Difficulty Sustaining Wudu

By Mufti Shafiq Jakhura
Posted: 28 Muharram 1431, 14 January 2010

Q.I need your help to resolve a personal problem that has made my life very difficult for many years. My problem is that when I intend to pray a lot of gas starts to build up in my bowels. I make wudu with difficulty by stopping it and pray in the same way. This problem always occurs when ever I decide to pray. At other times I have gas problem comparable to a normal person. Following is an account of hardships that I have been facing because of it.

1. I live in Canada where to make wudu and pray on time requires a lot of effort in an office environment. I would like to pray multiple salah especially in winter with one wudu but I could not.

2. Praying salah with jama’ah is extremely hard. I want to go to mosque more frequently but it is simply not possible for me.

3. I could not concentrate during salah because I am more focused on stopping the gas than on the prayer itself. Even then most of the times I am not sure if I were able to keep my wudu or not.

4. I could not offer nafl salah because doing even fard is very hard for me.

5. Sometimes people force me to lead the prayer which I try to avoid but at times I have to do it. This makes me feel guilty that I am responsible for invalidating the other people’s salah due to my condition.

In my opinion I should be excused from breaking the wudu by passing of the gas only because I have no control over it. As long as I have the wudu the gas keeps bothering me until the wudu is broken.  Please advise keeping in mind the above difficulties and also the fact that I live in a western country where practicing Shariah is quite difficult.

 

A. I fully understand the condition that you face and pray that it subsides. Ameen.

The following are a few points that may assist you:

1. Remember that your wudu will only be deemed to be broken if you are absolutely certain that your wudu is broken. Having a doubt that one's wudu is broken does not cause one's wudu to break. Rasulullah Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam said that one should not leave the masjid out of a doubt of passing wind until one hears the sound thereof or gets the smell thereof. In other words, one must be absolutely certain that one's wudu has broken and not rely on mere doubts. The ulama have written that one should be able to take an oath by Allah to say that one's wudu is broken, for the wudu to be regarded as broken. If one is unable to take such an oath, one's wudu will be deemed to be unbroken and hence, valid. This treatment will initially require dedication from yourself and may not be easy. However, if you implement it religiously it should solve your problem to a great extent.

2. You could seek medical treatment regarding your condition and this could help to some extent.

3.  Manage your diet by avoiding things that cause excessive gas including fizzy drinks and the like.

4. If you are unable to control the gas and it is indeed excessive, you may monitor your condition for the duration of one salah time. If you are unable to maintain your wudu for the length of time in which you are able to make your wudu and complete your salah during the entire salah time, then you would be regarded as ma'zoor (excused) in the Shariah and one wudu for each salah time will suffice you. Once this is established, you will remain a ma’zoor until an entire salah time passes during which you do not pass wind. As long as one is deemed a Shari ma’zoor, one could pray as many salahs, fardh or nafl during that salah time with a single wudu and the passing of wind (in your case) will not cause one's wudu to break. However, if the wudu breaks due to some other reason, e.g. passing urine, stool etc, then the wudu will be deemed to have broken. The wudu of a Shari ma’zoor will become invalid once the salah time exits.

I pray that Allah assist you and cure you of this difficulty.

And Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

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