Is wearing dental braces considered an isolating medium that prevents water from reaching the teeth and accordingly invalidates ablution, given that the orthodontist applies an adhesive to install the braces onto the teeth?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible for Muslims to wear braces, a device used in orthodontics to align teeth, and it does not affect the validity of ablution or Ghusl, even if the braces were an isolating medium that prevents water from reaching the teeth. This is because rinsing one's mouth and nose is a Sunnah (Prophetic tradition), not an obligation of ablution according to the majority of scholars. Therefore, if one does not rinse his mouth and nose in ablution, his ablution is still valid.

Scholars who rule that rinsing one's mouth and nose is an obligatory act of ablution and Ghusl, as is the case in the Hanbali school of Fiqh, did not stipulate that water should reach all parts of the mouth and nose, but it is merely recommended. Ibn Qudaamah said in his book Al-Mughni, “It is not mandatory that water would reach all parts of one’s mouth and nose while performing ablution; yet exaggerating in rinsing the mouth and sniffing up the water in ablution is recommended as long as one is not fasting.”

As for scholars who rule that rinsing the mouth and nose in Ghusl – but not in ablution – is obligatory, like Abu Haneefah they stated that water should reach all parts of one’s mouth and nose. The Hanafi scholar Ibn ‘Aabideen related, “Linguistically speaking, rinsing the mouth means washing the mouth with water thoroughly; the water should reach all parts of the mouth.”

However, Hanafi scholars excluded the cases when rinsing mouth and nose would bring about hardship or harm. Hence, you are not obliged to wash underneath the dental braces so as to evade any potential hardship and harm, whether during ablution or Ghusl; this means that you are only required to pass the water over the braces and the adhesive that covers them. Allaah The Exalted Says (what means): {He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty.} [Quran 22:78]

Allaah The Exalted also Says (what means): {Allaah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity.} [Quran 2:286]

One of the basic principles adopted by scholars is that “hardship brings forth facilitation and alleviation”.

Allaah Knows best.