How to Perform Wudu: A Step-by-Step Guide

Wudu is the ritual purification required before salah, reciting the Quran, and performing tawaf. This guide walks you through every step of wudu — its obligations, its recommended sunnahs, and the key madhab differences — so you can perform it with confidence.

The Obligatory Acts of Wudu

Scholars agree on four obligatory acts (fard) that must be fulfilled for wudu to be valid. If even one is omitted, the wudu is incomplete:

1. Washing the face once: Water must reach the entire area from the hairline to the chin and from earlobe to earlobe.
2. Washing the arms to the elbows once: Both arms must be washed separately, including the elbows, from fingertips up.
3. Wiping the head: In the Hanafi school at least a quarter of the head must be wiped with a wet hand; in the Shafi'i school wiping even a single strand of hair suffices.
4. Washing the feet to the ankles: Both feet must be washed including the ankles, from toes to heel.

O you who believe! When you rise for salah, wash your faces and your hands to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the ankles.

The Sunnah Acts of Wudu

Beyond the four obligatory acts, the Prophet (peace be upon him) demonstrated a fuller wudu that enriches the act of worship:

• Intention (niyyah): Stating the intention in the heart, and optionally aloud.
• Basmalah: Saying "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim" before beginning.
• Using a miswak or toothbrush.
• Washing the hands up to the wrists three times before starting.
• Rinsing the mouth (madmadah) and sniffing water into the nose (istinshaq): Each done three times.
• Maintaining sequence (tartib): Performing the limbs in order.
• Washing each limb three times.
• Starting from the right side for the arms and feet.
• Reciting the du'a after wudu: The Shahadah supplication upon completion.

Step-by-Step Wudu

1. Make your intention and say the basmalah.
2. Wash both hands up to the wrists three times.
3. Rinse the mouth three times (madmadah) and sniff water into and out of the nose three times (istinshaq).
4. Wash the face three times — from the hairline to the chin, from earlobe to earlobe.
5. Wash the right arm to the elbow three times, then the left arm the same way.
6. Wipe the head with wet hands once — Hanafi: at least a quarter of the head; Shafi'i: at least one strand of hair.
7. Wipe the inside and back of both ears (sunnah).
8. Wipe the back of the neck (sunnah).
9. Wash the right foot to the ankle three times, then the left foot the same way.
10. Recite the Shahadah: "Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh."

What Breaks Wudu

The following events break wudu and require a new one before salah:

• Using the bathroom (urinating, defecating) or passing wind.
• Deep sleep while lying down or leaning.
• Fainting or becoming intoxicated.
• The flow of blood, pus, or bile from a wound (Hanafi school; in the Shafi'i school blood does not break wudu).
• Touching a person of the opposite sex with or without desire (Shafi'i school; does not break wudu in the Hanafi school).

Pray on Time with VAAZ

After making wudu, praying on time is every Muslim's fundamental goal. The VAAZ app provides minute-accurate prayer times for all 81 provinces of Turkey using the Diyanet method, along with adhan notifications to help you stay on schedule. To learn the steps of the prayer itself, see our guide How to Perform Salah.