Discover the meaning of the term Al-wudu (وضوء) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readFrom al-wudaa'a, meaning beauty. In the Law: washing and wiping specific limbs. It has been said: bringing water to the four limbs with intention.
With damm: a masdar from al-wadaa'a, meaning beauty. In the Law: washing the specific limbs and wiping the head. In the commentary of Mukhtasar al-Wiqaya by Abu al-Makarim: wudu, with damm, is a masdar meaning at-tawaddu', and with fatha, the water with which one performs ablution; so among the majority of philologists. Some of them, like al-Khalil, held the fatha for both, and reported the damm for both. Al-Akhfash mentioned the fatha for the masdar. And Abu 'Imran accepted the fatha as masdar, saying he had heard none besides it; it is said that acceptance and bowing are with fatha, two anomalous masdars, and all else is with damm. If you wish to verify the inclusion of the elbows and heels in the washing of hands and feet in wudu, look to fasting (as-sawm).
Derived from al-wudaa'a, meaning cleanliness and beauty; hence "a man wadi' of face": of handsome face, and likewise a woman wadi'a; the collective: wudaa'a. The poet said: "The watering places of souls, their father ... has faces full of gentleness, like a wudaa'a". And Ibn Qutayba said in "Adab": their name for washing the face and hands is wudu, from wudaa'a, meaning beauty and cleanliness; the washer of his face wadda'a his face: that is, beautified and cleansed it. Wudu, with fatha, is a name for water, and also a name for the act: this is the school of Sibawayh, against others, who reported the fatha for the act and the damm for the water. Is it a name for any water first prepared for ablution, or after being employed in worship? Views differ. In the Law: al-Qunawi said: washing and wiping specific limbs. He said: the linguistic sense is also present, for it beautifies the limbs touched by washing and wiping; this is its text in "al-Ikhtiyar li-talil al-Mukhtar". Ibn 'Arafah the Maliki defined it as washing and wiping specific limbs to remove impurity; but he said: there is an evident debate in it; hence he reported what al-Azhari mentioned. Al-Aabi said: the purification of specific limbs with water, so that they are clean and the ruling of impurity is lifted from them, so that forbidden worship is made lawful thereby. And al-Ba'li said: it denotes the well-known acts. ("az-Zahir" p. 146, "an-Nihaya" 5/195, "Sharh Hudud Ibn 'Arafah" 1/94, "an-Nazm al-Musta'dhab" 1/9, "at-Tawqif" p. 728, "at-Ta'rifat" p. 226, "al-Matla'" p. 19, "Ghurar al-Maqala" p. 81, "ath-Thamar ad-Dani" p. 25, "Nayl al-Awtar" 1/17).
A purification comprising a countable number of pillars.
In language: from al-wudaa'a, beauty.
With damm, from al-wudaa'a which is beauty.