How to make Wudu' - Washing before Prayer

[Alsunna Teacher]

Ablution (Wudu' ): Its Integrals and Recommended Matters

Ablution (wudu' ) is a condition for the validity of prayer. Allah, ta^ala, said in the Qur'an:

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



Ya ayyuhal-ladhina amanu idha qumtum ilas-salati faghsilu wujuhakum wa aydiyakum ilal-marafiqi wamsahu biru'usikum wa arjulakum ilal-ka^bayn.

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.}

Wudu' has integrals, recommendations, and invalidators.

The integrals of wudu' :

Wudu' has six integrals. The wudu' is not valid if any of them is left out.

1-     The intention: It takes place in the heart. It should also be simultaneous with washing the first part of the face. One says in one's heart: "I now intend to make wudu' " or the like.

2-     Washing the entire face, from the normal hairline to the chin and from one ear to the other.

3-     Washing the hands up to and including the elbows. The elbow is the bone where the forearm and upper arm meet.

4-     Wet wiping the head or part of it.

5-     Washing the feet up to and including the ankles.

6-     Keeping the order of the integrals as they were mentioned. So the intention would occur with washing the face, then washing the face, then washing the hands and forearms, then wet wiping the head, and finally washing the feet.

[Alsunna Teacher]

The recommended matters (sunnahs) of wudu' :

The recommended matters of wudu' are those without which the wudu' would be valid, but there is reward for the one who does them. The wudu' of whoever leaves out a recommended matter of wudu' is valid, unlike the case where one leaves out an integral. In that case, one's wudu' would not be valid.

Among the recommended (sunnah) matters of wudu':

Saying Bismillah (basmalah).
Washing the hands up to the wrists before washing the face.
Using the siwak.
Rinsing the mouth with water (madmadah).
Sniffing water into the nose.
Wet wiping the entire head.
Wet wiping the ears inside and out with new water, other than the one which was used for the head.
Criss-crossing the fingers when washing the hands, arms, and inserting the smallest left finger between the toes while washing the feet.
Inserting wet fingers through the thick beard.
Starting with the right side before the left when washing the hands and feet.
Washing or wiping every part three times (tathlith).
Rubbing the parts when washing them.
Washing a part before the previous part dries (muwalah).
Keeping the intention from the beginning of wudu' to its end.
Limiting the water that one uses for wudu' to one mudd.
Washing beyond the boundaries of the face (ghurrah), and above the elbows and ankles (tahjil).


It is also recommended (sunnah) to say after one finishes wudu':

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي مِنَ التَّوَابِينَ وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنَ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ.


Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah. Wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ^abduhu warasuluh. Allahumma j^alni minat-tawwabina waj^alni minal-mutatahhirin.

This means: "I bear witness that no one is God but Allah only, with no partners and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Allah, make me among those who repeatedly repent and purify themselves."

Allah knows best.

[Alsunna Teacher]

Questions:
1.                 State the ayah that tells about the obligation of wudu'.

2.                 How many integrals of wudu' are there? List them.

3.                 Where does the intention take place? When?

4.                 What are the boundaries of the face during wudu' ?

5.                 What part of the hands is one obligated to wash during wudu' ? What are the elbows?

6.                 How much of the head does one have to wipe?

7.                 What part of the feet is it obligatory to wash? What are the ankles?

8.                 What is meant by the order during wudu' ?

9.                 List some of the recommended matters for wudu'.

10.             What does the basmalah mean?

11.             What does the madmadah mean?

12.             What is meant by tathlith? Muwalah?

13.             What is ghurrah? Tahjil?

14.             What is recommended to say after one finishes wudu' ?

[Alsunna Teacher]

The Invalidators of Wudu'

The invalidators of wudu' are matters which break wudu'. When one's wudu' is invalidated, one must make wudu' again to pray. The invalidators are:

·        Materials exiting from the eliminatory outlets, such as urine, feces, gas, or stomach worms.

·        Touching the anus, vagina, or penis with one's bare palm.

·        Touching the skin of the marriageable woman without a barrier.

·        Losing one's mind by craziness, fainting, or intoxication.

·        Sleeping without having one's buttocks firmly seated. If one slept without a gap between one's buttocks and the floor, then one's wudu' would not be invalid.



The person who loses his wudu' is prohibited to perform the obligatory and recommended prayers and tawaf. Tawaf, i.e., circumambulating the Ka^bah, has the same status as praying, except that talking is allowed throughout.



It is also unlawful for the person who lost his wudu' to carry the Qur'an and to touch it, i.e., or the paper connected to it or its cover, except if necessary.



It is permissible for the one who lost his wudu' to recite the Qur'an, and to enter and stay in the masjid.

[Alsunna Teacher]

Questions:
1.                 What must one do before praying if one's wudu' becomes invalid?

2.                 List the invalidators of wudu'.

3.                 What is the meaning of the eliminatory outlets?

4.                 What does one become prohibited from doing if one loses one's wudu' ?

5.                 Give an example of what one can do without having wudu'.[/b]

[Mental Possibility]

Note:
One must wear both khuffs (footgear like the boots) AFTER having a complete purification. So, if one washed one foot then put on one khuff, then he washed the other foot and put on its khuff, the wiping would not be valid because he did not put his feet into those khuffs after having complete purification.

Likewise, if a person started to put on the khuff while having complete purification, and then he broke his wudu' be
fore getting his foot completely into the second khuff, the wiping would not be valid.

The khuffs must also cover all of what needs to be washed of the feet. If the cover were less than what needs to be washed in wudu', then wiping on the khuff is insufficient with no difference in opinion.

What is meant by 'cover' in this case- the case of ther khuff- is the mere barrier, and not what prevents seeing. What is meant by cover in the case of nakedness is what prevents seeing the skin or hair color. Therefore, if someone wore transparent shoes that fulfilled the conditions of the khuffs, it is valid. This cover must also be from the bottom and from the sides, and it is not a condition to be sealed from the top.

[Mental Possibility]

The khuffs must be durable; strong enough to continually walk in them. An example is for a traveler to be able to descend from his animal and go back and forth in his errands, like collecting firewood or whatever other things a traveler does. It does not matter whether they were made of skin (leather), hair, cotton, or something made from being compressed together without falling apart. it is a co
ndition that they would be pure; not be filthy. Therefore, it is not valid for them to be from untanned skin of a dead animal.

It is not permissible to wipe on a khuff that does not enable continual walking. This might be because of its flimsiness, like something made of light fabric, or the sock that does not prevent the penetration of water. It might prevent continual walking because it is too heavy, like shoes made of iron.