What is the evidence for muwalat in Maliki madhhab?

- When Hanafis and Shafi’is say, “muwalat is not wajib”, they focus on the words “cleanse yourself thoroughly” in the verse; therefore, they say that muwalat is not wajib because it is possible to cleanse the parts that are washed with a break.
- What evidence do Maliki imams use to say that muwalat is fard/wajib?
- Is there a verse or hadith?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Muwalat means washing the organs of wudu without interruption (break). In other words, it means washing the organs of wudu without interrupting it with other work, or starting to wash one organ before another organ dries.

If the washed organ dries out immediately because of excessive heat, wudu is not invalidated.

Hanafis and Shafi’is regard muwalat as sunnah, while Malikis and Hanbalis regard it as fard.

In fact, different ijtihads regarding the same hadith led to different decrees.

The hadith in question is as follows:

“When the Prophet (pbuh) saw a man who was making wudu and there was a small dry spot on his heel that was not touched by a water. He said to the man, ‘Go back and make wudu well.’ The man made wudu again and then prayed.” (Muslim, Taharah, 10; Abu Dawud, Taharah, 66)

Some fiqh scholars interpreted the hadith, “Go back and make wudu well,” to mean, “Go back and make wudu all over again.” Qadi Iyad, Awzai, Lays, Qatada, and Maliki scholar Abdulaziz b. Abi Salama hold this view.

Likewise, Hanbali scholars, like Malikis, say, “Washing the organs of wudu without interruption is a condition for the validity of wudu.”

However, Malikis exclude forgetful interruptions from this decree and say, “If you forgetfully interrupt the washing of the organs of wudu or if you wash a dry place afterwards, wudu is not invalidated.”

Citing this hadith as evidence, Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Shafi’i say it is not a condition for the validity of wudu to finish wudu by washing the organs of wudu one after the other without a break, i.e. by washing one organ of wudu before it dries up or without doing anything else in between; therefore, the wudu will not be invalidated due to a break or interruption in washing.

According to those imams, if it was necessary to continue washing the organs of wudu without interruption, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) would have said to the man, “Go back and make wudu all over again.”

However, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did not say so; he said, “Go back and make wudu well.” The meaning of “make wudu well” is to make wudu well completely, to complete what is missing. It does not mean, “Make wudu all over again.”

What is meant by the hadith in question is that if any dry spot remains on the wudu organs, the prayer cannot be performed with that wudu, but if that dry spot is washed, even after a while, the ablution will be complete.

(see Sünen-i Ebu Davud Terceme ve Şerhi, Şamil Yayınevi: 1/ 316-317)

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