The Perpetual Wudu Dilemma
Often times, with our youth when they are commanded to perform Wudu for prayer, the response is: I already have Wudu. Sometimes, this may carry on throughout a number of prayers. Or it may even occur when the child wakes up and you tell them to perform Wudu! The issue is—and Allah knows best—that the children look at Wudu as a chore, as opposed to a tremendous act of worship by which sins are removed and for which we will be rewarded.
It is reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the prophet ﷺ said to Bilal at the Fajr prayer:
يا بلال، حدثني بأرجى عمل عملته في الإسلام ؟ فإني سمعت دف نعليك بين يدي في الجنة
“O Bilal, inform me of the action which you have the most hope (for a reward) regarding it within Islam. For I heard the sound of your sandals in front of me in paradise?”
He said: “I have not done an action which I have most hope regarding than the fact that I do not purify myself at anytime in the night or day except that I pray with that purification that which is decreed for me to pray.”(1)
It is mentioned within At-Tirmidhi (no. 3689)(2) that Bilal said: “I have never called the Adhan except that I prayed two Rak’ats thereafter. I have never nullified my Wudu except that I performed Wudu thereafter. And I hold that Allah has the right to (these) two Rak’ats upon me.”
This Hadith indicates that it is recommended to strive to always be in Wudu and to pray after every Wudu. Ibn Hajr said: “In this lies the recommendation to always be in Wudu.”(3)
The scholars have mentioned that repeating one’s Wudu is recommended if one has prayed with the previous Wudu. An-Nawawi said: “Our companions (i.e., the Shafi’iyah) agree that it is recommended to repeat one’s Wudu; meaning that if one already has Wudu, he makes another Wudu (before the next prayer) even if he has not nullified it. When is it recommended? There are five statements. The most correct of them is that if he has prayed with the previous Wudu, whether an obligatory or supererogatory prayer.”(4)
Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: “The jurists have spoken regarding the one who has prayed with the previous Wudu; i.e., is it recommended to perform a new Wudu? As for the one who has not prayed with the previous Wudu (and he has not nullified it), then it is not recommended for him to repeat the Wudu. Rather, for him to repeat the Wudu in this state is Bid’ah and an opposition to the Sunnah of the messenger of Allah ﷺ and what the Muslims were upon during his lifetime and after it up to this time.”(5)
So the children should be taught that this is not a chore due to which they should feel burdened. Rather, it is an act that will bring a reward and draw them near to Allah if they do so with an open chest and pure intentions; even if they already have Wudu from the previous prayer.
Raha Batts, Masjid Ash-Shura Norfolk, VA
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1.) Al-Bukhari (no. 1149) Muslim (no. 2458)
2.) Graded Sahih by Al-Albani within Sahih Sunan At-Tirmidhi
3.) Fat’h Al-Bari (3/35)
4.) Al-Majmu’ (1/495)
5.) Majmu’ Al-Fatawa (21/376)
