What to Do If I Lose Wudu during Prayer?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

During school, I get an only half-hour to pray. Whenever I start praying, my wudu breaks. Is it necessary to repeat the wudu? I don’t have time to go back and forth to renew my wudu.

Answer

Thank you for your question. You have not mentioned how your wudu is invalidated. I assumed that it happened due to the passing of gas. Please correct me if I am wrong. The rulings below are the summary from the book mentioned in the bracket. [Nuh Keller Reliance of the Traveller, p.94-95]

A person with the chronic annulment of wudu (da’im al-hadth), for example, because of the constant release of wind, is not obliged to try praying several times without releasing wind. His prayer is perfectly valid when he does all the following:

• Makes one wudu with the intention to seek permission to pray the obligatory (fard) prayer
• prays his obligatory prayer once, even if he passes wind during the whole prayer.

He is concerned about chronic annulment if he cannot find enough time to be free of invalidating his wudu or if he finds enough time but cannot pinpoint when it occurs.

May Allah facilitate this matter for you.

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqida, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.