Step 12 of 12
What Breaks Wudu
Once made, your wudu stays with you, and you can pray several prayers with it, until something breaks it. All four schools agree that it is broken by anything leaving the front or back passage, such as urine, stool or wind, and by losing awareness through deep sleep, fainting or the like.
Certainty is not removed by doubt. The Prophet ﷺ told a man who was unsure whether he had broken his wudu during the prayer not to leave it unless he heard a sound or noticed a smell.
Beyond these, the schools differ on a few well-known matters, set out below. Whatever school you follow, renewing your wudu when unsure of a disputed point is a safe and good practice.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Does touching a non-mahram person of the opposite sex break wudu?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Shafi'i.
Show each school
- Does not break wuduHanafi
- Breaks wudu if with desireMaliki · Hanbali
- Breaks wuduShafi'i
- Hanafi
- Touching does not break wudu; they understand ﴿أَوْ لَـٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ﴾ (“or you have touched women”) in the verse to mean intercourse.
- Maliki
- It breaks wudu if the person intended pleasure or felt it; touching without either does not.
- Shafi'i
- Any direct skin-to-skin contact between an adult man and woman who are not mahram breaks the wudu of both, with or without desire, taking the verse literally.
- Hanbali
- In the relied-upon view it breaks wudu only when the touch is with desire.
Does touching one's private part directly with the hand break wudu?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi.
Show each school
- Does not break wuduHanafi
- Breaks wuduMaliki · Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- It does not break wudu, following the hadith of Talq that it is only a part of one's body.
- Maliki
- A man touching his own private part with the palm or the inside or sides of the fingers, without a barrier, breaks his wudu; in the well-known view a woman touching her own does not.
- Shafi'i
- Touching the private part of any person with the inner palm or fingers, without a barrier, breaks wudu, following the hadith of Busrah.
- Hanbali
- Touching the private part with the hand, whether the palm or the back of it, without a barrier, breaks wudu, following the hadith of Busrah.
Does bleeding from a wound break wudu?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Hanbali.
Show each school
- Breaks wudu if it flowsHanafi
- Does not break wuduMaliki · Shafi'i
- Breaks wudu if a large amountHanbali
- Hanafi
- Blood that flows beyond the place it came out of breaks wudu; a drop that stays where it appeared does not.
- Maliki
- Only what leaves the two passages in the normal way breaks wudu, so bleeding does not, however much there is.
- Shafi'i
- Bleeding from anywhere other than the two passages does not break wudu, however much there is.
- Hanbali
- A large amount of blood breaks wudu; a small amount does not.
- Qur'an 5:6
- Qur'an 4:43
- Sahih al-Bukhari 135 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 361Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 96Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Hasan · Al-Albani: Hasan · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad HasanHasan
- Sunan Abi Dawud 181Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad HasanSahih
- Sunan Abi Dawud 182Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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