What happens when you can only partially make wudu?
Wudu and Tayammum: Ruling on Partial Access to Water and Wiping Over Inaccessible Parts
Summary
Sh. Ali Mashhour discusses the invalidators of wudu and addresses a nuanced jurisprudential question: what should a person do when they have partial access to water but cannot use it on certain parts of their body due to injury, illness, or a cast? Sh. Ali Mashhour explains the two main scholarly approaches—one permitting combined use of wudu and tayammum (the weaker opinion), and another (the majority view) holding that wudu and tayammum are complete alternatives never used together. According to the stronger opinion that Sh. Ali Mashhour presents, a person performs wudu to the extent possible, wipes over parts they cannot wash (following the precedent of wiping over footwear and turbans), and does not resort to tayammum. Sh. Ali Mashhour concludes by addressing whether tayammum can be performed on surfaces beyond earth, such as painted walls, confirming that any surface on which dust can settle qualifies as valid for tayammum.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
No, no, no.
[Silence]
Alhamdulillah.
[Silence]
Continuing in the chapters regarding and we have arrived at the final part of and its rulings and that is the invalidators or the nullifiers of those things which nullify which compromise. Yesterday we discussed the narration of and that narration of regarding the two companions that went out and made prayed and then found water afterwards or were able to access water afterwards. And there various approaches to that. The author says here the author says something that is very interesting and that is a response to a common opinion in some of the med regarding a person who has water, has access to water but partially cannot use it. What does that mean? Partially cannot use it. So let's say a person has a cast on or a person has a part of his body that is ill or or hurt and he cannot put water on it. Well, he can use water on the rest of his body, just not that part. So, the scholars approach this in two different ways. One group, they say the person can only partially use water. So, he finds himself in a middle ground between water and he partially needs to and he partially needs water. So he uses water with that which he can and then he makes for that which he cannot let's say a person had a cast on his arm right cannot wash the arm he would make wool for everything except for that arm and then he would make that's one opinion however this is the weaker opinion why because we do not have an instance in the prophet sallall.aii Wasam nor do we have an instance in the companions doings in which they used both and water together. This never happened. When we look at the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about it, he speaks about it as as an alternative and a holistic alternative, not a partial alternative. So he says they are opposites. A person is never in between. They're either they have water or they don't. If they have water, then tayyum doesn't apply. If they do not, then water doesn't apply. That is the only way water and are spoken about in the Quran. So, we understand that they are not to be used together. This is very clear. Another opinion amongst the scholars and this is the correct opinion and that is that a person fulfills as the prophet himself said Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us a general ruling. He says no soul shall be burdened with an obligation that it is unable to fulfill. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us whatever I command you to do of it as much as you can. As much as you can. So if a person has a cast on his arm, how much of wudoo is as much as he can. He does woo except for the part that's covered. That's as much as he can. Correct. Therefore, the person would not use in this instance. The person would merely make wudul and skip the part that they cannot make wudoo with as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has instructed generally in these verses that we've just shared. Now, we have one more part to that equation. Do we completely leave off the cast entirely? Because do of it as much as you can. I can't wash it, but I can perhaps wipe over it. So, should I wipe over it? Again, this is two opinions amongst the scholars. The majority of the scholars say you would wipe over the part that you cannot wash and you wash the rest. Others say no, you don't have to wipe anything because wiping is a separate type of worship. You have not been commanded to wipe over your feet or your arms. You've been commanded to wash. If you're unable to wash, then nothing applies. The majority of the scholars are of the opinion that a person would wash what he can and wipe over whatever he cannot and that is what he is able to do. The author here takes the third opinion and that is that whatever you can wash you wash whatever you cannot you skip and that is a valid opinion and a strong opinion especially amongst the hadith but their is very u very different approach their hermeneutics to understanding is very different especially of so the point is is that if a person let's go back. Take it back to the beginning so that nobody's unclear. Let's say a person has a cast, right? Person has a cast. Now they are unable to wash it. So what do they do? Well, they make wool and they wipe over whatever they cannot wash. And where do we get this from? Well, when a person has the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam wiped over his turban, correct? And making woo. As a matter of fact, why do we wipe over our hair? When we wipe over our hair, unless we're bald, you're wiping over your hair. You're not wiping over your head, right? Because Allah commands, but you wipe over your hair. And you're not really wiping over your head directly. That's because you have something that is covering your head. Therefore, you wipe over that person wipes over their footwear when they're wearing it. So, it has an an origin in the Quran and Sunnah. This is why this is the stronger opinion and the opinion of the majority. So, a person makes woo, wipes over the part that they cannot wash. They wash everything else and there is no is a substitute for water not a not to be coupled with water. They're never used together. Right? which we've mentioned.
[Silence]
Men.
[Silence]
The final part of this is the author mentions here one final thing and that is making using a wall. Because when we look back at the wording, a is what settles on a horizontal surface really. So what about a vertical surface? And honestly, this is probably one of the amendments that the author made in his later prints of this book because this belongs at the beginning of the chapter and it's clear that he kind of tacked it on here at the end. He says,.
[Silence]
Muslim. So he notes a narration here on the authority of Ib Abbass that tells us of a time when the prophet sallall.aii wasallam made to after off of a wall. Now what about if the I'm not going to tell you the answer. I'm going to see where we've gotten here. What about if the wall is painted? Let's say it's painted with an oilbased paint. Can you make tyum off of the wall or does the wall have to be made out of clay or made out of something that is, you know, dusty? What's the answer?
[Arabic recitation]
You said yes. Is there a difference of opinion? The answer is yes, you can. Because as we mentioned in detail before, anything that settles is called site. Unless there is some super special painted wall that specifically is designed to be so microscopically slick that even dust cannot settle upon it. in the under those circumstances by all means right however until this wall exists and until this paint exists of course and I ask you this because it actually is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars however it doesn't have to be dirt it has to be we discussed that in detail Subhanahua.