Does Orly Breathable Nail Polish Prevent the Validity of Wudu?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Assalam alaykum

A new line of nail polishes made by Orly are “halal certified”. It is using the same technology as is used in contact lenses which allows air and water to penetrate through and thus keep the nails healthy, breathable and hydrated (and hence wudu friendly). Would it be permissible to use this product while praying?

Answer: assalamu alaykum

I have not tested the Orly breathable nail polish and so cannot make any conclusive statement regarding the validity of ablution while it is worn. However, it would only be permissible if one is certain that these nail polishes allow water to consistently reach the entire area of the nail underneath.

As you know, it is obligatory to wash the entire area of the nails for one’s ablution to be valid. Therefore, as a general rule any barrier preventing water from reaching the nails must be removed prior to ablution.

In the case of breathable nail polish, there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account before making a determination regarding whether its permeability necessarily translates to a valid ablution. For example, do the film-forming polymers in breathable nail polish actually allow water to reach the entire nail? Is this something that occurs consistently without fail? Does water permeating the nail polish require exposure to a specific amount of water, rubbing the nail while washing, and so forth? Does the water reach the nail immediately or only after a significant delay? Does the number of coatings effect these answers?

Answering these questions would require more than one-off testing at home. In the case of Iglot O2M, lab testing showed that water does permeate a generous coating of nail polish when rubbed gently for fifteen seconds. However, this was a single experiment and more would be required to allow us to attain the type of certainty needed to state it is clearly permissible to perform ablution with such nail polish on.

In the absence of experimentation that provides certainty, one should exercise precaution and remove such nail polish when performing ablution.

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studies Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir.