Islamic Fiqh > Purification (Tahara) > Ablution (wudu): complete guide > The sunnas and recommended acts of wudu
Contents
Updated on 27 September 2026 at 3:52 AM
Beyond the obligations, the Sunna fixed recommended acts that grace wudu: invoking the name of Allah at the start, rinsing the mouth and nose, interlacing the fingers and the beard, repeating three times, extending the light-giving traces, invoking at the end, then praying two rak'ahs. This page presents each act with the schools' views.
Many hadiths establish the merit of wudu, the erasing of sins by it and its forgiveness. Muslim narrated from the Prophet, peace be upon him: "purity is half of faith", and from Uthman: "whoever performs wudu like this, his past sins are forgiven"; "whoever performs wudu and performs it well, his sins leave his body until they leave from under his nails"; Abu Hurayra reports that every sin the eye looked at leaves with the water at the washing of the face, that every sin struck by the hands leaves at their washing, and that every sin walked toward by the feet leaves at their washing, until he leaves free of sins.
When the Muslim servant performs wudu and washes his face, every wrong his eyes looked at leaves with the water, or with the last drop of water; when he washes his hands, every wrong his hands struck leaves with the water, or with the last drop; when he washes his feet, every wrong his feet walked toward leaves with the water, until he leaves free of sins.
narrated by Muslim (244)
Uqba ibn Amir reports the promise of Paradise to one who performs good wudu then prays two rak'ahs with heart and face turned to them, and the opening of the eight gates of Paradise to one who says after his wudu: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger" (Muslim 234). Abu Hurayra also reports: "shall I point you to what by it Allah wipes away sins and raises degrees? Completing wudu in hardship, many steps to the mosques, and waiting for prayer after prayer: that is the Ribat" (Muslim 251). The light-giving traces of wudu will mark this community at the basin on the Day of Resurrection (al-Bukhari 136, Muslim 246).
The disagreement concerns the basmala at the start of wudu: obligation, sunna, or disliked? Ahmad in one transmission obliges it, with Allah's remembrance, falling away by forgetfulness, and extends it to the ritual bath and tayammum, on the words: "no prayer without wudu, no wudu without invoking the name of Allah"; hadith judged good, narrated by at-Tirmidhi (25) and Ibn Majah (398); if he invokes Him partway, he fulfills it where he stands. The supporting hadith is weak and did not stand from the Prophet by this transmission.
The majority, hanafis, shafi'is and Ahmad in the second transmission, make it a sunna. An-Nasa'i narrates from Anas with a good isnad: the Prophet asked for water, put his hand in it saying "perform wudu in the name of Allah", and water gushed between his fingers until about seventy people performed wudu (an-Nasa'i 78, authentic isnad). Against obligation: no sound, explicit text imposes it, and Ibn al-Mundhir writes that no established report in this chapter invalidates the wudu of one who did not invoke the name of Allah; the precaution is to invoke, without blame on one who omits it, purification not depending on invocation as purification from filth does not.
Among the malikis, the author of the Taraz reports that Malik approved it once and rejected it once, saying: is he about to slaughter? Ibn Shas transmits choice from him, and Ibn Ziyad holds dislike. The schools' review is useful here: the majority recommends, one hanbali voice requires, and Ibn al-Mundhir's careful wording sums the state of the proof.
The malikis, the shafi'is and Ahmad in one transmission make rinsing the mouth (madmada) and the nose (istinshaq) a sunna in wudu and the bath: the face, in Arabic, names what fronting is done by, and the inside of mouth and nose is not part of it; their place among the natural acts shows they differ from the rest of wudu; and the order to the Bedouin "perform wudu as Allah ordered you" (narrated by Abu Dawud, 861, and at-Tirmidhi, 303, authentic) named none of these acts, which an-Nawawi explains: the Bedouin knew not the public prayer, the Prophet taught him the obligations of prayer and wudu without multiplying recommendations, lest he fail to hold them; had rinsing been obligatory, he would have taught it.
The hanafis and Ahmad in one transmission make them obligations in the ritual bath and a sunna in wudu: the bath requires washing all that can be washed of the body, outer or inner, and "purify yourselves" (al-Ma'idah 6) aims at whole bodies. The hanbalis in the famous report make them obligatory in both purifications, on Aisha's words: "rinsing the mouth and the nose belong to the wudu that admits no omission"; narrated by ad-Darqutni (1/84) with a corrected report, and by al-Bayhaqi in the Sunan (1/52); every detailed narrator of the Prophet's wudu mentions rinsing and sniffing, and his constancy points to obligation. Ahmad in another transmission obliges only the nasal sniffing, on "whoever performs wudu let him free his nose" (al-Bukhari 161, 162) and "whoever performs wudu let him sniff" (Muslim), the nose staying open with no lid, unlike the mouth.
Interlacing the fingers (takhlil) meets the jurists' agreement as to passing water between the fingers of hands and feet: it completes wudu, hence an obligation with the majority in principle. Once water has entered, the malikis in the famous report oblige interlacing the fingers of the hands and recommend it for the feet, hand fingers sticking less; a second maliki view obliges both. Their proofs: "give the wudu its fullness and interlace the fingers" to the young Laqit ibn Sabra (narrated by Abu Dawud, 142, at-Tirmidhi, 781, and Ibn Majah, 448, authentic), and "when you perform wudu, interlace between your fingers of hands and feet" (narrated by at-Tirmidhi, 39, and Ibn Majah, 447, good and authentic).
The hanafis, shafi'is and hanbalis make it a sunna; the hanafis call it confirmed, and the hanbalis hold interlacing the feet stronger than the hands. The reasoning: it clears dirt between the fingers better; al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddad saw the Prophet rub his foot fingers with his little finger (narrated by Abu Dawud, 148, at-Tirmidhi, 40, and Ibn Majah, 446, authentic). Against obligation: presence of a barring cause, the Bedouin's teaching, the Prophet saying to him "perform wudu as Allah ordered you" without naming interlacing, and the detailed reports of his wudu that mention none.
As for the beard, the sheet on interlacing sets it briefly: Malik orders moving the outer beard in wudu without entering the hand, and prefers entering it in the ritual bath. The question of braided hair is treated in the page on what does not nullify wudu.
The hanafis, the malikis and Ahmad in the famous report, with a view among some shafi'is, confine the wiping of the head to once: repetition would turn it into washing, and the command targets wiping. The hanbalis argue: most narrators of the Prophet's wudu describe a single wiping; their reports inform about a habit, and habit bears only on the best; wiping in a purification rests on lightening, like tayammum wiping and the splint's. Abu Dawud writes: all the sound hadiths of Uthman point to once, thrice being said of the washings, the wiping left unnumbered. Ibn al-Mundhir concedes: what stands from the Prophet in wiping is singleness.
Ash-Shafi'i and Ahmad in a transmission carried by Abu al-Khattab and Ibn al-Jawzi recommend three. Ash-Shafi'i: "I love that he wipe his head three times, once suffices". An-Nawawi fixes the madhhab: three recommended, as with repeating the other limbs, on Uthman's hadith "he performed wudu three times three" (Muslim 230), read by objectors of the washings alone, and on Uthman's version "he wiped his head three times and said: I saw the Messenger of Allah do so" (narrated by Abu Dawud, 107 and 110, and al-Bayhaqi, 1/63, judged good then authentic by al-Albani), plus Ali's version through al-Hasan (al-Bayhaqi, 1/63, good isnad). Ibn Hajar answers Abu Dawud: repetition does not oppose singleness since the question is recommendation, done sometimes; the sunna prefers the triple for completeness, the single marking permission. Ibn Qudama settles for the hanbalis: Ahmad's reports aim at recommendation, not obligation.
Extending the bright zone of the forehead (ghorra) and the shins (hijla) means passing beyond the obligatory place in washing the face, hands and feet. The shafi'is and the hanbalis in the sound report of the madhhab recommend it, on the words: "my community will be called on the Day of Resurrection with bright faces and shining feet from the traces of wudu; whoever among you can extend his brightness let him do so" (narrated by al-Bukhari, 136, and Muslim, 246). An-Nawawi explains: bright refers to the whitening of the face, shining to hands and feet; extending the face's brightness means washing a little of the front of the scalp, and extending the shine means washing past the elbows and ankles, recommended with no shafi'i disagreement; the preferred amount is debated: a little beyond, to mid-arm and mid-shin, or to shoulders and knees.
The hanafis rank this extension among the manners of wudu, not among its sunnas. The malikis and Ahmad in a transmission chosen by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim do not recommend it; the malikis dislike it as excess in religion, recommending instead constancy in purity and renewal. Ad-Dasuqi lifts the apparent contradiction: extension names both passing beyond the limbs and lengthening purity; the first is disliked with Malik, the second sought, and the hadith then reads on duration. Ibn Taymiyya argues: Abu Hurayra washed his arms to the armpits citing the hadith, but the other Companions did not do so, and the wudu established in the two collections includes neither fresh water for the ears, nor washing past elbows and ankles, nor wiping the neck; brightness sits in the face alone, and the shin's shine is not recommended, its extension being an overreach; the extended hadith is Abu Hurayra's own wording come inserted, and Nuyaym al-Mujmir said he knew not whether it was the Prophet's or Abu Hurayra's, as Ahmad reports in the Musnad.
The jurists establish the legality of invocation after wudu. Shafi'is and hanbalis name the formula: facing the qibla, hands and gaze raised to the sky, saying: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger; O Allah, make me of the repentant and make me of the purified. First proof: "none of you performs complete wudu then says: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His messenger, without the eight gates of Paradise opening for him, entering by whichever he wills" (Muslim 234); the added invocation "make me of the repentant and the purified" is narrated by at-Tirmidhi (55), authentic hadith.
A second formula exists: "Glory to You, O Allah, and by Your praise, I bear witness that there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance", on the hadith: whoever says it after his wudu, it is written on a parchment then sealed, which shall not break until the Day of Resurrection; narrated by an-Nasa'i (9909) and al-Hakim (1/752) who authenticates it by Muslim's standard, the wording perhaps Abu Sa'id al-Khudri's own, yet Ibn Hajar writes that such a text is not of opinion and takes the rank of a raised hadith, and al-Albani concludes authenticity from the whole of the paths. Hanafis, malikis and shafi'is finally recommend saying after wudu: may prayer and peace be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.
Al-Buhuti gives the wisdom of closing with forgiveness: servants fall short of Allah's rights and fulfill them only to the measure of their strength; the knower is ashamed of his act and seeks forgiveness for his shortfall, as others seek it for their sins; forgiveness comes alone or with repentance, and the resolve to abstain completes repentance.
The scholars recommend two rak'ahs after wudu, on the words: "no Muslim performs good wudu then rises and prays two rak'ahs, heart and face turned to them, without Paradise becoming binding on him" (Muslim 234), and on Uthman's hadith: "whoever performs wudu like mine, then rises and prays two rak'ahs letting nothing distract him, his past sins are forgiven" (al-Bukhari 159, Muslim 226). An-Nawawi writes: the hadith establishes the recommendation of two rak'ahs or more after each wudu, a confirmed sunna.
O Bilal, tell me the most hopeful of your deeds in islam, for I heard the patter of your sandals before me in Paradise. He said: I have done no deed more hopeful to me than never purifying myself at any hour of night or day without praying with that purity what was prescribed to me.
narrated by al-Bukhari (1098) and Muslim (2458)
This hadith of Bilal confirms constancy in purity and the prayer that follows it; the hanafis also cite it for the recommended renewal of wudu. The recommended practice is therefore: complete wudu, invocation, then two quiet rak'ahs, outside the hours where prayer is disliked.
A simple method gathers the essentials: invoke the name of Allah at the start, rinse mouth and nose three times, interlace the fingers and the beard, repeat each washing three times extending slightly past elbows and ankles, wipe the head three times and the ears with fresh water, then say the testimony and pray two rak'ahs: this program matches the fullest report of the four schools without imposing what they never established.