The Qur'an offers a clear guide on the practice of ablution, known as wudhu, the ritual cleansing performed before salat. This practice exclusively tied to prayer and not to general cleanliness. In this article, ablution will be referred to as wudhu. The Qur'an itself provides the instructions on how to perform wudhu and the conditions attached to it.
Wudhu
The Qur'an details a specific and structured method for performing wudhu. The wudhu is exclusively tied to "....when you attend to the salat..." (5:6). The wudhu consists of four clear steps and listed in the order mentioned in the Qur'an as under:
- "...wash your faces..." (5:6)
- "...and your hands up to the elbows..." (5:6)
- "...wipe your heads..." (5:6)
- "...and your feet to the ankles..." (5:6)
The description of the wudhu is very clearly laid out. Most people despite their differences in most areas all agree on these step as mandatory to perform the wudhu. However, there are some people who insist on washing their feet but wiping the feet is closest to the Qur'anic instructions.
Water is unavailable
Allah's mercy ensures that the obligations of salat can be fulfilled at all times. Believers are instructed to uphold "...the salat for the
believers is a book that is scheduled" (4:103) reinforcing its structured nature. When the time for salat arrives, it must be performed, and wudhu is essential.
The Qur'an provides an alternative when water is not available. The Qur'an explains that if a person is "... ill, or traveling, or one of you has excreted faeces, or you had sexual contact with the women, and could not find water, then you shall select from the clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and hands..." (4:43) and "...if you are ill, or traveling, or you have excreted faeces, or you have had sexual contact with the women, and you cannot find water, then you shall select from the clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and your hands with it..." (5:6). This demonstrates that taking a bath is exempt after sexual contact in cases of illness or travel, but wudhu remains a fundamental requirement. This alternative, known as tayammum, demonstrates Allah's mercy by ensuring that salat can always be performed.
The literal translation in the Qur'an of sexual contact with women is 'touching a woman'. Some literally interpret this as such and make a case that wudhu must be performed after touching a woman each time. This is plausible. However, this understanding appears to go against "...Allah does not want to place any hardship on you, but He wants to purify you..." (5:6).
For tayammum to be valid, two conditions must be met: a person must either be ill or travelling and there must be an unavailability of water. However, unavailability of water does not mean a total physical absence of water. For example, if a person has a skin disorder which prevents contact with water, then water in this scenario is unavailable for them and the conditions for tayammum are met. Similarly, if a person is travelling, and only has enough water to drink, then they have met the conditions for tayammum as using the drinking water for wudhu will place them in hardship. We must always remember that "...Allah does
not want to place any hardship on you..." (5:6).
As soon as either one of the two conditions are no longer met, then water with wudhu must be performed and tayammum will no longer be accepted.
It is noteworthy that when tayammum is performed, the parts of the body normally washed in wudhu are wiped, while the parts normally wiped are omitted entirely. This adjustment reflects both precision and ease in the ritual.
Ritual impurity
For wudhu to be valid, a person must be in a state of ritual purity. The Qur'an makes it clear that if a person is in a state of major impurity, a condition it calls junub (literally 'set apart' or 'excluded'), then they are excluded from salat. In this condition, the Qur'an commands "…you shall purify…" (5:6) before salat. The Qur'an does not specify the causes of junub, only that it requires purification. In this verse, purification refers to physical washing which means taking a full bath.
One cause of junub, clarified by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is sexual intercourse or seminal discharge. This is not explicit in the Qur'an itself but was established through his practice and the consensus of the companions and scholars since. All extra-Qur'anic sources since the Qur'an's revelation include sexual intercourse and seminal emission as causes of junub. There is no evidence of any scholar, past or present, who excluded intercourse from this category.
This concept is similar to earlier purity laws in the Hebrew Bible. Leviticus 15, Leviticus 22:4, Deuteronomy 23:10–11, and 2 Samuel 11:4 all describe ritual impurity after bodily discharges, requiring bathing before re-joining worship. These passages use the word unclean, not junub, but the idea is clear: bodily discharges, whether menstruation or sexual emission, place a person in a state of impurity until purification. The Qur'an continues this tradition, expressed in Arabic as junub.
If a person is in a state of junub and then takes a bath, this removes them from major impurity. Some people say that the bath alone is enough and a separate wudhu is not required. The requirement for wudhu to validate salat establishes a sequential ritual that is not superseded by the general full bath. While the bath removes the state of junub by cleansing the entire body, it does not necessarily adhere to the specific, ordered sequence laid out for wudhu. Just as the ritual of salat itself is invalid if its steps are performed out of sequence, the purification requirement for salat must also follow its ordered steps. Therefore, taking a bath with the intention of purity, only removes the junub barrier, meaning a separate, sequential ritual of wudhu must be performed to fulfil the command "...when you attend to the salat..." (5:6).
It is important to note, that in the event of unavailability of water discussed earlier, the tayammum replaces the requirements of taking a bath in full.
What breaks the wudhu
The Qur'an outlines a limited set of actions that end the state of wudhu. The Qur'an states the two nullifiers of wudhu which are if "...one of you has excreted faeces, or you
had sexual contact with the women..." (4:43) or "...you have
excreted faeces, or you have had sexual contact with the women..." (5:6). These verses make it clear that only these two actions breaks the wudhu. Relieving oneself in the toilet and sexual contact requires a renewal of wudhu and in the cases of sexual contact, a bath is required to restore ritual purity before wudhu can be performed again.
Wudhu is intrinsically linked to salat. Before stating the details of wudhu, the Qur'an states "O you who believe, when you attend to the salat, then
wash..." (5:6), making wudhu a fundamental part of salat. Without wudhu, salat is incomplete. Therefore, once salat ends, similarly wudhu ceases to be and must be renewed before the next salat.
The question of how long wudhu remains valid before salat is open to debate. When accounting for "...Allah does not want to place any hardship on you..." (5:6), it can be said that wudhu remains in effect until salat is completed, provided the intention remains unchanged.
If a person performs wudhu with the intention of performing salat and then eats or begins another activity, then the intention has shifted from salat and wudhu must be renewed. On the other hand, if a person performs wudhu at home and then walks to the mosque to offer salat, the wudhu remains intact because the intention has remained the same.
Conclusion
Wudhu is exclusively required for salat and not for any other ritual or action. The Qur'an identifies only a limited set of nullifiers: toilet use, sexual contact which removes ritual purity, and completion of salat. A full bath is required in cases of major impurity to restore general purity, but wudhu must still be performed before the salat, even after taking a bath.
This reflects the Qur'an's emphasis on mercy and ease, as "...Allah does
not want to place any hardship on you, but He wants to purify
you and to complete His blessings upon you that you may be
thankful." (5:6). Wudhu is therefore a ritual act of preparation, a necessary step before salat, and a reminder of Allah's mercy in making salat accessible under all circumstances.