How to Make Wudu While Traveling?

how to do wudu while traveling

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A person cannot skip wudu. Wudu is mandatory and required every time before we stand up for Namaz. If you are traveling and cannot find water for ablution, you can do the wudu by doing Tayammum. Tayammum is the alternative to wudu if a Muslim is not able to find water for ablution.

If a Muslim is traveling and prayer time is due, the first question that comes to his mind is how he would make wudu offer his prayers.

In Surah An-Nisa (4:43), Allah says O believers! Do not approach prayer while intoxicated until you are aware of what you say, nor in a state of ˹full˺ impurity—unless you merely pass through ˹the mosque˺—until you have bathed. But if you are ill, on a journey, or have relieved yourselves, or been intimate with your wives and cannot find water, then purify yourselves with clean earth, wiping your faces and hands. And Allah is Ever-Pardoning, All-Forgiving.”

Volume 1, Page 25b: virtues of wudu

Abdullah ibn as-Sunnabiji stated that the Messenger of Allah said, “When a slave makes ablution and rinses his mouth, his wrong deeds fall from it. As he rinses his nose, his wrong deeds fall from it. When he washes his face, his wrong deeds fall from it until they fall from beneath his eyelashes. When he washes his hands, his wrong deeds fall from them until they fall from beneath his fingernails. When he wipes his head, his wrong deeds fall from it until they fall from his ears. When he washes his feet, his wrong deeds fall from them until they fall from beneath his toenails. Then his walking to the mosque and his prayer give him extra reward.” (Related by Malik, an-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and al-Hakim.)

How To Perform Tayammum with Soil?

Before performing any religious act, especially Namaz, Tayammum is done in case there is no access to water. Tayammum is the cleaning of hands and body. You can get answers to this and other such questions at Muslim and Quran.

The Two Obligatory Acts of Tayammum

1- To make an intent (niyyah) for tayammum, and say A’udhu and Bismillah. This is a replacement for ghusal or ablution.

2- Next a Muslim shall touch his palms on a clean surface such as soil or a clean sand, pebbles, stone, lime, brick, tile or a tile-like substance, etc.) to wipe the face twice, followed by the arms.

The Shafi’is and the Hanafis maintain that the tayammum is performed by two thumps on the ground or Tayammum object, the first being for the face and the second for the hands, while the Maliki and Hanbali say that the first thump is an obligation and the second thump is Sunnah. The four main Sunni madhhabs are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali. By the twelfth century, nearly all jurists had allied themselves with a specific madhhab. They first appeared in the ninth and tenth centuries CE. These four schools interact in legal discussion and acknowledge the legitimacy of one another.

The Malikis and the Hanafiyya believe that it is necessary to stain the fingers with the inside of the palm when wiping, in contrast to the Shafi’is and the Hanbalis, who said staining is a precaution because the dust is dense and does not flow like water, and because the time for removal is when wiping. The Shari’ah states that it is improper to perform Tayammum if the impurity has not yet been removed.

Tayammum should be performed by someone with impurities removed from his body because impurities do not render Tayammum valid.

In Surah Al-Hajj (22:78), Allah says, Strive for ˹the cause of˺ Allah in the way He deserves, for ˹it is˺ He ˹Who˺ has chosen you, and laid upon you no hardship in the religion

When Else Tayammum is Allowed in Islam Before Prayers?

Tayammum can be done in the following cases:

  • When clean water is not available for wudu or other physical cleanliness within a one-mile radius.
  • When water is available, there is a threat near it. This threat can be an enemy or a dangerous animal.
  • When a person does not have enough water reservoirs, when the person is sure that there would be no water left for drinking purposes, if the water is used for WUDU, there is no water reservoir or fresh water supply nearby.
  • If a well has water, there is no means of getting water out of it. For instance, you do not have a rope or a bucket to get the water for Wudu.
  • When a person has a high fever or cannot use water because it might be dangerous for his health, he is allowed to do Tayammum. For instance, if a person has body burns, he can do Tayammum instead of using water.
  • If the person is at a place where the water is being sold and does not have enough money to buy water for Wudu.
  • When the water is sold at a high price, people cannot afford to buy it. Tayammum is allowed in this case.
  • When the person is at a place, for instance, a desert, there is no trace of water and no person to ask where to get water.

The above situations show that Islam is a flexible religion. Our Allah wants us to bow in front of Him and worship him, even if we do not have access to water.

Final Thoughts!

Leaving a prayer because you are traveling is not an excuse. A Muslim shall offer his prayers at any cost. Wudu is the most important step before a prayer. When traveling, Muslims think about how to do Wudu if there is no water. Tayammum is the answer to this problem. If a Muslim traveler cannot find water for ablution, they can do the wudu by doing Tayammum.

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