Why Don’t We Have to Make Wudu After Eating Camel Meat?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

Why don’t we have to make Wudu after eating camel meat?

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

Generally, it is recommended (mustahab) to renew your ablution after consuming camel meat due to the difference of opinion on the matter.

It is reported that when the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) was asked about performing the ritual ablution (wudu) after consuming camel meat, he responded: “Perform ‘the ablution’ thereafter.” [Abu Dawud]

The commentators explain that the “ablution” intended by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) was to wash the hands given that (1) the legal cause for the nullification of the ablution is absent, and (2) camel meat has a strong smell.

As for the scholars who held it to actually invalidate the ritual ablution (wudu), they said that it was from those rulings which are not rationally discernible (ta‘abbudi), such as praying three cycles (rak‘as) of Maghrib and not four.

[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, with Tahtawi’s Gloss (1.130); ‘Ayni, Sharh Abu Dawud, quoting Imam Khattabi]

Please also see: Could You Please List All the Nullifiers of Ablution According to the Hanafi school?

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.