Question
I recently underwent surgery for a wisdom tooth extraction. My dentist advised me not to rinse my mouth for 24 hours after the surgery. Is my wudu valid without rinsing my mouth?
Answer
Wa Alaikum Assalam,
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.
Washing the mouth and the nose are sunna—they’re encouraged and emphasized to perform, but not strictly required. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
Not washing them doesn’t affect the validity of your wudu.
Thus, your wudu will be valid, and given that you’re leaving them with a legitimate excuse, you will have the full reward of a full sunna wudu. The Messenger of Allah (peace & blessings be upon him) said, “Actions are by intentions, and each person shall have all that they intended.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus and Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), and his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.