Q. Assalamu ‘Alaikum, I’ve have always performed the various steps of wudu , wash the hands 3 times etc…and was taught that this is the Sunnat way of performing wudu. However I have read and heard from Capetonions that due to the water crisis that making wudu by performing each step once is also a sunnat as our Most Holy Prophet abhorred wastage even if performing wudu at the banks of a river. Please advise if both views are correct and that if I now change to performing each step once would still be a valid wudu? Jazākallāh Wa alaykumu as-salam
A. The general habit of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam was to wash each limb three times in wudhu. However, at times Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam did wash his limbs once only. This indicates the permissibility of washing the limbs once only in wudhu. (Inaayah 1/31)
In light of the water shortage, a person may wash the limbs once only in wudhu.
May Allah Ta’ala send down beneficial rain and remove the problem faced by the people in Cape Town. Aameen.
Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ismaeel Bassa