Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Doing vazoo is cleaning / preparing oneself before namaz. So does a bath with praying the vazoo dua constitute clean? Or are there more reasons for reciting vazoo dua before praying?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Duas while doing wudu

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter5 Surah Maidah verse 6:O you who have believed! When you rise to offer the Salat, you must wash your faces and hands and your arms up to the elbows, and wipe your hands with wet hands and wash your feet up to the ankles. And if you become unclean, cleanse yourself with a full bath. If, however, you have ‘touched’ women and you can find no water, then cleanse yourselves with pure dust. Strike your palms on it and wipe your hands and faces with it. Allah does not will to make life hard for you, but He wills to purify you, and complete His blessings upon you so that you may show gratitude.

The act of ‘wudu’ is a pre-condition for offering prayers. Taking a full bath or ‘ghusl’ is a bigger form of purification than the ‘wudu’; thus if one takes a full bath or ‘ghusl’ with the intention to make himself pure for prayer, there is no need to do the ‘wudu’ again.

The Sunnah or Way of the Prophet (saws) while performing ‘wudu’ for prayer was that he would start his wudu by making an intention to purify himself, say ‘Bismillah’, and start the wudu. There is absolutely no evidence that the Prophet (saws) recited specific duas while washing or wiping each of his required body parts. Thus, if the believers indeed wish to follow the Sunnah, they must purify themselves just as the Prophet (saws) did. If reciting a specific dua while washing or wiping each required body part was part of the wudu, the Messenger of Allah (saws) would have done it and taught it to the believers.

Reciting a particular dua for washing or wiping each required part of the body is not from the Prophet’s (saws) Sunnah, and thus, it has to be an innovation. And as it with every innovation in the deen of Islam, it must be avoided.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan