prostrating while blood was flowing. The Messenger of Allah (saw) did not object to the action of this Companion.[8]
4) Vomiting a mouthful: Prophet (saw) said, “vomiting invalidates the wuḍū”.[9] Vomiting a mouthful of food, water, clotted blood, or bile invalidates the wuḍū. No matter where it comes from, phlegm is like saliva and does not invalidate the wuḍū.
According to the Shafiʿis and the Malikis, wuḍū is not invalidated by vomiting.[10]
5) Situations that eliminate the cognitive power of the mind are considered to invalidate the wuḍū. These include sleeping, fainting, being mentally ill, drunkenness, or having seizures.
Accordingly, sleeping while lying on one’s side, cross-legged, leaning on the elbows, or in a state of prostration outside of prayer invalidates the wuḍū. Again, if the person sleeps by leaning on something, and when that thing is pulled out if the person falls down, and if his hips are not on the ground, his ablution will be regarded as invalidated. This is because the state of relaxation reaches its final point due to such inclining. According to the Shafiʿis, in this last state, if the hips are firmly on the ground, the wuḍū is not invalidated. This is because in such a case, it is safe to presume that nothing that would invalidate the wuḍū is going to happen.
However, with sleep, the sense of feeling disappears. In such a case, if the hips remain off the ground, one may break wind due to the state of relaxation. Here, the main reason why wuḍū is invalidated is this state of flatulence. The Prophet said: “The eyes are the leather strap of the anus, so one who sleeps should perform the wuḍū.”[11], and “The eyes are the leather strap of the anus. When the eyes sleep, the strap is loosened.”[12]
Accordingly, ablution is not invalidated if one sleeps by standing, bowing, or prostrating during the prayer, or by being in these positions outside the prayer.
6) Sexual intercourse or excessive (exorbitant) contact and touching: There is no doubt that sexual intercourse invalidates the wuḍū. However, according to the Ḥanafis, touching a naked part of a woman does not invalidate the wuḍū. Yet, if this touching is excessive, such as touching a woman who is unimpeded or behind a very thin cover, or the abdomen or the genitals touch each other, the wuḍū of both man and woman is considered invalidated. Furthermore, madhi doesn’t need to come out. On the other hand, according to Imam Muhammad, in this case, the wuḍū will not be invalidated unless wetness is felt or madhi comes out.
The view that just touching a woman does not invalidate the state of wuḍū is based on the following evidence: “or ye have been in contact with (lāmastum) women…”[13] Touching (lams–mulāmasa) in this verse means having sexual contact according to Ibn Abbas. This is the figurative meaning and the Ḥanafis accepted this meaning as the basis of their view.
The Shafiʿis, on the other hand, based on the literal meaning of “mulāmasa”, said that it means “to feel with one’s hand or to touch one another or to touch with one’s hand”. Therefore, according to the Shafiʿis, even if a man touches his own wife or a non-maḥram, a woman who is not one of the women to who he cannot get married, such as female relatives through lineage, milk, or contracts, without any barrier between them, it invalidates the wuḍū of both man and woman. However, the woman’s hair, teeth, or nails are excluded from this rule. The Malikis and the Ḥanbalis, on the other hand, limited this notion of touching a woman’s skin with feelings of “pleasure and lust”.
The Ḥanafis rely on the following hadith on this issue: Aisha (r. anha) said, “The Prophet (saw) would kiss one of his wives and then pray without performing the wuḍū.”[14], and “The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to pray while I was lying in front of him. When he wanted to perform witr, he would touch me with his foot.”[15] In these hadiths narrated by Aisha (r. anha), there is evidence that touching a woman does not invalidate the wuḍū.
7) Laughing in prayer with a voice that can be heard by the people close to the person. This is called laughing loudly. In a hadith, it is stated, “If any of you laughs while praying, he should re-perform his ablution and the prayer together.”[16] The reason for this state to invalidate the prayer is that it is regarded as a chastisement for the one who was praying so as to prevent the repetition of such an act. Laughing loudly outside of prayer does not invalidate the wuḍū.
According to the majority of the schools, except the Ḥanafis, it is not the wuḍū but only the ritual prayer that is invalidated in this case.
8) According to the Ḥanafis, if the time of prayer passes for an ablution of a person with a condition that continuously invalidates his or her state of wuḍū, such as loss of bladder control and other types of such incontinence.
9) According to the Ḥanafis, the wuḍū based on tayammum becomes invalid when the person who performed dry ablution with sand or earth (tayammum) is able to use water. The last two items will also be examined in their own context.[17]
10) According to all schools except the Ḥanafis, touching one’s own genitals invalidates the wuḍū.[18]
According to the three schools, except the Malikis, if a person who knows for certain that he has performed wuḍū hesitates about whether his wuḍū is nullified or not, he is considered to be in the state of wuḍū according to the evidence of iṣtiṣḥāb (presumption of continuity).[19]
Situations that are below the above-mentioned limits and measures do not invalidate the wuḍū. Therefore, in principle, acts such as crying, shedding tears from the eyes, the scab falling off a wound without blood, mixing of a small amount of blood in saliva and snot, vomiting less than a mouthful, and seeing traces of blood due to biting a hard fruit such as apple or quince, blood found on the miswāk or toothbrush, the blood sucked by insects such as mosquitoes, or fleas, clipping nails or shaving, laughing inwardly and silently during prayer, and sleeping in prayer do not invalidate the wuḍū. If a person hesitates about washing one of the limbs of ablution or not after completing the ablution and if this situation happens frequently, he/she acts according to his/her concerted opinion.
On the other hand, it is more appropriate to act cautiously in matters where there is a hesitation about whether the wuḍū is nullified or not. Especially for those who are imams, they should pay attention to the fact that their state of wuḍū is not invalidated only according to their own school but also according to the other schools since that is considered good decorum, although it is not requisite.
[1] Al-Mā’ida, 5: 6.[2] Abū Dawūd, Ṭaḥāra, 109; 110; al-Nasā’ī, Ṭaḥāra, 137, Ḥayḍ, 6.[3] Al-Bukhari, Wuḍū, 34.[4] Al-Zaylaī, Naṣb al-Rāya, I, 37; Ibn al-Humām, ibid, I, 39.[5] Al-Zaylaī, ibid, I, 38; al-Shawkanī, ibid, I, 187; Malik, Muwaṭṭā’, Ṭaḥāra, 46, 47.[6] Al-Zaylaī, ibid, 44; al-Shawkanī, ibid, I, 189.[7] See al-Bukhari, ʿIlm, 5,Wuḍū’, 34; Muslim, Ḥayḍ, 18; al-Nasā’ī, Ṭaḥāra, 111, Ghasl, 28; Ibn Maja, Ṭaḥāra, 64-70.[8] Al-Bukhari, Wuḍū, 34.[9] Al-Tirmidhī, Ṭaḥāra, 64.[10] Al-Zuhaylī, ibid, I, 270.[11] Ibn Maja, Wuḍū, 62; Abū Dawūd, Ṭaḥāra, 79; Ibn Ḥanbal, I, 111.[12] Al-Darimī, Wuḍū, 48.[13] Al-Mā’ida, 5: 6.[14] Abū Dawūd, 68; al-Tirmidhī, Ṭaḥāra, 63; Ibn Ḥanbal, VI, 210.[15] Al-Shawkanī, ibid, I, 196.[16] Al-Zaylaī, ibid, I, 47-54.[17] For details about the nullifiers of minor ablution see al-Kāsānī, Badāyiʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ, I, 24-33; Ibn al-Humām, ibid, I, 24-37; al-Maydanī, Lubāb, I, 17-20; Ibn Abidīn, ibid, I, 124-138; al-Shurunbulālī, ibid, p. 14 ff.; al-Zaylaī, Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāiq, I, 7 ff.; al-Shirazī, Muhadhdhab, I, 22 ff.; Ibn Rushd (Averroes), ibid, I, 168 ff.[18] Al-Bukhari, ʿIlm, 53, Salat, 9, Ḥajj, 21; Abū Dawūd, Ṭaḥāra, 69; al-Tirmidhī, Ṭaḥāra, 61; Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad, II, 223; al-Zaylaī, ibid, I, 54, 60; al-Shawkanī, ibid, I, 198¸ al-Zuhaylī, ibid, I, 278.[19] It is one of the secondary proofs in the methodology of Islamic jurisprudence. It means to conclude that a ruling continues to be valid unless there is an evidence to show that it has changed.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ilmiḥal) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications