How to perform ablution for prayer? Is it obligatory to make an intention while performing ablution?
Ablution is a special cleansing consisting of washing the hands and arms up to the elbows, the face, the feet up to the ankles, and wiping the head in order to be able to perform certain acts of worship. The following is stated in the Quran regarding ablution: "O you who have believed! When you stand up for prayer, wash your faces and your arms up to the elbows, wipe your head, and wash your feet up to the ankles... But if you cannot find water, perform tayammum with clean earth." (al-Maida, 5/6) The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: The Prophet (pbuh) showed Muslims how to perform ablution in practice (Ibn Majah, Taharah, 47 [419]; Marghinani, al-Hidayah, 1/16) and also stated that no prayer performed without ablution will be accepted by Allah (swt) (Bukhari, Wudu', 2 [135]; Muslim, Taharah, 2 [225]; Ibn Majah, Taharah, 47 [419]).
The ablution is performed by observing its fards, sunnahs and etiquettes as follows: The intention is made and the basmalah is recited. First, the hands are washed up to the wrists and between the fingers by rubbing/rubbing them three times. If there are any substances that prevent water from contacting the ablution parts, they are cleaned as much as possible. The ring on the finger is moved. The mouth is cleaned by rinsing the mouth three times with the right hand. Similarly, the nose is cleaned by rinsing the nose three times. Then the face is washed three times. Then the right arm, including the elbow, is washed three times and the left arm is washed three times in the same way. The right hand is wetted and a quarter or all of the head is wiped once with the palm and the inside of the fingers. The hands are wetted again and the outside of the ear is wiped with the thumb, the inside with the index finger or the little finger, and then the neck is wiped with the back of both hands. First the right and then the left foot are washed, starting from the fingertips, including the heel and ankle bones. Care is taken to ensure that the water reaches between the fingers.
If a person is sure that he has performed ablution but doubts whether he has broken it, he is considered to have performed ablution. On the other hand, if a person knows that he has broken his ablution but later doubts whether he has performed ablution or not, he is considered to have not performed ablution. Because something that is known for sure cannot be eliminated by doubt.
Intention while performing ablution is sunnah according to the Hanafi school of thought and fard according to the other three schools of thought. Hanafis take the absence of intention among the actions commanded in the verse known as the ablution verse (al-Maida, 5/6) as evidence. On the other hand, the fact that intention is not obligatory in ‘purification from impurity’ and ‘setr-i awrah’, which are conditions of prayer like ablution, and the fact that ablution is a means for some acts of worship but is not considered an independent worship on its own, shows that according to the Hanafis, intention is not obligatory in ablution (Kâsânî, Bedâî', 1/19-20; Merğinânî, al-Hidâye, 1/16; Aliyyü'l-kârî, Fathu Bâbi'l-'İnaye, 1/55-56). Other sects, on the other hand, state that the Almighty Allah commanded them to worship only Allah, and to establish prayer and to pay zakat, while they were truly devoted to Him.” (al-Bayyine, 98/5) Based on the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh), “All deeds depend on intentions…” (Bukhari, Bad'u'l-wahy, 1 [1]; Muslim, Imara, 155 [1907]), they said that it is obligatory to make an intention in ablution, as in every act of worship (Shirbini, Mughnil-muhtac, 1/167; Ibn Rushd, Bidayatul-mujtahid, 1/15; Ibn Qudamah, Mughnil, 1/82).
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