What are the etiquette of minor ablution in islam? What is minor ablution in islam? What are the obligations of ablution?
The Ḥanafis use the term “adab” in the sense of mandūb and the plural “adab”. Adab or mandub are actions that the Messenger of Allah (saw) did once or twice but did not do continuously. It means that there is a reward when it is done, and there is no disapproval when it is abandoned. The Malikis, on the other hand, use the terms “faḍilah (virtue)”, “ḥaslah” and “mustaḥab” to refer to such actions instead of mandūb or ādāb.
The difference between sunnah and mandūb or mustaḥab is as follows: Sunnah is the act and performance that the Lawmaker (Shari’) confirms and its value is elevated. mandub or mustaḥab is an action that the Lawmaker (Shari’) wants to be performed by the believer, not in a certain form but rather its performance is left undemanding. Those who carry out such actions receive rewards but those who abandon them do not deserve to be punished nor reprimanded.
The main adab of wudu are as follows:
1) To be facing the qibla while performing the wuḍū for the qibla is regarded as the most honorable of directions and it is anticipated that the supplications said by turning to it will be accepted. Since the Shafiʿis and the Ḥanbalis do not distinguish between sunnah and adab, they accept the facing towards the qibla as sunnah.
2) To perform wudu before the prayer time commences and to be prepared for the ritual prayer. Those who have excuses are excluded from this principle.
3) To be in an elevated place while performing the wudu. In that way, the splashing of ablution water on clothes can be averted.
4) Not asking for assistance from someone else to perform the ablution unless there is a necessity. However, if someone else helps voluntarily, it is not considered to be against adab. It is reported that Mughira b. Shu’ba (ra) poured water for the Messenger of Allah (saw) while he was performing the wuḍū.[1]
5) Not to talk to another person during wuḍū unless there is a necessity because talking distracts the one who performs the ablution.
6) To move around any rings on fingers that are not tight while performing the wudu. However, if a ring is tight around a finger then it is necessary (wajib) to let water pass under it by moving it. It was narrated from Abu Rafi’ (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) moved his ring while performing wuḍū.[2]
7) To draw water into the mouth and nose with the right hand during ablution, and to use the left hand to clean the nose.
8) Wiping the inside of the ears with the little finger slightly wet.
9) Wiping the neck. According to the view preferred by the Ḥanafis, it is mustaḥab or mandūb to wipe the neck. This is based upon the fact that the hadith transmitted by Talha b. Mutarrif from his father and his father, narrated from his grandfather, that the Prophet (saw) wiped his neck is considered weak.[3] For that reason the majority of jurists consider it makrūḥ to wipe the neck.
10) While washing the face, to feel the edges of the face and the fountains of the eyes, and to reach the water up to the elbows and heels. The following is stated in a hadith: “You shall be al-ghurr al-muḥajjalūn (have your faces hands and feet bright) on the Day of Resurrection because of your perfect ablution. He who can afford among you, let him increase the brightness of his forehead and that of hands and legs.”[4]
The Malikis interpreted the word “ghurr” in the hadith with the meaning of “wuḍū” and gave two meanings to the prolongation of the ghurra. First, washing more than the obligatory part of each limb, and secondly, being in the state of ablution continuously or trying to keep a constant state of wuḍū. According to them, the former is makrūḥ due to excess, and the latter is mustaḥab.[5]
11) To draw enough water to wash the limbs and to avoid wasting water even when performing wuḍū by the river or the sea because wasting water is considered makrūḥ.
12) To recite kalima al-shahadah and to invoke Allah after performing the wuḍū. The Ḥanbalis say that doing these acts is also mandūb after ghusl.
Kalima al-shahadah and invocation after wudu are recited as follows:
“Ashhadu an lā ilāha illāllahu waḥdahū lā sharīka lah, wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan abduhū wa Rasūluhu. Allāhumma ‘jalnī mina’t-tawwābīna wa ‘jalnī mina ‘l-mutaṭahhirīn. Subḥānaka, Allāhumma wa bi ḥamdika. Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā anta, astaghfiruka wa atūbu ilayk. Wa ṣallAllāhu wa sallam ʿalā Muḥammadin wa ʿalā āli Muḥammad.”
“I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone, there are no partners for Him. And I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O, Allah! Make me among the repentant, and make me among those who purify themselves. You are free from any defect. O, Allah! I thank you. I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but You Alone. I beg Your forgiveness, and I repent to You.”
It is a sunnah to greet the Prophet after performing the wuḍū. Reciting kalima al-shahadah and invoking Allah are mandūb based on the following hadith: “If anyone amongst you performs the ablution, and then completes the ablution well and then says: I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, the eight gates of Paradise would be opened for him and he may enter by whichever of them he wishes.” Tirmidhi adds the following to this hadith reported by Muslim, “You are free from all deficiencies. O Allah I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone, there are no partners for Him. And I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O, Allah! Make me among the repentant, and make me among those who purify themselves.”[6]
13) To drink any water drawn not used for the wuḍū, and stand facing the qibla reciting the following invocation, “O Allah! Make me one of Your righteous servants who repent every time they commit a sin, avoid sin, and stay clean.”
14) To recite Chapter al-Qadr once, twice, or three times at the end of the ablution.
15) To perform two units of supererogatory prayer after the wuḍū as long as it is not one of the times when it is makrūḥ to perform prayers.
It is important to note at this juncture that things that are contrary to the sunnahs or adab of wuḍū are either taḥriman or tanzihan makrūḥ.
[1] Al-Shawkanī, Nayl al-Awṭār, I, 175.
[2] Al-Shawkanī, ibid, I, 153.
[3] Ibn Abidīn, ibid, I, 115; al-Shawkanī, ibid, I. 163; al-Mawṣilī, Ikhtiyār, I, 9.
[4] Muslim Ṭaḥāra, 34, 35.
[5] Al-Zuhaylī, ibid, I, 254.
[6] See Muslim, Ḥajj, 276; Ṭaḥāra, 17; Abū Dawūd, Ṭaṭawwū’, 26, Manāsik, 63; Ibn Maja, Ṭaḥāra, 57, ‘Iqāmah, 72, al-Tirmidhī, Daʿāwāt, 38.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ʿilmi ḥāl) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications