Factors that break and do not break Wudu

1. The passing of stool, urine and wind breaks wudu. However, if one passes wind from the forepart, as it occassionally happens because of sickness, wudu will not break. If some worms or stones come out from the front or back, then too wudu will break.

2. If a worm comes out from a wound, or from the ear, or if a piece of flesh falls off from a wound and no blood comes out; then in all these cases wudu will not break.

3. If one was bleeding, or his nose was bleeding, or is injured and begins to bleed, or blood comes out from small boils (and pimples,etc.), or bleeds from any other part of the body, or some matter or pus comes out – then in all these cases wudu will break. However, if the blood or pus remains on the mouth of the wound and does not flow over it, wudu will not break. Based on this, if a person is pricked by a pin and blood comes out, but does not flow, then wudu will not break.

4. If a person sneezes and some clotted, dry blood comes out, wudu will not break. Wudu will only break if it is thin and flows. If a person inserts his finger in his nose, and after removing it sees a spot of blood which is more like a stain on his finger but does not flow, wudu will not break.

5. If a pimple or boil in the eye bursts, or the person bursts it himself – and its liquid flows within the eye, wudu will not break. But if it flows out of the eye, wudu will break. In the same way, if a pimple or boil bursts in the ear, then as long as the pus remains in the canal and does not flow to a place whose washing is necessary when making ghusl, wudu will not break. But if it flows to such a place which is necessary to wash when making ghusl, wudu will break.

6. If someone scratches the skin of his boil or pimple and he sees some blood or pus underneath it, and it remains in the same place without flowing out, wudu will not break. But if it flows out, wudu will break.

7. If a wound is very deep, then as long as the blood or pus from it remains there and does not come out and flow onto the body, wudu will not break.

8. If the blood of a sore does not come out on its own, but is forced out, then wudu will also break if it flows.

9. If blood oozes out of a wound and it is covered with some dust, or dabbed with a cloth, and again it oozes out, and again he dabs it – and this is done repeatedly – then he should think for himself and deduce that had he not dabbed at it, the blood would have flowed, and therefore wudu would break. And even if he did dab at it, it would not have flowed, then wudu will not break.

10. Someone notices blood in his saliva: if the blood is very little and the colour of the saliva is whitish or yellowish, wudu will not break. But if the blood is equal to or more than the saliva, and the saliva is reddish in colour, wudu will break.

11. If something is bitten with the teeth and a blood stain is found on that thing, or if the teeth were brushed and some redness is seen on the brush – and despite all this no blood or redness is seen in the saliva then wudu will not break.

12. If one is bitten by a leech and so much of blood flows into it that if the leech is dissected, blood will begin to flow, wudu will break. But if the leech has sucked out very little blood, wudu will not break. If a mosquito, fly, bee, or bug sucks out blood, then wudu will not break.

13. If someone has an ear-ache and, on account of that, water comes out of it continuously – then this water will be regarded as impure even if there is no sore or pimple. The mere flowing of that water will break wudu if it flows to a place which is fard to wash during ghusl. Similarly, if water flows from the nose and this is accompanied by pain, then too wudu will break. Similarly, if there is pain in the eyes and they are sore, and in addition to this they water or tears come out, then too wudu will break (as in the case of pink eyes). But if there is no pain in the eyes nor are they sore, then wudu will not break by the mere flowing of tears.

14. If water comes out from the nipple (of a male or female) and this is accompanied by pain, then this water is also regarded as impure and wudu will therefore break. But if this is not accompanied by pain, the water will not be impure and wudu will not break.

15. If someone vomits out food, water or bile, and it is a mouthful, wudu will break. But if it is not a mouthful, wudu will not break. “Mouthful” here means that the vomit cannot stay in the mouth except with difficulty. If a person vomits phlegm only, wudu will not break irrespective of the amount and irrespective of whether it was a mouthful or not. If blood comes out in the vomit and it is thin and flowing, then wudu will break irrespective of whether it is less or extra, and irrespective of whether it is a mouthful or not. But if the blood comes out in clots or bits and pieces, then wudu will only break if it is a mouthful.

16. If one vomits small quantities several times and all these quantities would have equalled a mouthful, and in addition to this the person still feels nauseous after each time that he vomits, wudu will break. But if a person does not feel nauseous after vomitting the first time, but feels better, and later feels nauseous and vomits a little, and again feels better, and then feels nauseous a third time and vomits a little again – then wudu will not break.

17. If one falls asleep while lying down, or falls asleep while leaning on something for support and gets into such a deep sleep that if that support is removed, he will fall – wudu will break. If one falls asleep while sitting or standing in salaat, wudu will not break. But if one falls asleep while in sajdah, wudu will break.

18. If one is not in salaat and falls asleep while sitting down with his buttocks pressed on his heels and without leaning against a wall or anything else – then wudu will not break.

19. While sitting, if one is suddenly overcome by sleep and falls down, then wudu will not break if the person’s eyes open immediately after falling down. But if even a few moments lapse for the eyes to open, wudu will break. But if, in the sitting position, the person sways from side to side without falling down, wudu will not break.

20. If one falls unconscious, or loses his senses because of insanity, then wudu will break even if the unconsciousness or insanity was for a few moments. Similarly, if some drug or intoxicant is consumed and one is intoxicated to the extent that he cannot walk properly and his steps are unsteady – then too wudu will break.

21. If one laughs so loudly in salaat that he hears the laughter himself and those near him hear it as well, then both wudu and salaat will break. If only the one who laughed hears the laughter and those near him do not hear it, then only salaat will break and not the wudu. But if one only smiles without any sound coming out, neither the wudu nor the salaat will break. However, if an immature person(na-baaligh) laughs aloud in the salaat, or if a mature person (baaligh) laughs while making sajdah-e-tilawat – then wudu will not break. However, the sajdah-e-tilawat (of the mature person) and the salaat (of the immature person) will break.

22. If liquid comes out from the front organ by touching a person of the opposite sex or merely having such thoughts, wudu will break. This liquid which comes out at the time of excitement or passion is called mazi (pre-coital fluid).

23. If, due to illness, some sticky fluid similar to mucus, comes out from the front organ, then as a precaution it should be regarded as impure. By it coming out, wudu will break.

24. If a drop of urine or pre-coital fluid comes out from the urinary passage, but remains within the foreskin, even then wudu will break. In order for wudu to break, it is not necessary for any liquid to come out from the foreskin.

25. If a man’s organ touches the private part of a woman and there is no cloth or any such barrier between them, wudu will break. Similarly, if the private parts of two women touch each other, wudu will break. But to indulge in such acts is a very serious sin. In both instances, whether any fluid comes out or not, wudu will break.

26. If after performing wudu, one clipped one’s nails, or scratched the dead skin of a wound – then no harm comes to the wudu. It is not necessary to repeat the wudu, nor does one have to wet that place.

27. If after performing wudu, one sees the private area (aurah) of someone, or one’s own private area gets exposed, or one had a bath or made wudu while being naked – then in all these cases wudu will remain and there will be no need to repeat it. However, it is a great sin to intentionally look at someone’s private area, or to intentionally expose one’s own private area.

28. That substance whose discharge causes wudu to break is regarded as najis (impure) and that which does not break wudu will not be najis. Based on this if a little blood oozes out but does not flow out of the mouth of the wound, or if vomitting takes place and it is not a mouthful, and food, water, pus or clotted blood came out – then this blood and this vomit will not be najis. If it falls on the clothing or the body, it will not be obligatory to wash it off. If vomitting was a mouthful, or if blood flowed out of the wound, both will be regarded as impure and necessary to wash. If (immediately) after vomitting a mouthful, one touched a utensil of water with one’s mouth, then that utensil will also become impure. It is therefore advisable to take water in one’s palms.

29. The same rule will apply to a small child who has been fed with milk and thereafter vomits it out. That is, if it is not a mouthful, it will not be impure, and if it is a mouthful, it will be impure. If the mother performs her salaat without washing out that vomit from her clothing, her salaat will not be in order.

30. If one remembers making wudu but is unsure as to whether the wudu is still intact or broken, the wudu will be regarded as not broken. Salaat with that wudu will be proper but it is preferable to repeat the wudu.

31. If someone is in doubt as to whether a particular limb has been washed in wudu or not, then that part should be washed. But if the doubt crops up after completing the wudu, he should not worry, wudu is complete. But if he is certain that a particular thing has been left out, he should complete it.

32. It is not permissible to touch the Quran without wudu. But if it is touched with a cloth which the person is not wearing, then it will be permissible. To touch it with a scarf or sleeve of a shirt while it is being worn will not be permissible. But if he touches it while it (i.e. the scarf or shirt) is not being worn, it will be permissible. It is permissible to read the Quran from memory without wudu. If the Quran is open and one looks into it and reads from it without touching it, then this is also permissible. In the same way, it is not permissible to touch an amulet (ta’wiz) or a plate on which the verses of the Quran are written without wudu.

33. To touch any page of the Quran is makruh tahrimi (not permitted) irrespective of whether he touches that part where something is written or that part which is blank. But if it is not the whole Quran, but one complete verse written on a page, or cloth, or thin skin, and the balance of it is blank; then it is permissible to touch the blank portion if the hand does not touch the verse.

34. It is not makruh to write the Quran (without wudu) as long as the written portion is not touched and only the blank places are touched. But according to Imam Muhammad (rahmatullahi alayhi) even the blank place cannot be touched. As a precaution, this is best. The first ruling was according to Imam Abu Yusuf (rahmatullahi alayhi). The same difference of opinion exists in the previous mas’ala as well. This rule only applies to anything other than the Quran, such as a piece of paper, cloth, etc. on which some verse is written and the balance of it is blank.

35. It is not makruh to give the Quran to immature children if they are in a state which requires wudu.

36. As regards heavenly books other than the Quran, such as Torah, Zabur and Injil; it is makruh to touch only those places where something is written without wudu. To touch the blank places is notmakruh. The same rule applies to those verses of the Quran whose recitation has been abrogated or cancelled.

37. After having made wudu one has a doubt that a part has not been washed but he does not know exactly which part it was. In order to get rid of this doubt, he should wash his left foot. Similarly, if in the midst of making wudu he has a doubt, then in such a case, he should wash the last part. For example, if after washing the hands upto the elbows he has a doubt, then he should wash his face. Or, while washing the feet he has a doubt, then he should wash his hands upto his elbows. All this will apply when a person has such doubts occasionally. As for the person who experiences these doubts most of the time, he should not worry about them but regard his wudu as complete.

38. It is not proper to make wudu on the floor of the musjid. But if it is made in such a way that it does not fall on the floor of the musjid, then there is no harm in it. The carelessness of dropping water on the musjid floor is prevalent in many places.

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