How to make Wudu step by step (and what breaks it)

When you need Wudu

Wudu is required before the prayer, before Tawaf (circling the Ka'bah), and before touching the Qur'an in Arabic with bare skin. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that Allah does not accept the prayer of someone whose Wudu has broken until they make Wudu again (Muslim 223). So for a beginner the rule is simple: before every prayer, check you have Wudu, and make it if you do not.

A translation of the Qur'an, or a Qur'an app on your phone, is not the Arabic Mushaf, so you may hold those without Wudu. Wudu is also recommended before sleep, and renewing it for each prayer is recommended even if it has not broken.

Before you start

• Use clean, natural water: tap water, rain, a river, the sea. Water whose smell, taste or colour has been changed by something impure cannot be used.
• Remove anything that stops water reaching the skin, such as nail varnish. Water must touch the skin itself.
• Clean yourself after the toilet first, if you need to.
• Make the intention in your heart. You do not say it aloud; that is not part of the Sunnah.

The six obligatory acts, in order

These six are the minimum for a valid Wudu. Everything in the next section is Sunnah: rewarded, and the way the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did it, but Wudu is still valid without it.

1. 1Wash your whole face, from the hairline to the chin and from ear to ear, including rinsing your mouth and sniffing water into your nose and blowing it out.
2. 2Wash both arms from the fingertips up to and including the elbows.
3. 3Wipe your whole head with wet hands, together with your ears.
4. 4Wash both feet up to and including the ankles.
5. 5Keep this order.
6. 6Do them one straight after another, without a long pause in between.

If you notice straight away that a part was left dry, wash it and carry on. If you notice only after a delay, the whole Wudu is repeated.

The full Sunnah way

This is how the course teaches it in the lesson “How to make Wudu”, with video. Once is the obligation; washing up to three times is the Sunnah. Start with the right side.

1. 1Say “Bismillah” (In the name of Allah).
2. 2Clean your teeth with a siwak (a tooth-stick) if you have one.
3. 3Wash your palms three times.
4. 4Rinse your mouth and nose, then wash your face, up to three times.
5. 5Wash your right arm to the elbow, up to three times, then the left.
6. 6Wipe your head once, from the front to the back and back again, then your ears.
7. 7Wash your right foot to the ankle, up to three times, then the left.
8. 8Finish with the closing words: “Ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh” (I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger).

The course's practice task for this lesson is just that: make Wudu step by step with the video before your next prayer, and say the closing words at the end.

What breaks Wudu

Once you have Wudu, it stays until one of these happens. Then you make it again before the next prayer.

• Anything that comes out of the front or back passage, a little or a lot: urine, stool, wind, or any discharge.
• Deep sleep in which you lose awareness, in any position. Light dozing does not break it. Losing your reason (fainting, for example) breaks it too.
• Touching the private parts directly, without a barrier.
• Eating camel meat. No other meat breaks Wudu.

Anything that requires a full wash (Ghusl) also requires Wudu. After a large amount of blood or vomit, making Wudu again is the more cautious course; a small amount does not require it.

The worries beginners have

• “I am not sure whether I passed wind.” Your Wudu stands until you hear a sound or notice a smell. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said not to leave the prayer until then (Bukhari 137). Doubt alone breaks nothing.
• “I keep thinking it has broken.” The rule of certainty: you are certain you made Wudu, so it stays until you are certain it broke. Do not repeat Wudu because of whispers.
• “I cannot hold Wudu long enough to pray.” If urine drips or wind escapes constantly: once the prayer time has begun, clean yourself, put on a pad, make Wudu and pray. What comes out after that does not break that prayer, and the Wudu lasts until the next prayer time.
• “I was not sure the water reached everywhere.” Make a habit of rubbing the water in and running wet fingers between the fingers and toes. If a part was genuinely missed and you notice straight away, wash it and continue.
• “I wear socks.” There is an allowance for wiping over socks instead of washing the feet, with conditions. The course teaches it in Level 2, along with what to do when water cannot be used.

Wudu and the full wash (Ghusl)

Ghusl, the full wash, is required in certain cases, such as after marital relations or at the end of a woman's period, and it is the first thing a new Muslim does. The complete Sunnah way of doing it includes Wudu: wash the hands; wash the private parts and any dirt; make Wudu as for prayer; run wet fingers through the hair until the scalp is wet; pour three handfuls of water over the head; then pour water over the rest of the body.

That is why the course teaches Ghusl in its simplest form first (water over every part of the body), then Wudu, then the complete Ghusl: one builds on the other.