Is Acne an Excuse to Not Wash My Face during Wudu?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

Before the beginning of wudu & salah, is it permissible for one to not wash off oils on body acne if it’s bothering them? What about their face?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

Being “bothered” by the duty to wash your limbs is not an excuse to leave washing your limbs in wudu. If it is harmful to wash those limbs, then facilitations are possible.

Pain or delaying the healing process are recognized excuses in the Shari’a. To determine if washing a limb can be harmful, you can use previous experiences or the assessment of a proficient Muslim doctor aware of the Shari’a regarding these matters.[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

If you can wash a part of your body affected by acne without harm, then it is obligatory for you to wash it by making sure that water is flowing over the area.

If you cannot do so, you are allowed to wipe the area by making sure that the area has been affected by water. In this situation, it is not a condition for the water to flow over the area for the validity of your wudu.

If you cannot do the above, then you are allowed to leave the area dry altogether and wash the rest of your limbs. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Allah, Most High, says: “Allah does not require of any soul more than what it can afford.” [Quran, 2.286]

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.