Evidence of passing gas that breaks the Wudu

27-7-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

I found a Hadith by Imam Ahmed that says only the sound or the smell of the wind breaks the Wudu and obliges us to repeat the Wudu. Is this Hadith true? I sometimes doubt when I do the Wudu and after it. I don't repeat Wudu if I don't find the smell or the sound of the wind.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

One who is sure that he is with Wudu and has doubts about Hadath (breaking wind, passing urine or answering the call of nature), has to take certainty into account, since he is originally supposed to have Wudu and Hadath is accidental. This is proved in the Hadith of Abu Hurairah and 'Abdullah Ibn Zaid that states: what one should do if he finds something in his belly and has doubts if something has passed or not.
The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "One should not leave his prayer until he hears a sound or finds a smell" [Reported by Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim ]. Narration of Abu Hurairah reads: "One should not leave the Mosque till he hears a sound (of breaking wind) or finds a smell (of fart)" .
al-Imam al-Nawawi said: 'This Hadith establishes a rule to decide authenticity of matters depending on their bases as well as to state that accidental doubts make no problem' .
In the same way, if one doubts about making Hadath while performing Wudu, he should not take such doubts into consideration, specially if one usually undergoes doubts. This is the best way to stop doubts.
Thus, it becomes clear that if one doubts about breaking wind or not after performing Wudu, he should not repeat Wudu unless he is sure he has broken his Wudu by a sound, smell or feeling of passing wind or something like that.
Allah knows best.