Do Doubtful Sensations During Prayer Break My Wudu?

Answered by Shaykh Muhammad Carr

Question

I used to repeat my wudu several times for each prayer because I thought I had passed wind, though some of it was imagined. With treatment, I now pray most prayers with one wudu, but I still pray with anxiety. Sometimes I check after the prayer whether I passed wind, then worry that I did so during it. I often cannot tell real sensations from imagined ones, and I feel as though I am lying about my situation. I read in a previous answer that I should ignore it until I hear a sound or smell something, while another said I am not excused from doing so. Which should I follow? Most of the time, when I genuinely pass wind, I hear and smell nothing. The sensations vary: air seeming to pass, a bubble popping, or feeling lighter afterward. I am afraid of what I will say to Allah, since only He and I know what I feel.

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

Thank you for reaching out and seeking clarification. Congratulations on the progress that you have made in overcoming your doubts.

The answer is simple: ignore the sensations until you hear a sound or detect a smell. When in doubt as to whether you have passed wind, your wudu remains valid, and you do not need to renew it [Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj]. This is the position of the Shafiʿi school, and the Hanafi school holds the same.

Certainty is not removed by doubt [Suyuti, al-Ashbah wa al-Nazaʾir]. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.” [Tirmidhi]

When you smell or hear wind, it is apparent that your wudu is broken. Abd Allah ibn Zayd (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was asked about a man who imagines he has passed wind during prayer, and he said, in meaning, that the man should not leave his prayer until he hears a sound or finds a smell [Bukhari].

Sensations Alone Do Not Break Your Wudu

Ignore the sensations. Sensations do not determine whether there was wind; smelling and hearing do.

The distinction is between certainty and doubt. If you are certain that the wind has passed, your wudu is broken even if you neither hear nor smell anything. However, if you are merely in doubt whether the wind has passed, then hearing or smelling it serves as an indication that it has occurred. Thus, when in doubt, it is the presence of sound or smell that determines whether your wudu has broken. The other answer you read, that you are not excused, concerns a different ruling: that of a person with a chronic excuse (maʿdhur), whose wind passes continuously. Your situation is one of doubt, not continuous wind, so follow the rule above.

Allah will not be displeased with you since you are following His commands as described above. You are not lying about your situation; you are doing what He has asked of you.

Ignore the Whispers, and They Will Fade

The remedy for doubts and whispers from the Devil (Shaytan) is to ignore and disregard them completely. In time, they will disappear, Allah willing. Entertaining them only reinforces them and may cause them to worsen. Keep following the treatment you are receiving; it is part of this remedy.

When experiencing such whispers, place your right hand on your chest and recite the following seven times, “Subhana al-Malik al-Quddus al-Khallaq al-Faʿʿal” (Glory be to the Sovereign, the Most Holy, the Creator, the Doer).

Then recite the following verse once, “In yashaʾ yudhhibkum wa yaʾti bi-khalqin jadid wa ma dhalika ala Allahi bi-ʿaziz”, “Did He wish, He would do away with you altogether and bring forth a new creation of men. Nor is that hard upon Allah.” [Quran 35:16–17] [Tirmidhi]

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.

Shaykh Muhammad Carr

Related Answers

• Does a Feeling of Passing Wind Invalidate the Wudu, if There Is No Accompanying Sound or Smell? — Only wind that certainly passes breaks wudu; a feeling alone leaves your purity as it was.
• Did I Do the Right Thing by Ignoring the Sensation of Passing Wind When I Was Not 100% Sure That I Did? — Ignoring an uncertain sensation and praying on was right, because purity stands until it is surely broken.
• Does Waswasa (OCD) Excuse a Person from Prayer in the Shafiʿi School? — Misgivings don’t lift the prayer; do each act once, then let the doubts go.
• Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (waswasa) — Why certainty is never overturned by doubt, and how to rest in worship done with reasonable care.
• A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) — A gathered set of answers on intrusive doubts in faith, purity, and prayer, for anyone struggling as you are.