What breaks wudu

Wudu stays valid until something breaks it. So several prayers can be made with the same wudu. The Prophet ﷺ prayed the five prayers with a single wudu on the day of the conquest of Makkah (Muslim 277).

What breaks wudu according to all 1. Anything that comes out of the natural passages: urine, faeces, wind, madhy (fluid of desire), wady (thick fluid after urine). Verse 5:6 mentions "one who comes from the place of relieving oneself", and the Prophet ﷺ said: no need to renew wudu "until he hears a sound or notices a smell" (Bukhari 137, Muslim 361). 2. Deep sleep, in which one no longer knows what is happening. Light sleep (dozing while sitting) does not break it for the majority; the details (sitting, lying down, leaning) [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche]. 3. Loss of consciousness: fainting, anaesthesia, intoxication. 4. What requires ghusl (intimate relations, emission of semen, end of menstruation) also breaks wudu: that is the major ḥadath (next lesson).

What is discussed between the schools [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche] • Touching one's private parts directly with the hand: breaks it for the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis (hadith of Busra, Abu Dawud 181, Tirmidhi 82), with conditions; does not break it for the Hanafis (hadith of Ṭalq, Abu Dawud 182, Tirmidhi 85) [À VÉRIFIER : numéros]. • Touching the skin of a person of the other sex (outside close family): breaks it for the Shafi'is; breaks it if there is desire for the Malikis and Hanbalis; does not break it for the Hanafis. • Blood flowing from a wound, abundant vomiting: break it for the Hanafis (and for the Hanbalis in large amounts); do not break it for the Malikis and Shafi'is. • Eating camel meat: breaks it for the Hanbalis (Muslim 360). • Laughing out loud during prayer: breaks wudu for the Hanafis; for all, it breaks the prayer.

What does not break wudu Eating and drinking (except camel meat for the Hanbalis), speaking, cutting nails or hair, looking, touching an animal, taking off ordinary socks, fluid or blood not coming from the natural passages for the majority.

The rule on doubt If you are sure you made wudu and doubt whether you lost it, you are still in wudu. If you are sure you lost it and doubt whether you renewed it, renew it. We stay with certainty (Bukhari 137, Muslim 361).

A special case: a continuous discharge A person with incontinence, constant wind, or bleeding outside the period (istiḥaaḍa) makes wudu when the time of each prayer begins and prays with it, even if the discharge continues (Bukhari 228); the details [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche].

What is not done without wudu • Prayer, including the funeral prayer and, for the majority, the prostration of recitation. • Circling the Kaaba (ṭawaaf). • Touching the mushaf: forbidden for the majority (from the meaning of verse 56:79), with more lenient views from some scholars; reciting from memory is permitted [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche].

Exercise: before each prayer of the day, ask yourself: "Do I still have wudu?" Note how many prayers you made with the same wudu.

Understanding the lesson

Explanation Why do the scholars not all agree? Because some hadiths seem to say different things (touching one's private parts: the hadith of Busra and the hadith of Ṭalq), because a word of the Qur'an has more than one possible meaning ("or you have touched women", 4:43 and 5:6: skin contact for some, intimate relations for others), and because the scholars have different methods for reconciling the texts. These differences are ancient and respectable: no school invents anything; each relies on evidence. In practice, a beginner follows what the imam of their centre teaches, without mixing views to pick the easiest one each time. Some imams advise, out of caution, renewing wudu in the discussed cases when it is easy. The rule on doubt is a great mercy: Shayṭaan tries to wear out the believer with doubts about wudu. The Prophet ﷺ cut this short: we stay with certainty. Common misunderstandings: thinking you must renew wudu for every prayer (it is only recommended, not obligatory); thinking that eating, speaking or getting angry breaks it; restarting the prayer at the slightest doubt.

Lessons to draw from it • Know the list agreed by all, and ask the imam what the centre teaches for the rest. • Do not judge someone who follows another recognised view. • Do not let doubt settle in: certainty first. • Keep your wudu as often as possible: the Prophet ﷺ said that only the believer preserves it (Ibn Maajah 277) [À VÉRIFIER : numéro].

Key points to remember • Break it for all: what comes out of the natural passages, deep sleep, loss of consciousness, what requires ghusl. • Discussed: touching one's private parts, touching the other sex, blood and vomit, camel meat, laughing out loud in prayer. • Doubt does not break wudu (Bukhari 137, Muslim 361). • Without wudu: no prayer, no ṭawaaf, and for the majority no touching the mushaf.

The main message Wudu is kept like a treasure: we know what breaks it, we follow our imam's teaching on the discussed points, and we stay calm in the face of doubts.