How to make wudu

9 min read

Wudu is the short washing a Muslim does before prayer. It takes only a few minutes, you can do it at any sink, and it is one of the first things you will learn. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that Allah does not accept the prayer of someone whose wudu has been broken until they make wudu again (Sahih al-Bukhari 6954 and Sahih Muslim 225).

Wudu is also a blessing. Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) showed people how the Prophet made wudu, and reported that the Prophet said that whoever makes wudu like this and then prays two rak'ahs without letting his mind wander will have his past sins forgiven (Sahih al-Bukhari 159 and Sahih Muslim 226).

What the Quran requires

Allah describes wudu in the Quran:

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.
Quran 5:6 (Saheeh International translation)

So four things are required:

Wash your face.
Wash your arms up to and including the elbows.
Wipe over your head with wet hands.
Wash your feet up to and including the ankles.

Make sure the water reaches every part of each of these. The Prophet once saw a man who had left a spot the size of a fingernail dry on his foot, and told him: "Go back and perform your ablution properly." (Sahih Muslim 243)

Your intention is in your heart: you simply know that you are making wudu for prayer. You do not need to say special words for it.

The way the Prophet made wudu

The Prophet's own wudu, as his companions described it, adds a few recommended steps (sunnah) around those four. This is the full way, based on the descriptions of Uthman and of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with them):

Making wudu step by step

Tick each step as you do it.

Intend in your heart that you are making wudu, and say Bismillah (In the name of Allah).

Wash both hands up to the wrists, three times.

Using your right hand to bring the water, rinse your mouth, then sniff water into your nose and blow it out. Do this three times.

Wash your face three times, from the top of your forehead to your chin and from ear to ear.

Wash your right arm from the fingertips up to and including the elbow, three times, then your left arm the same way.

Wipe your head once with wet hands.

Wash your right foot up to and including the ankle, three times, then your left foot the same way.

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Washing each part three times is the most complete way. The Prophet also sometimes washed each part once, and sometimes twice (Sahih al-Bukhari 157 and 158), so washing once, thoroughly, is enough.

The four steps from the Quran are required. The others, such as washing your hands first, repeating three times, and starting with the right, come from the Prophet's example. Scholars differ on a few of these details, so it is best not to skip them. If the masjid you attend teaches a small detail differently, it is fine to follow its practice.

You can watch the wudu video in the "Prayer video resources" step to see every movement.

What breaks wudu

Once you have wudu, it stays with you until something breaks it, so you can pray more than one prayer with it. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said that one wudu was enough for each of them as long as they had not broken it (Sahih al-Bukhari 214). Scholars agree that these things break wudu:

Using the toilet (urinating or passing stool). The Quran mentions this when it says "one of you comes from the place of relieving himself" (Quran 5:6).
Passing wind. When Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked what breaks wudu in this hadith, he explained it as passing wind, with or without sound (Sahih al-Bukhari 135).
Deep sleep, where you lose awareness of what is around you. In an authentic hadith, sleep is mentioned together with urinating and passing stool (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 96, hasan). A light doze while sitting up does not break wudu according to most scholars: the companions would nod off while waiting for the night prayer and then pray without renewing their wudu (Sahih Muslim 376).

If you are not sure whether you broke your wudu, you still have it. The Prophet said that someone who is unsure whether he passed wind should not leave the masjid "unless he hears a sound or smells an odor" (Sahih Muslim 362). Doubt does not break wudu; only certainty does.

Where scholars differ: some kinds of touching. Most scholars hold that touching your private parts directly with your hand breaks wudu, while the Hanafi school holds that it does not (Sunan Abi Dawud 181 and 182). Most scholars hold that ordinary touching of your husband or wife, without desire, does not break wudu, while the Shafi'i school holds that skin contact between a man and a woman who are not close family (mahram) does. If this matters for you, follow what your local masjid teaches.

You made wudu for Dhuhr. Since then you have not used the toilet, passed wind, or slept. Now it is time for Asr. What should you do?

Remember

Wudu: face, arms to the elbows, head, feet to the ankles, as the Quran says. The Prophet's way adds washing the hands, rinsing the mouth and nose, and washing each part three times.

Next, you will learn about purity more broadly: keeping your body, clothes, and prayer place clean, and the full bath called ghusl.

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Step 2: Prayer Fundamentals, 9 min

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