What is the Ruling of Blood Coming Out While Making Wudu?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I hope you’re doing well. I am a teenage revert to Islam and am currently struggling with waswas. I had a couple of questions regarding wudu.

Often, I have pimples that will bleed. The blood does not flow past the point of exit and is very small. Would I have to delay making wudu and performing salah due to these spots, or since the blood is minimal, could I perform it with them?

I know wudu doesn’t break unless blood flows, but what is the ruling on blood coming out of the skin while making wudu? What if the blood has dried? Would I need to reopen the wound and remove the dried blood (which usually causes bleeding again) before making wudu?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health.

The legal cause for the nullification of the ablution (wudu) is the exiting of filth. Flowing blood is considered filth if it flows from the wound in one session (majlis). Thus, a slowly seeping wound, pimple blister, or the like wouldn’t break wudu, and whatever doesn’t break wudu isn’t filthy.  See the link to nullifiers of ablution below.

The flowing of any ritually impure substance, such as blood or pus from a wound, or another opening to any place that requires cleaning, i.e., it flowed beyond its point of exit, or if it came out with enough force to flow but was prevented from flowing because it was wiped or absorbed by a bandage, will invalidate ablution. [‘Ala‘uddin Ibn ‘Abidin, Al-Hadiyya al-Ala‘iyya]

You will have to judge for yourself if the bleeding from your pimples flows in one session, thus breaking wudu, or it slowly seeps out, which wouldn’t break wudu.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Check these links:
Could You Please List All the Nullifiers of Ablution According to the Hanafi school? – SeekersGuidance
Purification of the Heart for Youth: Diseases of the Heart and Their Cure – YouTube
The Path of Muhammad: Birgivi’s Manual of Taqwa Explained – YouTube

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersAcademy (seekersguidance.org), like from the Islamic Studies Curriculum (seekersguidance.org) or Youth Islamic Studies Curriculum (seekersguidance.org), building your way up doing each course?

I pray this helps answer your question.

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

Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.