A Sunnah Rarely Practiced- Wudu for Every Prayer

A Sunnah Rarely Practiced- Wudu for Every Prayer

أَنَسٍ أَنَّهُ ذَكَرَ أَنَّ النَّبِىَّ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- أُتِىَ بِإِنَاءٍ صَغِيرٍ فَتَوَضَّأَ.
قُلْتُ أَكَانَ النَّبِىُّ -صلى الله عليه وسلم-
يَتَوَضَّأُ لِكُلِّ صَلاَةٍ قَالَ نَعَمْ. قَالَ فَأَنْتُمْ قَالَ كُنَّا نُصَلِّى
الصَّلَوَاتِ مَا لَمْ نُحْدِثْ قَالَ وَقَدْ كُنَّا نُصَلِّى الصَّلَوَاتِ
بِوُضُوءٍ.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned: The Messenger of Allah was given a
small vessel of water and he made wudu.” I said: “Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) make wudu for every prayer?” He said “Yes” Then he was aksed: “What about you?” He said: “We used to pray all the prayers as long as we did not break our wudu, and we used to pray all the prayers with one wudu.
(Collected by Bukhari 214)

Benefits for this subject:

Shaykh Muhammad Adam Al-Ethiopee commented on this hadeeth in his explanation for Sunnan An-Nisa’i. He wrote:

· The hadeeth proves that it’s legislated to make wudu for every prayer, regardless if a person needs to or not.

· It’s permissible to pray the five daily prayers with only one wudu.

· Ibn Seereen narrated that Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman used to make wudu for every prayer.” [Musanaf Ibn Abee Shaybah]

· Making wudu without invalidating it is a recommended act. Reason being, wudu is an act that wipes away sin.

· This hadeeth shows that wudu is a must for the person who intends to pray and has broken his/her wudu.

· The Shia view the resident and not the traveler must perform wudu for every prayer.

· The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Only the believer maintains himself in the state of wudu.” [Ibn Majah and others with an authentic chain of narration]
Taken from Sharhu Sunnan An-Nisa’I Vol 3/176