The 365 · Sunnah · Day 298 · Cleanliness
Rinsing Mouth and Nose in Wudu
The hadith
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: «إِذَا تَوَضَّأَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَجْعَلْ فِي أَنْفِهِ مَاءً ثُمَّ لِيَنْثُرْ». وَقَالَ لِلَقِيطِ بْنِ صَبِرَةَ: «أَسْبِغِ الْوُضُوءَ، وَخَلِّلْ بَيْنَ الْأَصَابِعِ، وَبَالِغْ فِي الِاسْتِنْشَاقِ إِلَّا أَنْ تَكُونَ صَائِمًا».
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'When one of you performs wudu, let him put water into his nose, then expel it.' And he said to Laqīṭ ibn Ṣabirah: 'Be thorough in wudu, comb water between your fingers, and sniff deeply unless you are fasting.'
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sade: 'När någon av er utför wudu, låt honom föra in vatten i näsan och sedan blåsa ut det.' Och han sade till Laqīṭ ibn Ṣabirah: 'Var grundlig med wudu, kämma vattnet mellan dina fingrar, och dra in djupt om du inte fastar.'
Bukhari 162; Muslim 237; Abu Dawud 142; Tirmidhi 788
The story
ʿAbdullāh ibn Zayd, when asked to describe the Prophet's ﷺ wudu, made it visible step by step, including how he rinsed mouth and nose from a single handful of water three times (Bukhari 185; Muslim 235). When Laqīṭ ibn Ṣabirah asked for the heart of wudu, the Prophet ﷺ summarized it in one sentence: 'Be thorough in wudu, comb water between fingers, and sniff deeply unless fasting' (Abu Dawud 142). Two cavities. Three rinses. A lifetime of cleansing.
Why it's here
Wudu reaches into the cavities of the body. The mouth that will recite, and the nose that will breathe, are both rinsed before the day begins. The deepest cleansing reaches what the eye cannot see.
Try it today
In every wudu, scoop water with the right hand, rinse the mouth (maḍmaḍah) three times, and sniff water into the nose (istinshāq) three times, blowing it out with the left hand (istinthār). Be deep about it unless you are fasting. The Prophet ﷺ would join maḍmaḍah and istinshāq from a single handful, as described by ʿAbdullāh ibn Zayd.
In your day
Two doorways of breath, sound, and taste are washed before the believer stands before Allah. Wudu's light on the Day of Judgement will reach as far as the water reached on this day. The Prophet ﷺ taught that the light of wudu (al-ghurrah wa al-taḥjīl) will glow on the faces of his Ummah on the Day of Resurrection (Bukhari 136; Muslim 246). Inner cleanliness becomes outer light.
A reflection to carry
There is a quiet wisdom in starting wudu from inside the face: the tongue is rinsed before it speaks, the nose is cleared before it smells. The body is asked to be hospitable before the soul is asked to be present.
Read the longer reflection
A person can stand for prayer while carrying the residue of last night's food in his mouth, and the dust of his commute in his nose, and never know it. The Prophet ﷺ would not allow that absent-mindedness in the muʾmin. He taught a wudu that goes inside, that rinses the tongue which will soon say 'Allāhu Akbar,' and the nose that will soon rest near the carpet in sujūd. Faith asks the senses to come clean. The body is not background to worship; it is the partner being prepared.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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