Wudu (Minor Ablution)
Prophet Muhammad (saw) emphasizes the importance of wudu: “If a man performs ablution perfectly and then offers the compulsory congregational prayer, Allah will forgive his sins committed between that (prayer) and the (next) prayer till he offers it.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Wudu 24; Sahih Muslim, Taharah 5) He expresses with a few words that wudu is a prerequisite for salah: “Allah does not accept prayer without wudu” (Sunan an-Nasai, Zakat 48; Sahih Bukhari, Wudu 2). Almighty Allah (swt) makes the following statements regarding this prerequisites of salah in the Surah al-Ma'idah: “O you who have believed, when you rise to perform prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. If you are (junub) in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have had intercourse and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful''. (Maidah 5/6; Nisa 4/43)
Wudu is a ritual and physical type of purification that literally means "washing certain parts of the body with water and performing masah over some of them with wet hands". (Heyet, Ilmihal, TDV, I, 195) In addition to being a form of worship on its own, wudu is a preliminary stage that provides a person with physical cleanliness and spiritually prepares a person for worship before performing salah, circumambulating the Kaaba, sajdah al-tilawah etc. In the words of the Messenger of Allah (saw), it is the key to prayer. (Abu Dawud, Taharah, 31)
Wudu has four fardh (obligatory) acts: 1) Washing the face 2) washing the arms including the elbows 3) performing masah over one-fourth of the head with wet hands 4) washing the feet together with the heels. The Messenger of Allah (saw) explains the cleansing feature of wudu through these four fardhs: “When a bondsman-a Muslim or a believer-washes his face (in course of ablution), every sin he contemplated with his eyes, will be washed away from his face along with water, or with the last drop of water; when he washes his hands, every sin they wrought will be effaced from his hands with the water, or with the last drop of water; and when he washes his feet, every sin towards which his feet have walked will be washed away with the water or with the last drop of water with the result that he comes out pure from all sins.” (Sahih Muslim, Taharah 32; Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, Taharah 1)
There are other actions that must be performed besides the obligatory acts in order to perform wudu in accordance with the Sunnah and customs. Prophet Muhammad (saw) encourages performing wudu in the best way possible by saying “The adornment of the believer (in Jannah) will reach the places where the water of Wudu reaches (his body).” (Sahih Muslim, Taharah 40) Firstly, we turn towards the qiblah and make sure water do not splash on us. We say, “I intend to perform wudu for the sake of Allah” and then recite the basmalah (bismillahirrahmanirrahim). We wash our hands up to the wrists three times by performing takhleel between the fingers. If there is, we clean the dirt residues on our hands by washing and rubbing. After cleaning our teeth, we take water in our right palms and rinse our mouths three times. In the same way, we inhale the water we take in our palms into our noses three times and clean it with our left hand. Then we wash our face three times. While doing this, we wash the entire part from the hairline on the top of our forehead to the bottom of the chin and up to the two ear-lobes on the sides. If the person has a beard, takhleel is performed to ensure that the water reaches everywhere. (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, Taharah, 29; Sunan Ibn Majah, Taharah, 50) After our face, we wash our right arm, including the elbows, and then our left arm three times. We perform masah over one fourth of our heads by wetting our hand. Or, if it does not harm our health, we perform masah over it all with both hands. Then, using our wet hands, we perform masah to the outer parts of our ears with the thumbs, to the inner parts with the index fingers or pinkies, and to our necks with the backside of our hands. Finally, we first wash our right and then left foot thoroughly starting from the toes, including the heel and ankle bones.
After finishing the wudu, we say “Ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa Rasuluh”. Allahummaj'alni min at-tawwabina waj'alni min al-mutatahhirin”.(I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O Allah, make me among those who turn to You in repentance, and make me among those who are purified.” By uttering these beautiful words of tawhid, our wudu becomes a righteous act and helps us enter Paradise. (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, Taharah 41).
Urinating, defecating, breaking wind, dispersal of blood coming out of a part of the body, discharge of pus and vomiting a mouthful are the main things that invalidate wudu.
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