Does Doubt about Passing Wind Break Wudu in Hanafi School?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Bassem Itani
Question
Does doubt about passing wind break wudu according to Hanafi school?
Answer
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, his Family, and all his Companions.
The legal ruling in this matter is that wudu is not nullified if you doubt whether you have passed wind. If you were certain that you were in a state of wudu and then doubted whether your wudu was broken, your certainty is not overruled by doubt. When a person performs wudu and then doubts whether it has been invalidated, they should not consider the doubt. Doubt is a state of indecision between two things without the ability to favor one over the other.
The evidence that doubt does not nullify wudu is found in the saying of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace):
“If one of you feels something in his stomach and is uncertain whether something (wind) has come out or not, he should not leave the mosque until he hears a sound or smells an odor.” [Muslim]
This means that one should verify whether the event occurred. If there is doubt, it is of no consequence, and one remains in the state of purity they were in before the doubt.
Scholars have derived a significant legal maxim from this hadith and similar ones: “Certainty is not lifted by doubt.” This means that things are judged to remain as they originally were until the certainty of the contrary is established, and incidental doubt does not affect them. Strong certainty is not negated by weak doubt; certainty is only removed by another certainty [‘Ali Afandi, Durar al-Hukkam]
The legislative wisdom in dismissing doubt with certainty or predominant assumption is to prevent whisperings (waswasa) from infiltrating the servant, disrupting and invalidating their worship. Many whisperings come through the path of doubt, exhausting and burdening the person, causing psychological distress and leading them away from the correct path.
We ask Allah to remove doubt and waswas from us and you. Our last prayer is praise to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
[Shaykh] Bassem Itani
Shaykh Dr. Bassem Hussayn Itani was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1965. He earned his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies in 2005. Among his mentors were Shaykh Muhammad Taha Sukkar, Shaykh Adib al-Kallas, Shaykh Mulla Abdul ‘Alim al-Zinki, Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Shaghouri, Shaykh Abdul Razzaq al-Halabi, Shaykh Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bugha, Shaykh Dr. Wahba al-Zuhayli, Dr. Muhammad al-Zuhayli, and others, may Allah have mercy on them all.
Shaykh Itani has a rich background in both academic and administrative fields. He has held significant positions in many governmental and non-governmental institutions in Lebanon and abroad. This includes his role as a member of the Academic Committee at SeekersGuidance and a senior teacher with the free online global seminary.
From 2020 to 2021, he served as the Dean of the College of Da‘wa – University for Islamic Studies (Lebanon) – Postgraduate Studies. He was the Director of Dar Iqra for Islamic Sciences from 1998 to 2018. Shaykh Itani is a well-versed teacher in several academic subjects, including Fiqh, Usul, Aqida, and Tafsir. He has supervised and examined numerous Master’s and Doctoral theses at various universities and colleges in Lebanon.
His contributions to Islamic sciences are also evident in his writings and research. His notable works include “The Relied-upon Statements of Imam Zufar in the Hanafi School,” “Collective Ijtihad: The Sublimity of Thought in the 21st Century,” and “Custom and its Impact in Islamic Jurisprudence.” Shaykh Itani has actively participated in numerous scientific conferences and seminars, both in Lebanon and internationally. He is linguistically adept, excelling in Arabic, proficient in French, and comfortably conversant in English.
