Wudu: The Ritual of Ablution

Wudu is the ritual washing Muslims perform before salah and other acts of worship such as touching the Quran. It involves washing the hands, rinsing the mouth and nose, washing the face, washing the arms to the elbows, wiping the head, and washing the feet to the ankles, each performed in a set order. Certain things break wudu once it has been completed, including using the toilet, passing gas, deep sleep, and the loss of consciousness, at which point it must be repeated before the next prayer. When water is unavailable or its use would cause harm, tayammum — a dry, symbolic form of purification using clean earth or sand — is permitted instead. Beyond its physical function, wudu is described in Islamic teaching as a form of spiritual preparation, a hadith stating that sins are removed from the limbs as they are washed, drop by drop, as a person performs it sincerely. Because of this, many Muslims treat wudu not simply as a precondition to be satisfied quickly, but as a deliberate act of worship in its own right, performed calmly and with intention (niyyah) before standing to pray.