Supplications for Wuḍūʾ

Said, the Imam, God have mercy on him,

God benefit us through him and through you,

God be pleased with him and you:

The Siwāk

When you finish cleaning yourself from any remaining filth (after using the lavatory), then use the siwāk and never leave it, for it purifies the mouth, pleases the Lord and infuriates Shayṭān.

A prayer performed after having used the siwāk is better than seventy prayers performed without having used it.

Abū Hurayra (God be pleased with him) related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Had it not been for my fear of overburdening my Umma, I would have commanded them to use the siwāk with every prayer.”

He ﷺ also said, “I was ordered to use the siwāk (so much so) that I feared it would be written as an obligation upon me.”

Before Starting Wuḍūʾ

Sit down to begin your wuḍūʾ, facing the Qibla, on a raised area so that you are not hit with the spray of the water, and say:

English Translation

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

O Lord, I seek refuge in You from the incitement of the devils and I seek refuge In You from their appearing to me.

Washing Your Hands

Wash your hands three times before you place them in the container[1] for wuḍū’ and say: 

English Translation

O God, I ask you for good fortune and blessings, and I seek refuge in You from ill luck and disaster.

Rinsing the Mouth

Place some water in your mouth and gargle it three times. Let it reach the back of your throat unless you are fasting, then perform this very carefully, just in case you accidentally swallow it and break your fast.

When rinsing the mouth, recite:

English Translation

O God, support me in reciting Your Book, and doing much remembrance of You, and keep me firmly established with the firmly established word in the life of this world and the next.

The Intention for Wuḍū’

Shāfiꜥī School

Then make the intention for fulfilling the obligation of wuḍū’, for the removal of anything that will invalidate the prayer [ḥadath], or for making the prayer permissible [istibāḥat iṣ-ṣalāh][2]. The intention can be any of the following three formulas mentioned and even a combination of them:

English Translation

I intend the obligatory ablution.

I intend the removal of that which nullifies my ablution.

I intend to make permissible the prayer.

Rinsing the Nose

Take a handful of water for your nose, draw it in and blow it out three times, removing any moisture from your nose.

While drawing it in, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, let me smell the wondrous smell of the Garden and You are pleased with me.

While blowing it out, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, I seek refuge with You from the odours of the Fire and from an evil abode.

Washing the Face

Take a handful of water for your face, and with it, wash vertically that which is between the flatter parts of your forehead and to the edge of your chin (and slightly past), and horizontally, between the two ears. Make sure that the water reaches the area from which women customarily remove hair, which is the part that is between the top of the ear and the corner of the temples – the area I am referring to is situated between them. Allow water to reach four places where hair grows; the eyebrows, the moustache, the eyelashes and the cheeks (the area before the ears at the beginning of the beard). The water must also reach the skin where the beard is thinnest, but not where the hair of the heard is thick.

Do not leave out wetting the thick part of your beard at the end (by raking through it with your fingers).

While washing your face, supplicate the following:

English Translation

O God, whiten my face with Your Light on the Day when Your Friends’ faces are whitened, and do not blacken my face with Your Darknesses on the Day when Your enemies’ faces are blackened.

Washing the Arms

Wash your right arm first and then your left arm, thrice each, (from the finger tips) up until the elbows and halfway up the upper segment of your arms. (It is a sunna to move your ring if water does reach beneath it, however, if water does not reach beneath it, then it is obligatory to remove the ring and wash the area beneath.)

When washing your right arm, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, give me my book in my right hand and grant me an easy judgement.

When washing your left arm, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, I seek refuge in You that You give me my book in my left hand or from behind my back.

Wiping the Head

Next, you wipe your whole head after you have wetted your hands, keeping the fingertips of your right and left hand together. Start from your forehead and wipe to the nape of your neck and then back again (to the forehead). This is considered one wipe. Do this three times as you would with your other limbs.

While wiping your head, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, cover me with Your mercy, and send down upon me from Your blessings, and shade me beneath the shade of Your Throne on the Day when there is no shade but Yours. O God, make forbidden my hair and flesh from the Fire (of Hell).

Wiping the Ears

Wipe your ears, inside and outside, with fresh water; place your index fingers in your earholes and wipe the outer surface of your ears with the balls of your thumbs (right and left at the same time with the right and left hands).

While wiping your ears, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, make me from those who when they hear a saying, follow the best of it. O God, allow me to hear the call of the Caller to the Garden with the pious in Paradise.

Wiping the Neck

Then wipe your neck and recite: 

English Translation

O God, deliver my neck from the Fire (of Hell), and I seek refuge in You from the manacles and the chains (with which those destined for the Fire will be dragged).

Washing the Feet

Then wash your right foot, and after it, the left foot, both together up to the ankles and slightly past them. Scrub between your toes using the little finger of your left hand beginning with the little toe of your right foot, and finishing with the little toe of your left foot. Approach the toes from below the foot, not above.

While washing your right foot, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, make steadfast my feet on the Firmly Established Path following the feet of Your Righteous Servants.

While washing your left foot, supplicate:

English Translation

O God, I seek refuge in You from the slipping of my feet from the Bridge into the Fire (of Hell) on the Day that the feet of the hypocrites and polytheists slip (into it).

Make sure to wash up past your ankle to half-way of your shin.

Ensure that all of your limbs are washed three times.[3]

Continuity

Ensure that all these actions are performed in order as listed, without too much of delay between each action, in a continuous fashion.

Footnotes:

[1] The Prophet ﷺ used to perform his wuḍūʾ in a container, and so, to emulate his sunna would bring much reward.

[2] In the Shāfi`ī School, the intention is to be made at the same time as washing of the face, which is the first obligatory act of the wuḍū’. The prayer is not permissible whilst one is in a state of impurity.

[3] [t] Except for the neck, which is wiped only once with the middle fingers.