✦ Ruling on Wudu After Washing a Child: Does It Break or Remain? ✦
❖ Question:
If a mother helps her child urinate and then washes him, does she need to repeat her wudu, or does her original wudu remain valid?
❖ Answer by:
Shaykh Abdul Wakeel Nasir (Hafizahullah)
Shaykh Abdullah Azzam (Hafizahullah)
❖ First Opinion: Wudu Breaks Upon Direct Touch
✔ If the mother’s hand touches the child’s private part without any barrier, then wudu is invalidated, and a new wudu is required.
◈ This opinion is based on authentic hadiths in which the touching of the private parts without a barrier is stated as a cause for breaking wudu.
❖ Second Opinion: Wudu Remains Valid
✔ According to another group of scholars, touching the child’s private parts during cleaning or helping with urination does not break the wudu.
◈ This view is also supported by narrations, which suggest that such acts do not nullify ablution.
❖ Summary of Both Views
① First View:
Touching the private part without a covering breaks wudu, and renewal is necessary.
② Second View:
Wudu remains valid, even if there was direct contact during cleaning.
❖ Conclusion: A Matter of Scholarly Ijtihad
This is a scholarly difference of opinion, and both sides have evidences from hadith.
✔ One may follow either view and their practice will be valid.
✔ However, for caution and to avoid difference, it is preferable to repeat the wudu.
