Can I Go Back to Washing My Previous Limb in Wudu If I Have Misgivings?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I have not gotten an answer yet to this question. Can we wash in the same place in wudu? Suppose I have some misgivings and doubts about washing my elbow, so before I am done washing my hand, I go back to washing my elbow and continue from there. Is my wudu valid?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Yes, your wudu is valid; you can wash the same place in wudu three times; this is sunna. As for more than three times, it will be disliked and a waste of water.

So, you will have to set a challenge that you will only wash three times, not more. Otherwise, it will lead to the wasting of water. Try to focus on this aspect so it allows you to stop washing more than three times. [‘Ala‘uddin Ibn ‘Abidin, Al-Hadiyyah al-’Ala‘iyyah]

I pray this helps with your question.

Check this waswasa reader as well:
A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)

May Allah (Most High) ease all of our affairs and save us from the trickery of the shaytan, Amin.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.