There are some practical problems that we muslims face in our everyday life. Majority of the time, we don’t ask a question because people are afraid to use reason and be considered a bad Muslim.
One very pressing issue that bothers me in my daily life, is the issue of wudu. I have been taught by my Islamic Studies teachers that passing of wind invalidates the wudu, and one must make wudu again. However, after passing of wind, we remake wudu on our hands, mouth, nose, face and feet, but not on our butt. Being a working person, it is difficult to constantly remake wudu.I just wanted to know how making wudu makes your butt any cleaner.
The second question is, when I take a complete shower in the morning and my whole body is covered with clothing, and my wudu breaks, can I just wash the exposed areas such as my face and hands, and will my wudu stay valid?
Answer
Wudu does get broken on passing of wind. The apparent reason for it is that wudu is meant to create a sense of cleanliness before one sets out to worship God. Without that feeling, a spiritually effective contact with God wouldn’t be possible. If you look at the formal wudu, it doesn’t cleanse our entire body; instead, only the prominent parts of it are washed to create a feeling of purification. In the absence of water, tayammum, the dry wudu, is also meant to create the same feeling symbolically.
In addition, had passing of wind been allowed as a happening that didn’t invalidate wudu, it would have created considerable difficulty and embarrassment during prayers, especially the congregational ones. However the reason for it being one of the invalidating factors for wudu is the feeling of impurity one gets as a consequence of going through it.
When you are in a state of difficulty, like in cold weather, and your wudu gets broken, you have a right to just wash or massage your relevant parts of the body only once to get into the feeling of purity. Moreover, when you wore socks in a state of wudu and it got broken, you are allowed to rub your socks with wet hands instead of washing them for wudu.
It is always a good idea to think about the reasons why God asked us to do such and such thing. However, if one gets convinced that God did ask us to do certain things, one should follow it despite not being fully convinced about why it was so desired. The rationale of certain things may get unfolded later. Our obedience to God should be unconditional.