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Hadith On Not Leaving Even A Nail-sized Area Unwashed During Wuzu
Can someone explain the following Hadith:
“The Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a person performing wudu (ablution), but he left a nail-size space on his feet (unwashed). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commanded him to repeat the wudu and Prayer. The man went back and repeated the prayer.” (Ibn Majah)
This makes me very paranoid in Wudu. I already have a tendency to doubt a lot. Today I performed wudhu 4-5 times for Zhuhr prayer because I kept doubting if I had washed “high enough” to my ankles because I didn’t want to miss a spot. Logically, I know that Allah does not want hardship for us, but this Hadith has really sunk it’s claws into my brain.
Can someone explain the context? Does missing a spot truly nullify the Wudhu?
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Hadith On Not Leaving Even A Nail-sized Area Unwashed During Wuzu
updated 2 years, 11 months ago
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Prophet Muhammad, advised differently to Sahabas in different circumstances . The more advanced in rank required more hard training. You can find the Ahadith when he ignored too.
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Can you share some examples please? I am really struggling with this.
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Asalamualaikum Ms. Sana,
As someone that is probably not totally unfamiliar with your situation, I really do empathize with you and am sure it’s very frustrating to repeat wudu so many times, especially when its supposed to be something so simple.
However, I think it’s important to consider your psychology during these experiences. When I get hung up over something and it causes me some distress, I notice that I’m still consciously or subconsciously drawing a line somewhere. For example, in your case, I assume you don’t go to the extent of palpating your entire foot to make sure it is wet. You probably also don’t take out a magnifying glass to make sure you can see remains of water on the entirety foot. I’m sure that at some level, you are willing to compromise and ignore uncertainty, even if it’s 1% uncertainty.
In your case, it may be helpful to ease the line that you draw. We all know how water works – it covers the relevant part of the body in merely a few seconds, especially when its rushing out of a faucet at such a high pressure. In fact, it will reach portions of the relevant part of the body that you might not have even intended to wash simply because of its properties – how quickly it flows and how the droplets will stick together and even onto the skin, seemingly fighting against gravity. I think there’s no question that if you move your foot around even slightly, the majority of it will be covered. And as far as the ankles are concerned, they really aren’t much higher than the foot itself. You pour some water over and around them, and they’ll be wet in no time. Best of all, you can rub around here and there to make sure it’s wet. I’d say only if some were a bit careless and negligent would they improperly wash their foot – not someone who is very carefully and intently doing so.
Perhaps it would be helpful to think about how the average Muslim would perform wudu – at what point would they consider their organ to be wet? I think you will instinctively have an answer to that because using water from a tap is such a fundamental part almost every individual’s life. It’s very much so engrained in our minds when a part of our body is washed and clean. Maybe this is the standard you should follow, as opposed to the standard that is causing you to repeat wudu so many times. Eventually, I’m sure your mind will be trained to accept that your foot is indeed fully wet, inshAllah. I honestly think it becomes more a matter of appeasing one’s mind at some point, even though the individual is fully convinced that they are going to extremes to please Allah. But you already know for a fact that Allah does not want to cause hardship for us, so how could something that is causing you so much distress be the standard you need to adhere to in order to please Him?
I hope this makes sense and helps you in some way. If I said something wrong or offended you in some way or even wasted your time, really sorry about that! These are just some thoughts and I know it’s very challenging to let go of impulses, going through them myself. But InshAllah things will get much better.
On a side note, I tend to pour water over my ankles and surrounding areas after advise from Mr. Umer Qureshi in the following thread:
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Walaikum-As-Salam Haseeb,
Thank you for sharing your insights. I found your advice very valuable. I think we both have have similar struggles based on your past threads, so I always find different perspectives on these issues interesting. It’s a difficult time to pass through, but inshAllah, I hope it will only be a phase.
Thank you for your kind words, once again.
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