Ablution, also known as Wudu, is the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body. A type of ritual purification that involves washing the hands, mouth, nostrils, arms, head, and feet with water, which is an important part of ritual purity in Islam.
An Islamic scholar, Dr. Mubin Raji, of the Department of Religion and Peace Studies, Lagos State University, says, “Wuḍūʾ is typically done in preparation for formal prayers (solat), and also before handling and reading the Qur’an. What activities require wuḍu, what rituals constitute it, and what breaks or invalidates it are governed by fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and specifically, its rules concerning hygiene.
He took his narration from Abu Hurayrah’s, that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “When the Muslim does wudu and washes his face, every wrong thing that he looks at with his eyes comes out from his face with the water or with the last drop of water.
“When he washes his hands, every wrong thing that he did with his hands comes out from his hands with the water or with the last drop of water. When he washes his feet every wrong thing that he walked to with his feet comes out from his feet with the water or with the last drop of water, until he emerges cleansed
of sin.”
Raji also said ablution was a necessary condition for the acceptance of prayer, which must be done in a good manner, that is, the person must perfect the ablution. But when the need arises for a person to perform ablution hurriedly as a matter of urgency, maybe the person wants to join the jamah(congregation) and notices that the solat will soon come to an end, then that person can hurriedly perform the ablution, but must make sure that all the body parts that are required to be washed during wudu must be washed, which may not be thrice as stipulated, but once or twice.
“If a Muslim does not wash all the body parts required in an ablution, then the prayer is not valid. You cannot say because you are in a hurry, you should not perfect your ablution,” he stressed.
He added that in case one is travelling and in transit and wants to quickly observe solat and the person finds himself in an uncomfortable position and location, the person can resort to tayammum (“dry ablution”) which is, replacing water with sand or dust, due to its
scarcity.
“The condition that can make you to opt for dry fasting is when you cannot find water or the amount of water is not sufficient for ablution, then tayamun is allowed; but otherwise, Allah will not grant that person’s solat,” he explained.
