Wudu

Presented by: Sister Rim

In the holy Quran, Surat al Maidah, ayah 6 it says....

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلاةِ فاغْسِلُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ وَامْسَحُواْ بِرُؤُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى الْكَعْبَينِ

"Oh you who believe when you stand up for prayer, then wash your faces and hands (mad arms) to the elbows and wipe your head and feet to the ankles"

Ayah 6 of Suratul-Ma’idah means: {When you want to pray, wash your face, your hands and forearms up to and including the elbows, wet wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to and including the ankles.}

We understand from this that wudu is an act of worship sent down by Allah.  There are obligatory parts of wudu which must be completed in order for it to become valid and sunnah parts.

1 – Obligatory parts of wudoo’, which are as follows:

(i)   Washing the face completely once, which includes rinsing the mouth and nose.

(ii)  Washing the arms up to the elbows, once.

(iii) Wiping the entire head, including the ears.

(iv) Washing the feet up to ankles, once.

(v) This must be done in order, so one washes the face first, then the arms, then wipes the head, then washes the feet, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did wudoo’ in this order.

(vi) This must be done continuously, i.e., the parts of the body must be washed one after the other with no lengthy interruption between washing one part and the next.

2 – Mustahabb parts of wudoo’. These were narrated in the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the details of which are as follows:

(i)  You must have the intention of purifying yourself and removing impurity. The intention should not be spoken out loud for its place is in the heart. This applies to all acts of worship.

(ii)  You should say Bismillaah.

(iii) Then you should wash your hands three times

(iv) Then you should rinse your mouth three times, swirling the water around inside your mouth, and rinse your nose three times, blowing the water out and using the left hand to remove the water from your nose.

(v)  You should wash you face three times, from the hairline to the jawbone and chin, and from ear to ear. A man should wash the hair of his beard because it is part of the face. If his beard is thin he has to wash it inside and out, and if it is thick and covers the skin, he should wash the surface of it only and run his wet fingers through it.

(vi) Then he should wash his arms up to the elbows three times. The arm extends from the fingertips, including the nails, to the lower part of the upper arm. It is essential to remove anything stuck to the hands before washing them, such as dough, mud, paint, etc, that could prevent the water from reaching the skin.

(vii) Then after that he should wipe his head and ears once with fresh water, not the water left over from washing his arms. The way in which the head is to be wiped is that you put your wet hands at the front of your head and bring them to the back of your head, then bring them back to the place where you started. Then put your index fingers in your ears and wipe the back of the ears with your thumbs. With regard to a woman’s hair, she should wipe it whether it is loose or braided from the front of her head to the roots of the hair at the nape of her neck, but she does not have to wipe the entire length of her hair.

(viii) Then you should wash your feet three times up to the ankles, namely the bones at the bottom of the leg.

The evidence for that is the hadeeth narrated by Humraan the freed slave of ‘Uthmaan, who said that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) called for water to do wudoo’. He washed his hands three times, then he rinsed his mouth and nose, then he washed his face three times, then he washed his right arm up to the elbow three times, then he washed his left arm likewise. Then he wiped his head, then he washed his right foot up to the ankle three times, then he washed his left foot likewise. Then he said, “I saw the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) doing wudoo’ as I have done it, then the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘Whoever does wudoo’ as I have done it, then prays two rak’ahs in which he focuses completely on his prayer, his previous sins will be forgiven.’” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Tahaarah, 331)

After completing wudu one says :اشهدو أن لا اله إلا الله و اشهدو أن محمد عبده و رسوله

Things that void wudoo: passing stool or urine, losing consciousness, passing wind, falling asleep in a laying down position, touching private organs without barrier.

Things that do not void wudoo: laughing, kissing, touching partner, eating camel meat, forgetting whether or not one has voided his wudoo,

Common mistakes people make when performing wudoo: wiping the neck, saying specific duaa when washing each part of the body, not removing nail polish before performing wudoo, not ensuring that the water reaches elbows and ankles.