Wudu (ablution) and ghusl (the full bath) are only valid with water that can clean you. In the Hanafi school that means plain water that still flows and is still called water: rain, sea, river, spring, well, melted snow and ice, and ordinary tap and bottled water. Water that has already been used for wudu or ghusl is pure but cannot clean you again. Water turned into soapy water, tea or juice is also pure but cannot clean you. Water touched by impurity is a different matter, and the answer depends on how much water there is.
Which water can you use for wudu and ghusl?
Allah says: "And We send down pure water from the sky" (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:48), and "He sent down water upon you from the sky to purify you with it" (Surah Al-Anfal, 8:11). Mukhtasar al-Quduri lists the waters that clean as the water of the sky, valleys, springs, wells and seas: plain water that has not been given a new name by something added.
- Rain, melted snow, hail and ice. Snow and ice must melt and flow over the skin. Rubbing dry snow on a limb without any water flowing is not washing.
- Sea water and salty water. A man asked the Prophet ﷺ that sailors carry little fresh water and would they be without wudu if they used sea water. He said its water is purifying (Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on wudu with sea water). Salty wells and brackish springs are the same.
- Rivers, canals, lakes, ponds, springs and wells. Muddy water is fine if it is still thin.
- Hot water. Water heated by fire, a heater or the sun still cleans. The Shafi'i school dislikes sun-heated water in metal containers, but this is not the Hanafi position.
- Tap water, even if it smells or looks cloudy. A smell of chlorine, rust or minerals, or a cloudy look from air bubbles, does not change the ruling, because these come from pure things and the water is still thin and called water. It stops being usable only if you know impurity such as sewage has got in and changed its colour, taste or smell.
- Bottled water. Plain, mineral and distilled water are fine. Flavoured, vitamin and energy waters are drinks, and are not a good choice.
Can I use water mixed with soap, tea or juice?
The question is whether the mixture is still called water. If a pure thing falls into water and changes its colour, taste or smell a little, but the water is still thin and still called water, it still cleans. Al-Quduri gives mud from a flood, soap, saffron and similar things as examples. If the pure thing overpowers the water, it no longer cleans you. The signs of this are that the water has thickened, or that people now call it by another name, such as juice, tea, milk or soup.
- Juice, tea, milk, soup, vinegar and rose water. Pure, but not valid for wudu or ghusl. Water that comes out of fruit or a tree (including coconut water) is in the same group.
- Water boiled with something. If you boil water with tea leaves, herbs or vegetables, it no longer cleans, even if the colour is faint.
- Soapy water. A few traces of soap on your hands or in a basin are fine. Thick, foamy water that now looks and feels like soap solution is not valid. Wash the soap off first and use fresh water for wudu.
- Water with a lot of mud or flour stirred in. If it has become thick like paste, it is not valid. Let it settle until it is thin again, or take clear water from the top.
- Water with fallen leaves, algae or a long stay. If it changed only because it stood for a long time, or because something fell into it that did not mix, it still cleans.
These mixtures are pure; they only lose the power to give you wudu or ghusl. If the added thing is itself impure, such as urine, the rules of impure water below apply.
What is used water, and when does water count as used?
Used water (ma' mustamal) is water that was used to remove a state of needing wudu or ghusl, or used for wudu with the aim of earning reward, and has now separated from the body. In the Hanafi school, the view widely given in fatwa is that used water is pure but cannot clean you again. You can water plants with it, but not use it again for wudu or ghusl. Hanafi scholars have differed on whether it is pure or impure, but pure is the view given in fatwa.
Water is not used while it is still on your limb. It becomes used when it drips or runs off.
- Tap, jug or shower. This is the easy case. The water in the tap or jug is unused, and only the part that has touched you and dripped away is used. Fresh water keeps coming, so there is no problem.
- A bucket or basin you dip your hand into. If you dip a clean hand to scoop water out, the bucket stays valid, even if you are without wudu or in need of ghusl, because you did not wash in it. If you put your hands in and wash them in the bucket as part of wudu, that water becomes used. Use a mug or jug so your hands do not go in.
- A bathtub. If you sit in a small tub of still water, the water that touched you counts as used water. The safest practice is to pour fresh water over yourself from a shower or a jug, and to finish with fresh water over the whole body.
- A big pool or flowing river. Used water does not spoil it, because the amount used is small compared with the whole. Entering it for ghusl is fine.
Do not mix up used and impure
Used water is not dirty. It is just spent. It does not make clothes impure.
When does water become impure, and what is a large amount of water?
For impurity (najasah), the Hanafi school looks at how much water there is and whether it moves. The basic hadith is that none of you should urinate in still water and then wash in it (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Wudu, chapter on still water; Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Taharah). The rulings below follow Mukhtasar al-Quduri, al-Hidayah and Radd al-Muhtar.
- Small still water. A bucket, a basin, a sink full of water, a jug, a bath or a household tank. If any impurity falls in, even a single drop of urine, the whole of it becomes impure. This is so even if its colour, taste and smell do not change.
- Large still water. A big pool, pond or tank. It becomes impure only if the impurity changes its colour, taste or smell. The books give this size as ten cubits by ten cubits on the surface, which is about 100 square cubits, and deep enough that the ground does not show when you scoop water up with your hand. A cubit is about 45 to 50 cm, so this is about 4.5 to 5 metres each way, or 20 to 25 square metres. Some Hanafi books give other measures, and all of them are estimates, but this is the one widely given in fatwa.
- Flowing water. A river, a stream, a running tap or a pipe. It is impure only if the impurity changes its colour, taste or smell. Flowing water is the kind that carries away a straw or leaf lying on it.
Also, a small creature with no flowing blood, such as a fly, mosquito, bee, wasp or scorpion, does not make water impure if it dies in it. Fish, frogs and other creatures that live in water do not spoil it either. A dead mouse, bird or cat, which has flowing blood, makes small water impure. In a large pool, stay away from the place where you can see the impurity or its colour.
Making impure water clean
Small impure water becomes clean when you pour in clean water until it overflows. Flowing water cleans itself once the colour, taste and smell are normal again.
Can you use water that a cat, bird or donkey drank from? The leftover water (su'r) rules
Leftover water (su'r) means what remains in a vessel after a person or animal has drunk from it. The Hanafi ruling follows the saliva of the creature, which follows its meat. Water is not affected if the creature's mouth did not touch it.
| Who drank | Leftover water | Wudu with it |
|---|---|---|
| A person (Muslim or not, in janabah, or during a period) | Pure | Valid. (If there is visible blood or alcohol in the mouth, it is impure.) |
| Cow, goat, sheep, camel; horse; pigeon, sparrow | Pure | Valid |
| Cat | Pure but disliked (makruh) | Valid, but use other water if you have it. If it has just eaten a mouse, it is impure. |
| Free-roaming chickens, and birds of prey (hawk, falcon, kite) | Pure but disliked | Valid, but use other water if you have it |
| House mice, snakes, lizards | Pure but disliked | Valid, but use other water if you have it |
| Donkey, mule | Doubtful | Only if no other water: do wudu with it and also tayammum |
| Dog, pig, lion, wolf, fox and other wild beasts | Impure | Not valid |
On the cat, the Prophet ﷺ said that she is not impure, and she is one of those who go around among you (Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on the leftover of a cat; Jami' al-Tirmidhi). That is why the school calls cat water pure. A dog's leftover water is impure, and a vessel it licked is washed three times in the Hanafi school.
For a donkey or mule, the scholars say the ruling is doubtful, because its meat is not allowed but it is used around people and cannot be avoided. If you have no other water, you do wudu with the leftover water and also make tayammum. The order does not matter. If you have other water, use that.
What if an animal falls into a well, tank or water jar?
The old Hanafi books give a rule for wells that is still found in fatwa. An animal with flowing blood that dies in a well makes the water impure, and the water is made clean by drawing out buckets. The figures are for an average bucket and are approximate:
- A mouse, sparrow or lizard-sized animal: 20 buckets are required, and 30 is better.
- A pigeon, chicken or cat-sized animal: 40 buckets are required, and 60 is better.
- A dog, goat or human: all the water is drawn out.
- Any animal, even a mouse, that has swollen or burst: all the water is drawn out.
This applies to wells with limited water. Many later Hanafi scholars say that a spring-fed well, or one so large that it counts as large water (see above), is spoiled only by a change in colour, taste or smell, and this is the view usually followed for modern wells. A household tank or an overhead tank is usually small still water. If a dead bird or cat is found in it, empty the tank, wash it and fill it again.
What if you are unsure about the water, or only have impure water?
- You are not sure whether it is impure. Water is clean until you know otherwise. A thought, a bad feeling or a dirty-looking tap does not change it.
- You are sure it was impure and are not sure it was cleaned. It stays impure, because you were sure of it before.
- You find out afterwards. If you made wudu with water you thought was clean and later learn it was impure, your wudu was not valid. Make wudu again and repeat any prayer you prayed with it. If you never find out, you do not need to worry.
- The only water is impure. Do not use it for wudu or ghusl. You count as someone who cannot find water, so make tayammum (dry ablution with clean earth). See what to do when you cannot find water. The same applies if the only clean water is needed for drinking.
Allah says: "If you cannot find water, then seek clean earth" (Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:6). To check which acts need ghusl, see when ghusl becomes necessary.
What are some real examples, such as a bucket, sink, pool or washing machine?
- A bucket. You take a mug, fill it from the bucket and pour it over your limbs. The bucket stays clean and usable. If a drop of urine or a bit of stool falls in, the whole bucket is impure. If you wash your whole arm inside the bucket, the water in it is now used.
- A kitchen or bathroom sink. Water from the running tap is valid. The water collected in the basin after you wash your face and hands is used. Do not scoop it back up for wudu. If the plug is in and the basin holds dishwater with suds, use fresh tap water instead.
- A swimming pool. A large pool is large water. A swimmer does not spoil it, and chlorine does not stop it from cleaning. Ghusl can be done in it if the pool meets the size above, as long as the whole body, mouth and nose are washed. A small paddling pool or a hot tub is only a big basin of small water, so treat it like a bath.
- A washing machine. Water in the drum during a wash is soapy and has been used on dirty clothes. It is not for wudu. The clean tap water that comes through the inlet hose is fine. Clothes washed on a full wash and rinse are cleaned of impurity, as we explained in the najasah guide.
- A shower. Showering is fine for wudu and ghusl, because fresh water keeps coming. Make sure the water reaches the whole body, including the mouth and nose for ghusl. The steps are in our ghusl sheet.
If you want a teacher to go through the rules of purity with you and answer your own situations, see our courses.
Sources
- The Qur'an: Surah Al-Furqan (25), verse 48; Surah Al-Anfal (8), verse 11; Surah Al-Ma'idah (5), verse 6.
- Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Taharah: chapter on wudu with sea water; chapter on the leftover water of a cat. Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Abwab al-Taharah, same chapters.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Wudu, and Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Taharah: the prohibition of urinating in still water.
- Mukhtasar al-Quduri and al-Hidayah, Kitab al-Taharah: chapters on water, wells and leftover water (su'r).
- Ibn 'Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah: Bab al-Miyah (used water, mixed water, large water) and Bab al-Anjas (wells).
- Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah, Kitab al-Taharah, Fasl fi al-Miyah: water, large water and su'r.
- Maraqi al-Falah, Kitab al-Taharah: water that purifies and water that does not.
- Bahishti Zewar, Part 1: water, wells and leftover water.