Fatwa ID: 08331

Answered by: Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad

Question:

I have receding gums and my gums bleed. I have tried many remedies but none have been effective. When I do wudu and gargle water, my gums bleed most of the time. If I spit, I can see blood. Then I have to wait and repeat wudu in a few minutes. Sometimes the bleeding stops, but I can taste blood and am doubtful if wudu is valid or not. I am doing wudu for every Salah.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Rising the mouth (Madmadah) is an important Sunnah of Wudu and should not be left without a valid excuse. Seek treatment and use remedies to reduce this problem. Try your best to rinse your mouth three times, but if circumstances prevent you from doing so, you may rinse your mouth just once or twice. If it is impossible to rinse your mouth without bleeding, this would constitute a valid excuse and you may skip this step in Wudu.

(Among them are rinsing the mouth and sniffing water in the nose.) The Sunnah is to rinse the mouth three times first, then sniff water in the nose three times, taking fresh water for each rinsing each time. This is also stated in Muhit al-Sarakhsi. The definition of rinsing the mouth is for the water to fill the entire mouth, while the definition of sniffing water in the nose is for the water to reach the nasal passages. This is also stated in al-Khulasah.

If he abandons rinsing the mouth and sniffing water, he is sinful, according to the correct opinion, because they are among the Sunnahs of guidance, and abandoning them leads to sin, unlike the additional Sunnahs, as abandoning them does not lead to sin. This is stated in Al-Siraj Al-Wahhaaj.

References:

(وَمِنْهَا الْمَضْمَضَةُ وَالِاسْتِنْشَاقُ) وَالسُّنَّةُ أَنْ يَتَمَضْمَضَ ثَلَاثًا أَوَّلًا ثُمَّ يَسْتَنْشِقَ ثَلَاثًا وَيَأْخُذَ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مَاءً جَدِيدًا فِي كُلِّ مَرَّةٍ وَكَذَا فِي مُحِيطِ السَّرَخْسِيِّ.

وَحَدُّ الْمَضْمَضَةِ اسْتِيعَابُ الْمَاءِ جَمِيعَ الْفَمِ وَحَدُّ الِاسْتِنْشَاقِ أَنْ يَصِلَ الْمَاءُ إلَى الْمَارِنِ. كَذَا فِي الْخُلَاصَةِ.

إنْ تَرَكَ الْمَضْمَضَةَ وَالِاسْتِنْشَاقَ أَثِمَ عَلَى الصَّحِيحِ؛ لِأَنَّهُمَا مِنْ سُنَنِ الْهُدَى وَتَرْكُهَا يُوجِبُ الْإِسَاءَةَ بِخِلَافِ السُّنَنِ الزَّوَائِدِ فَإِنَّ تَرْكَهَا لَا يُوجِبُ الْإِسَاءَةَ هَكَذَا فِي السِّرَاجِ الْوَهَّاجِ.

(Al-Fatāwā Al-Hindiyyah, vol. 1, pg. 6-7, Al-Maṭba’ah Al-Kubrā Al-Amīriyyah)

Only Allah (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) knows best.

Written by Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham