What to Do If One Is Unable to Maintain Wudu and It Is Tough to Make Wudu in the Office?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I can pray at my workplace, but I can’t hold my wudu, and it is tough to make wudu at my office. I don’t feel comfortable wearing the same things after wudu; it feels dirty. Also, I have some illnesses which break my wudu.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Firstly, you have to decide if you can be classified as an ‘excused person’ that the entire prayer time passes with the ‘excuse’ you present such that you don’t have time to perform a minimal wudu and a quick fard prayer. If this is the case, then read the link below for what you have to do.
If this is not the case, come to work with waterproof socks and wipe over them without having to wash your feet. First, you wear them with wudu, so perform wudu before you come to work. Also, do the bare minimum of emphasized sunna and fard prayer. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar] See the link below for further details.
I understand work life can be challenging to do wudu and prayer. But, I suggest having a word with your work manager/colleagues about what you do, making them try to feel comfortable, try to win their hearts over with gift snacks and treats that the purity and prayer will bring about blessing in everyone’s work and it is for the greater good. You will be surprised to see the gradual change. One has to remember religiousness, change, and acceptance is a gradual process, so don’t worry.
Check the links:
The Fiqh of Chronic Excuses and Ablution – SeekersGuidance
Prayer Reader: The Ultimate Guide To Prayer in Islam – SeekersGuidance
Wudhu Socks | WuduGear.com
Wudu Wear (daky.com)
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on Seekersguidance?
SeekersAcademy (seekersguidance.org)
May Allah (Most High) give you ease and relief from the illness.
I pray this helps with your question.
[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.
