Is My Wudu Valid with Hard-to-Remove Sleep Crust in My Eyes?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I had some waswasa recently due to hard crust that occurs in the inner corner of my eye. When making wudu, I already clean it if visible or if I feel anything. However, sometimes, during or after a prayer (especially Fajr), I begin to feel something in my eye. I try to remove it after prayer and it is so deep inside the corner of my eye that it cannot be removed without difficulty, not much bigger than a grain of sand. Constantly picking at my eyes to inspect for these will be dangerous, so is it okay for me to leave it without risking the validity of my salah?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Your ablution (wudu) is valid despite the presence of sleep crust in your eye. It is valid regardless of whether the sleep crust is easy or difficult to remove.

This is because the nature of water is that it is penetrating. It reaches even the hardest-to-reach places. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

Hypothetically, even if the water did not penetrate, the wudu would be valid since it is not an obligation to cause oneself harm trying to remove the sleep crust. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.