The following are the conditions for the validity of wuÃÙ:
Condition No. 1: The water used to perform wuÃÙ should be ÔÁhir.
Condition No. 2: The water should also be muÔlaq.
271. The wuÃÙ performed with najis or muÃÁf water is invalid, even though a person may not be aware of it being najis or muÃÁf, or may have forgotten about it. Additionally, if he had offered prayers with the same wuÃÙ, he should repeat his prayers after performing a valid wuÃÙ.
272. If a person does not have any water available for performing wuÃÙ except for muÃÁf turbid water, he should perform tayammum if the time for offering prayers is very short. If sufficient time is available to him, he should wait for the water to become clear, or make it clear himself and then perform wuÃÙ with it.
Condition No. 3: The water used to perform wuÃÙ should be mubÁÎ, and based on obligatory precaution, the space wherein he performs his wuÃÙ should also be mubÁÎ.
273. The wuÃÙ performed with water which is usurped, or water for which one does not have proof that the owner is pleased with its usage, is forbidden and invalid. If the water for wuÃÙ is poured in a usurped area, and one is not able to perform wuÃÙ in a place other than that place, he should perform tayammum instead. If, however, he is able to perform wuÃÙ in another place, he should perform wuÃÙ in that (other) place. If he commits an act of disobedience in this case, and performs wuÃÙ in the usurped area, the validity of his wuÃÙ will be problematic.
274. It is not permissible to perform wuÃÙ in the restroom of a school, if one does not know whether it has been dedicated for public use, or for the students of the school only. There is no harm in performing wuÃÙ if one attains satisfaction in its publicity, even if it is attained by observing members of the general public performing wuÃÙ in the pool.
275. If a person does not intend to offer his prayers in a mosque, he cannot perform wuÃÙ in the restroom of the mosque if he does not know whether it has been dedicated for public use, or only for those who intend to pray in that mosque. However, if people who do not intend to pray in that mosque normally perform their wuÃÙ there, and through their actions one attains satisfaction that it has been dedicated for public use, he may perform his wuÃÙ in that restroom.
276. Performing wuÃÙ in the restrooms of an inn, a hotel or similar lodging for those who do not intend to stay there, is only valid if one acquires satisfaction with respect to the owner’s permission, even if it is acquired by observing wuÃÙ being performed by those who are not lodging in those premises.
277. There is no harm in performing wuÃÙ in a large river, even if one does not know if the owner is pleased with it or not. However, if the owner prohibits performing wuÃÙ in the river, or if one knows that the owner is not pleased with its use, then performing wuÃÙ in it is not permissible. The same applies, based on obligatory precaution, if the owner is a minor or is insane, or if the river is under the jurisdiction of a usurper, or if one speculates that the owner may not be pleased with its usage. However, there is no harm in performing wuÃÙ, drinking water or benefiting from rivers and canals which pass through populated areas, such as villages, even if the owner may be a minor or an insane person.
278. If a person forgets that the water is usurped, and performs wuÃÙ with it, it will be valid. However, if a person usurps the water himself, then forgets that the water was usurped, and performs wuÃÙ with it, it will not be valid if he has not repented for usurping the water. In the event that he has repented for his actions, the invalidity of his wuÃÙ will be problematic.
Condition No. 4: The water container used to perform wuÃÙ should be mubÁÎ.
Condition No. 5: Based on obligatory precaution, the container should also not be made from gold or silver. These two conditions are elaborated in the subsequent articles.
279. If the water for wuÃÙ is in a usurped container, and one does not have access to water other than it, he should transfer it to another container if he is able to do so in a legal manner, and then perform wuÃÙ with it. If this is not possible, he should perform tayammum, and if he is able to procure other water, he should perform wuÃÙ with it. In both cases, if he commits an act of disobedience and draws water from the vessel, and performs wuÃÙ with it, his wuÃÙ will be valid.
Given the same circumstances, if he performs wuÃÙ by drawing water from a container made from gold or silver, his wuÃÙ will be valid, irrespective of whether other water is available to him or not. If he performs wuÃÙ by immersion in a usurped container, his wuÃÙ will be prohibited and invalid, irrespective of whether other water is available to him or not. If, however, he performs wuÃÙ by immersion in a container made from gold or silver, its permissibility and validity is problematic.
280. If a brick or a stone, for example, in the construction of a pool is usurped, there is no harm in performing wuÃÙ in it, as long as drawing water from it does not count as making use of that brick or stone in the common understanding. However, if it does amount to making use of it, and one does not have any other water available to him, he should perform tayammum. Of course, if he is able to procure water other than the water in the pool, he should perform wuÃÙ with it. In both cases, if he commits an act of disobedience and draws water from the pool, and then performs wuÃÙ with it, it will be valid. However, if he performs wuÃÙ by immersion, assuming that it amounts to making use of the brick or the stone in the common understanding, his wuÃÙ will be invalid.
281. If a pool or a canal is constructed in the courtyard of (the shrine of) one of the Imams (Peace be upon the all) or their descendants, in an area that used to be a burial ground, there is no harm in performing wuÃÙ in that pool or canal as long as one does not know that the grounds of the courtyard have been dedicated for burial purposes.
Condition No. 6: The parts of wuÃÙ should be ÔÁhir when they are being washed or wiped, even if the ÔahÁrah is acquired while washing it with wuÃÙ water, provided that the water is mu‘taÒim. Mu‘taÒim water is water which does not become najis upon contacting a najis thing, like rain water, kurr and flowing water.
282. If prior to completing wuÃÙ, a part which has already been washed or wiped becomes najis, the wuÃÙ will still be in order.
283. If a part of the body other than the parts of wuÃÙ is najis (while performing wuÃÙ), the wuÃÙ will be valid. However, if one has not made the orifice ÔÁhir from urine or stool, the recommended precaution is that he should first make them ÔÁhir and then perform wuÃÙ.
284. If one of the parts of wuÃÙ is najis, and after wuÃÙ one doubts if he washed the part prior to performing wuÃÙ or not, his wuÃÙ will be invalid if he was oblivious to its being ÔÁhir or najis while performing wuÃÙ. If he knows or considers it probable that he was not oblivious to it, his wuÃÙ is valid. In either case, he must wash the part that was najis.
285. If there is a wound or a cut on the hands or the face which does not stop bleeding, and water is not harmful for it, after washing the uninjured and sound areas of the limb in proper sequence—in the manner that was elaborated in article 249—one should place the wounded or injured area in kurr or flowing water, and apply pressure to an extent that it stops bleeding. While the area is still in water, he should wipe with his hand over the wound or injury, starting from above and going downwards, such that the water flows over it. This should be performed with the intention of performing wuÃÙ. He can then continue with the rest of the acts of wuÃÙ, bearing in mind that the wiping of the head and feet must be done with the water leftover on his palms.
Condition No. 7: There should be sufficient time to perform wuÃÙ and offer prayers.
286. Whenever the remaining time is so short, that if a person performs wuÃÙ, a part of his prayer or the entire prayer will have to be offered after its designated time, he should perform tayammum instead. However, if the time required to perform wuÃÙ is the same as the time required to perform tayammum, he should perform wuÃÙ.
287. If a person whose duty is to perform tayammum due to the shortness of time, performs wuÃÙ instead, with the intention that it is a recommended act itself, or it has been legislated for another recommended act, such as reciting the Qur’an, the wuÃÙ will be valid. However, if he performs it with the intention of offering that prayer, in a manner that had wuÃÙ not been a pre-requisite for prayers, he would not have the intention of performing it, his wuÃÙ will be invalid.
Condition No. 8: He should perform wuÃÙ with the intention of qurbah (drawing closer to Allah) and with sincerity. The term “intention of qurbah” denotes that the act should be performed with an intention that relates it to Allah, the Exalted, like performing it to fulfill the Lord’s command and because it is an act beloved unto Him.
288. It is not necessary to verbalize the intention for performing wuÃÙ, or to make it pass through one’s mind. Rather, if one performs all the acts of wuÃÙ with a divine motive, it will be adequate.
Condition No. 9: WuÃÙ should be performed in the sequence that was previously elaborated. A person should first wash his face, followed by his right hand, and then the left hand. Thereafter, he should wipe his head and then the feet. If wuÃÙ is not performed in this sequence, it will be invalid. Based on obligatory precaution, the left foot should be wiped after the right foot.
Condition No. 10: The acts of wuÃÙ should be performed successively.
289. If a period of time elapses between the acts of wuÃÙ, such that when one wants to wash or wipe a part, the preceding parts have already dried, his wuÃÙ will be invalid. However, if only the part preceding the part that he wants to wash or wipe becomes dry—for example, when one wants to wash the left hand, his right hand has become dry, but his face is still wet—his wuÃÙ will be in order.
290. If the acts of wuÃÙ are performed successively, but the parts preceding each part become dry due to excessively hot weather, raised body temperature or similar conditions, the wuÃÙ will be valid.
