The short answer
What breaks wudu? Wudu is broken by what leaves the two private outlets, according to the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali works named below. Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary names urine, stool and wind. Blood, vomit and sleep carry different conditions by school. Sahih Muslim 362, graded sahih, covers doubt about whether anything came out.
Does passing wind break wudu?
Al-Abi al-Azhari, in al-Thamar al-Dani on the Maliki manual al-Risalah, quotes the list "urine, stool or wind" and says that wind means what comes out of the back passage, whether audible or silent 2.
Al-Quduri's Mukhtasar counts whatever comes out of the two private outlets, Abu Shuja's matn (base text) lists what comes out of them, and Ibn Qudamah's Umdat al-fiqh does the same 478. None of the three names wind in that sentence, so Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary is the source for the audible and the silent cases.
So, does farting break wudu? On the Maliki wording, yes, audible or silent; for the other three, the sentence to read is the one on whatever comes out of the two outlets.
| What happened | What the works say |
|---|---|
| Wind passes from the back passage, and you hear it. | Counts as nullifying, in Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary. 2 |
| Wind passes from the back passage, silently. | Also counts, in Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary, which says "whether audible or silent". 2 |
| You burp. | Ibn Taymiyyah's Hanbali commentary says pure discharge from the body, such as belching and phlegm, needs no wudu. This is one school's view; the passages read for the other three works do not address belching. 3 |
| You feel something in your belly and are unsure whether anything came out. | The report in Sahih Muslim 362 addresses exactly this doubt. See the section on doubt below. 1 |
Does bleeding or vomiting break wudu?
Here "bleeding" means blood from a wound, a nosebleed or venesection (drawing blood from a vein). The four works give different conditions, so the table gives each work and what it states.
| Hanafial-Quduri, Mukhtasar | Malikial-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani | Shafi'ial-Nawawi, al-Majmu | HanbaliIbn Taymiyyah, Sharh Umdat al-fiqh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood, vomit and the amount | Blood, pus and discharge that leave the body and reach a place falling under the rule of purification invalidate wudu. Vomit invalidates it when it fills the mouth. 4 | Restricting the nullifiers to the usual outlets excludes blood from venesection and cupping, and vomit that has changed from the state of food. 2 | In his school, nothing from outside the two outlets breaks wudu, including blood from venesection and cupping, nosebleeds and vomit, whether little or much. 5 | Substantial blood, pus, vomit or worms break wudu,. The well-known position in Ahmad's text and school is that a small amount does not; another narration treats small as substantial. 3 |
The Hanafi mouthful and the Hanbali substantial amount describe the amount in different ways. The four works read here do not give one measurement that all four share. For blood that keeps coming from a wound or a nosebleed, a doctor is the person to ask about the medical cause, and a scholar you trust is the person to ask how your school applies to your case.
Does sleeping break wudu?
The works put the condition in different places: the posture someone sleeps in, how deep the sleep is, or both.
| School and work | What the work says |
|---|---|
| Hanafial-Quduri, Mukhtasar | Sleep lying down, reclining, or leaning on something that would make the sleeper fall if removed, is listed among the nullifiers. 4 |
| Malikial-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, p. 28 | Heavy sleep, the kind that overwhelms the heart so the sleeper does not feel what is done, breaks wudu whether short or long. Light sleep does not, though the commentary recommends wudu after long light sleep. 6 |
| Shafi'iAbu Shuja, al-Ghayah wa al-taqrib, islamarchive page 3 | Sleep in a posture other than that of someone firmly settled in place breaks wudu. 7 |
| HanbaliIbn Qudamah, Umdat al-fiqh, p. 9 | Loss of awareness breaks wudu, except light sleep while sitting or standing. 8 |
Loss of awareness has its own conditions. Al-Quduri's Mukhtasar names fainting. Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary names heavy sleep, fainting, intoxication and madness, and says whoever faints must make wudu. Abu Shuja's al-Ghayah wa al-taqrib names intoxication and illness, and Ibn Qudamah's Umdat al-fiqh names loss of awareness with the light-sleep exception. 9478.
Does discharge break wudu?
"Discharge" covers several different things, and the works treat them differently.
Al-Quduri's Mukhtasar says there is no ghusl for madhy or wady, and that both require wudu 10. Al-Abi al-Azhari describes madhy as a thin white fluid that comes out at arousal, and wady as a thick white fluid. For madhy, Al-Abi al-Azhari says wudu is required, and that the whole member must be washed (p. 26). 11.
Jordan's General Iftaa Department, in fatwa 627 of 21 April 2010, separates women's vaginal secretions by whether they come from the outer or inner part of the private area. The outer ones are pure and do not break wudu; the inner ones are pure but break wudu, so wudu is renewed as they come. 12 Where the origin is unknown, Jordan's General Iftaa Department, fatwa 627, treats the secretion as pure and not wudu-breaking. Jordan's General Iftaa Department, fatwa 627, also says clothes need washing only where the secretion came from deep in the womb.
That is the department's answer, not a ruling of all four schools. A doctor is the person to ask about the medical side of any discharge you are unsure of, and a scholar you trust is the person to ask about its ruling in your case.
Continuous or irregular discharge: the Hanafi and Maliki works
These cases have their own rules. This page has checked the Hanafi and Maliki works on them, and not yet the Shafi'i or Hanbali works.
| School and work | What the work says |
|---|---|
| Hanafial-Quduri, Mukhtasar, viewer p. 19 | A woman with istihadah (bleeding that is not her period), a person with urinary dribbling, one with a persistent nosebleed, and one with a wound that does not stop make wudu for each prayer time. They pray the prayers of that time with it, and when the time ends the wudu ends too. 13 |
| Malikial-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, pp. 26 to 28 | For istihadah blood, wudu is required when the gaps are longer than the bleeding, and not when the bleeding comes as often as or more often than the gaps (p. 27). Persistent leakage of urine, wind or semen does not break wudu (the excused-person rule, separate from the general wind rule), even for half the time, when the person cannot stop it; if treatment can end it, the period of treatment is excused. For urinary leakage, renewing wudu for each prayer is recommended (pp. 26 and 28). 1415 |
Ask a teacher of your school how the Shafi'i and Hanbali works apply to your situation. A doctor is the person to ask about the medical side of a continuing condition.
Do smoking or cutting nails break wudu?
Two official answers each cover one act.
- Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, fatwa 3153 of 5 February 2003, from the fatwas of Ahmad al-Tayyib, says that smoking does not break wudu, and recommends clearing the smell of smoke from the mouth before prayer so as not to trouble others praying 16.
- Jordan's General Iftaa Department, fatwa 4048 of 15 January 2026, says that cutting nails does not break wudu, and that cutting them before ghusl from janabah is permitted 17.
The nail answer does not cover a cut that bleeds; for that, see the bleeding section above. This page gives no answer on vaping: the smoking fatwa does not address it, so a product-specific question is one to put to a teacher you trust. Neither answer decides whether smoking or vaping is permitted, or what it does to health; a doctor and a scholar you trust are the people to ask about those.
What if I only doubt that my wudu broke?
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reports the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as saying this. When one of you finds something in his belly and is unsure whether anything came out, he should not leave the mosque until he hears a sound or detects wind. The report is graded sahih (authentic)
1AuthenticSahih Muslim 362
.إِذَا وَجَدَ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي بَطْنِهِ شَيْئًا فَأَشْكَلَ عَلَيْهِ أَخَرَجَ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ أَمْ لاَ فَلاَ يَخْرُجَنَّ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ صَوْتًا أَوْ يَجِدَ رِيحًا
The report is about doubt. It does not say that a silent wind is harmless, and Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary counts silent wind from the back passage as nullifying (see the wind section). If doubt keeps interrupting your prayer, ask a scholar you trust for a way to handle it.
What breaks wudu is a practical question with several school views. Reading the named works side by side shows where they agree and where they differ.
Try it: the hadith, the works and the fatwas
Three checks, each with its source.
1In Sahih Muslim 362, what does a person need before leaving the mosque when unsure whether anything came out?
Answer: Hearing a sound or detecting a smell. The report says he should not leave until he hears a sound or detects a smell. A feeling alone is not the reason the report gives for leaving. Source 1
2Which work says that blood from venesection and cupping does not break wudu, whether little or much?
Answer: The Shafi'i al-Majmu. The Shafi'i al-Majmu says that in its school nothing from outside the two outlets breaks wudu, including that blood, little or much. Ibn Taymiyyah's Sharh Umdat al-fiqh treats a substantial amount as breaking wudu. Source 5
3What does Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah fatwa 3153 say about smoking and wudu?
Answer: Smoking does not break wudu, and the smell should be cleared before prayer. Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah's fatwa 3153 says smoking does not break wudu, and recommends clearing the smell of smoke from the mouth before prayer. It does not address vaping. Source 16
Questions people ask
Does fainting break wudu?
The Hanafi Mukhtasar lists fainting among the nullifiers of wudu, and Al-Abi al-Azhari's Maliki commentary says whoever faints must make wudu. The Shafi'i matn names intoxication and illness as causes of lost awareness, and the Hanbali Umdat al-fiqh names loss of awareness with a light-sleep exception. This page does not judge a particular faint, so ask a scholar you trust about your own case.
Does touching break wudu?
The Shafi'i matn al-Ghayah wa al-taqrib lists touching a woman without a barrier and touching the private part with the palm of the hand among its six nullifiers, and the Hanbali Umdat al-fiqh lists touching the penis. This page does not give the conditions or the other schools' positions, so ask a teacher of your school about a particular case.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.
- 1
Abu Hurayrah reports that a person who finds something in his belly and is unsure whether anything came out should not leave the mosque until he hears a sound or detects wind or smell
Sahih Muslim 362 Book 3, Hadith 126
Authentic: in Sahih Muslim (Muslim); Sahih (Al-Albani); Sahih (Ibn Baz)
- 2
Al-Abi al-Azhari, commenting on al-Risalah's list 'urine, stool or wind', says wind means what comes from the back passage, whether audible or silent; and that restricting the nullifiers to the usual outlets excludes blood from venesection or cupping and vomit that has changed from the state of food.
Al-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, shamela.ws page 26 Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-maliki-thamar-outlets.
- 3
Ibn Taymiyyah says substantial blood, pus, vomit or worms from outside the outlets break wudu; the well-known position is that a small amount does not; burping and phlegm need no wudu.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Sharh Umdat al-fiqh, vol. 1, islamweb pages 295 to 298 Read on islamweb on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-hanbali-taymiyyah-blood.
- 4
Al-Quduri's Mukhtasar lists as nullifiers: whatever leaves the two outlets; blood, pus and discharge that reach a place under the rule of purification; vomit filling the mouth; sleep lying, reclining or leaning; and fainting.
Al-Quduri, Mukhtasar, purification chapter (usul.ai viewer pages 11 to 12) Read on usul.ai on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-hanafi-quduri-nullifiers.
- 5
Al-Nawawi says that in his school (Shafi'i) nothing that comes out from outside the two outlets breaks wudu, including blood from venesection, cupping, vomit and a nosebleed, whether little or much.
Al-Nawawi, al-Majmu, vol. 2, islamweb page marker 62 (print page not checked) Read on islamweb on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-shafii-nawawi-majmu.
- 6
Al-Abi al-Azhari says that heavy sleep breaks wudu whether short or long, while light sleep does not break it, though he recommends wudu after long light sleep.
Al-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, shamela.ws page 28 Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-maliki-thamar-sleep.
- 7
Abu Shuja's al-Ghayah wa al-taqrib lists six nullifiers: what leaves the two outlets; sleep not in a firmly settled posture; loss of awareness through intoxication or illness; and touching a woman, the private part or the anus rim.
Abu Shuja, al-Ghayah wa al-taqrib, islamarchive page 3 (islamarchive) Read on islamarchive.cc on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-shafii-abushuja-nullifiers.
- 8
Ibn Qudamah's Umdat al-fiqh lists the nullifiers: what leaves the two outlets; substantial impure discharge; loss of awareness, except light sleep sitting or standing; touching the penis; and touching a woman.
Ibn Qudamah, Umdat al-fiqh, islamarchive page 9 Read on islamarchive.cc on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-hanbali-qudamah-nullifiers.
- 9
The Risalah, as quoted in al-Thamar al-Dani, says wudu is required from loss of awareness by heavy sleep, fainting, intoxication or madness; the commentary quotes Malik that whoever faints must make wudu.
Al-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, shamela.ws page 28 (matn of al-Risalah) Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-maliki-thamar-awareness.
- 10
Al-Quduri's Mukhtasar says that madhy and wady need no ghusl and that both require wudu.
Al-Quduri, Mukhtasar, ghusl chapter (usul.ai viewer pages 11 to 12) Read on usul.ai on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-hanafi-quduri-madhy-wady.
- 11
Al-Abi al-Azhari describes madhy as thin white fluid at arousal and wady as thick white fluid, and requires washing the whole member for madhy.
Al-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, shamela.ws page 26 Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-maliki-thamar-madhy-wady.
- 12
Jordan's fatwa 627 says outer secretions are pure and do not break wudu; inner ones are pure but break wudu; and where the origin is unknown, the secretion is pure and does not break wudu.
Jordan General Iftaa Department, fatwa 627 (21 April 2010) Read on aliftaa.jo on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-jordan-fatwa-627.
- 13
Al-Quduri's Mukhtasar says a woman with istihadah, a person with urinary dribbling, a persistent nosebleed, or an unstopping wound makes wudu for each prayer time.
Al-Quduri, Mukhtasar, purification chapter (usul.ai viewer page 19) Read on usul.ai on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-hanafi-quduri-chronic.
- 14
Al-Abi al-Azhari says that the blood of istihadah requires wudu when its breaks are longer than its occurrences, and does not require it when its occurrences are as frequent as or more frequent than its breaks.
Al-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, shamela.ws page 27 Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-maliki-thamar-istihadah.
- 15
Al-Abi al-Azhari says persistent leakage of urine, wind or semen does not break wudu while it persists, even for half the time, when it cannot be ended; wudu is recommended for each prayer for urinary leakage.
Al-Abi al-Azhari, al-Thamar al-Dani, pp. 26 and 28 Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-maliki-thamar-leakage.
- 16
Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, fatwa 3153, from the fatwas of Ahmad al-Tayyib (5 February 2003), says smoking does not break wudu, and recommends clearing the smell of smoke from the mouth before prayer so as not to trouble others praying.
Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, fatwa 3153 (5 February 2003) Read on dar-alifta.org on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-egypt-fatwa-3153.
- 17
Jordan's General Iftaa Department, fatwa 4048 (15 January 2026), says cutting nails does not break wudu, and that it is permissible to cut them before ghusl from janabah.
Jordan General Iftaa Department, fatwa 4048 (15 January 2026) Read on aliftaa.jo on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-wudu-jordan-fatwa-4048.
Next
For your own situation, ask a scholar you trust.
Join the email list
New guides by email, now and then. No spam, and you can leave at any time.
Ilmwell is free and kept going by readers. See how to support it.