The key to prayer
How to Perform Wudu?
A step-by-step guide without pictures. According to the Hanafi school; points that differ for women and men are at the bottom.
Wudu is the washing and wiping of certain parts of the body before acts of worship such as prayer, touching the Quran and tawaf. The Quran says: “O you who believe! When you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles.” (al-Ma'idah 6). The description below follows the Hanafi school; wudu is performed the same way by women and men, and the points that differ are listed separately at the very bottom.
Obligatory acts of wudu
- Washing the face: from the hairline on the forehead to below the chin, and between the two earlobes.
- Washing the arms including the elbows.
- Wiping (masah) at least a quarter of the head (passing a wet hand over it).
- Washing the feet including the ankles.
Sunnah acts of wudu
- Making the intention and saying Bismillah.
- First washing the hands up to the wrists.
- Cleaning the teeth with a miswak or a toothbrush.
- Rinsing the mouth and the nose with water three times each.
- Washing each limb three times; starting with the right side.
- Washing the limbs in order and without a break.
- Doing khilal (running the fingers through) between the fingers and toes and through the beard.
- Wiping the whole head; wiping the ears and the neck.
- Reciting the shahadah at the end of wudu and making dua.
How to perform wudu step by step
- 1
Intention and Bismillah
If possible, face the qibla. Make the intention by saying “I intend to perform wudu for the sake of Allah” and say “Bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim.” Roll your sleeves up above the elbows.
- 2
Hands
Wash the hands up to the wrists three times. Rub between the fingers; if you wear a ring, move it so that water reaches underneath.
- 3
Mouth
Take water into the mouth three times with the right hand and rinse it. If you are not fasting, it is sunnah to let the water reach the throat. Clean the teeth with a miswak or a toothbrush, or with a finger if you have neither.
- 4
Nose
Draw water into the nose three times with the right hand, and blow it out each time with the left hand. When fasting, do not let water go up into the back of the nose.
- 5
Face
Wash the face three times, from the hairline on the forehead to below the chin and from one earlobe to the other. If you have a beard, do khilal through it from below with wet fingers. Water must reach under the eyebrows, eyelashes and moustache.
- 6
Right arm, then left arm
First wash the right arm three times, starting from the fingertips and including the elbow; then wash the left arm in the same way. The elbows must never be left dry.
- 7
Wiping the head
Wet the hands again and shake them off. Bring the fingers of both hands close together and pass them once over the head from the front to the back; if you wish, come back from the back to the front with the backs of the hands. Wiping the whole head is sunnah; wiping at least a quarter of it is fard. No new water is taken for the wiping.
- 8
Ears
With the same moisture, the index fingers wipe the inside of the ears and the thumbs wipe the back of the ears, once. The ear opening may also be wiped with the little finger.
- 9
Neck
Wipe the back of the neck once with the backs of the hands (the backs of the fingers). The front of the throat is not wiped.
- 10
Right foot, then left foot
First wash the right foot three times, starting from the tips of the toes and including the ankles. With the little finger of the left hand, do khilal between the toes, starting from the little toe of the right foot. Then wash the left foot in the same way; on the left foot, khilal starts from the big toe. The heels and ankles must not be left dry.
- 11
Dua after wudu
When wudu is finished, face the qibla and recite this dua: “Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh. Allahummaj'alni minat-tawwabin waj'alni minal-mutatahhirin.” Its meaning: “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I also bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. O Allah, make me among those who repent often and among those who purify themselves often.”
Things that break wudu
- Urinating, defecating and passing wind.
- Blood, pus or yellowish fluid coming out of any part of the body and flowing (spreading from the place where it came out).
- Vomiting a mouthful.
- Sleeping while leaning on something or lying down; fainting, being intoxicated, losing one’s mind.
- Laughing aloud during prayer so that the person next to you can hear (this also invalidates the prayer).
- Sexual intercourse and the discharge of madhy, pre-seminal fluid (if semen is discharged, ghusl is required).
Things that do not break wudu
- A small amount of blood that does not flow; dried blood when a scab comes off without the wound bleeding.
- Dozing while sitting without leaning on anything.
- Crying, blowing the nose without a nosebleed, saliva.
- Cutting the nails, having a haircut or shaving the beard.
- Touching one’s private parts or touching one’s spouse (according to the Hanafi school).
Points that differ for women and men
- The fard acts, the sunnahs and the order of wudu are the same for women and men.
- Women: Nail polish, long-lasting lipstick or water-resistant make-up must be removed from the areas to be washed; if water does not reach the skin, the wudu is not valid. Wiping over the headscarf is not permissible; at least a quarter of the head is wiped directly. For this, it is enough to open the front of the scarf slightly and pass the hand over the top of the hair.
- Men: With a thick beard, washing its outer surface is enough; doing khilal through the beard is sunnah. With a sparse beard, water must reach the skin underneath.
- Wiping over khuffs: Over leather khuffs, or similar footwear that covers the feet, put on while in a state of wudu, a resident may wipe for one day and one night and a traveler for three days and three nights; this concession is the same for women and men.
Good to know
- If no water can be found, or if using water would make an illness worse, tayammum is performed: make the intention, strike the hands on clean earth or something of the earth’s kind and wipe the face; strike a second time and wipe first the right arm, then the left arm up to the elbows.
- While performing wudu, wasting water, splashing water onto the face and talking unnecessarily are makruh (disliked).
- Several prayers can be performed with one wudu; as long as wudu is not broken it does not need to be renewed, but renewing wudu for each prayer is virtuous.
For situations that require washing the whole body, see How to Perform Ghusl; for how to pray, see the How to Pray Salah page. Source: Ilmihal of Diyanet (Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs).
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the fard (obligatory) acts of wudu?
According to the Hanafi school there are four: washing the face, washing the arms including the elbows, wiping (masah) a quarter of the head, and washing the feet including the ankles. If any of these four is missing, the wudu is not valid.
What breaks wudu?
Wudu is broken by anything that comes out of the front or back passage, vomiting a mouthful, blood or pus flowing from a wound, fainting, intoxication, laughing out loud in the prayer and sleeping lying down. Passing wind also breaks wudu; bad breath or mere touching does not.
Is saying Bismillah required for wudu?
Saying Bismillah is not fard but sunnah; if you forget it, your wudu is still valid. Observing the sunnah acts increases the reward of wudu, but leaving them out does not make it invalid.
How long does wudu last, and when is it broken?
Wudu has no time limit; it stays valid as long as it is not broken. Apart from sleeping (lying down), using the toilet and the cases listed above, your wudu remains; you can pray several prayers with the same wudu.
Prayer times, notifications, dhikr counter, qibla and all the duas in your pocket.
Get it free Google Play
