The Importance of Wudu

By Shehzad Sultan, Director of Outreach

Chances are, if you ask any Muslim in a crowd, they will be able to tell you what the process of Wudu is and the basics of why we do it. This does not go for everyone however because there are some who will not be able to tell you the few crucial points concerning the beginning and ending of the wudu. These crucial points are making your Niyyah (Intention) and ending Dua (Supplication).

Most people try to quickly complete wudu and in doing that forget one of the most important things when doing wudu or any other task, intention. The act of wudu is not just a process to physically clean yourself, but also one that spiritually cleanses you. And so, it is important for us to take a moment to focus on our intentions before you begin the physical process of cleansing your body. This is in fact a much larger step than most people see it and it is a critical step not only in wudu but in our prayers as well. Since wudu is a crucial step for having our prayers accepted, it is necessary for it to be complete, with the proper intention. So in turn, the first step in the acceptance of our prayers is the intention before our wudu. Sometimes people also forget to wash their hands thoroughly three times, starting with the right hand. However, before you get into the wudu process, but after Niyyah, washing your hands is also a crucial step.

Secondly and finally, the finishing Dua is also a very often skipped step, and only when there is the intention, proper physical cleaning process, and the finishing Dua is it that your wudu is considered complete. The finishing Dua is considered a wrap up for the spiritual part of the wudu, the dua goes as such, "Ashhadu alla ilaha illallahu, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu." The meaning of this Dua is "I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger."

A few other important notes about wudu are that unconsciousness of any type will nullify the wudu and that it is not necessary to remove footwear every time you go to renew your wudu. You are permitted to leave them on and wipe the top of the covered feet. This can be done for up to twenty four hours or for three days if you are traveling.

In conclusion, we should all take a few minutes before our prayers and make sure that we do our wudu properly before rushing this step since it is a big portion of getting our prayers accepted. We should constantly check our wudu process to make sure we do all of the steps thoroughly and in the correct order. We ask Allah (SWT) to always accept our prayers and to always help us to improve our prayers and wudu. We ask Allah (SWT) to give us all the guidance to pray five times a day and to help fix the mistakes we may make in our prayers, Dua, or wudu.