Is it obligatory when doing wudu to remove what has been attached to the teeth?

Question 629393

With regard to crystals and diamonds on the teeth that are put on at home using glue that looks like nail polish, what is the ruling on doing wudu with them on the teeth? Does that make wudu invalid or not?

Summary of answer

It is not required to remove the diamond or crystal that is attached to the teeth when doing wudu , and wudu is valid in this case.

Answer

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Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah:

It is not obligatory to remove these crystals or diamonds that are placed on the tooth using adhesive that prevents water from reaching this part of the tooth, because the majority of scholars do not think that it is obligatory to rinse the mouth when doing wudu and ghusl; rather it is Sunnah in their view.

Al-Mawsu`at al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, 38/103-104.

The Malikis and Shafa`is, and Ahmad according to one report, said that rinsing the mouth when doing wudu and ghusl is Sunnah. This was also the view of al-Hasan al-Basri, az-Zuhri, al-Hakam, Hammad, Qatadah, Yahya al-Ansari, al-Awza`i and al-Layth, because Allah, may He be Exalted, says: { O you who believe, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows … } [al-Ma’idah 5:6]. The face, according to the Arabs, is what you face people with; the inside of the mouth is not part of the face.

And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Ten things are part of the fitrah,” and he mentioned among them rinsing the mouth and rinsing the nose. The fitrah is Sunnah, and the fact that he mentioned these two actions as part of the fitrah indicates that they come under a different ruling than other actions of wudu.

And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to the Bedouin: “Do wudu as Allah has commanded you.” An-Nawawi said: This hadith is among the best evidence [that rinsing the mouth and nose is Sunnah], because this Bedouin prayed three times and did not do it properly, whereupon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) realized that he did not know how to pray, which is an action that can be seen. So he taught him the obligatory parts of the prayer and the obligatory parts of wudu. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do wudu as Allah has commanded you,” and he did not tell him about the Sunnah actions of the prayer and of wudu, lest that to be too much information for him, and he would not be able to learn it properly. If rinsing the mouth was obligatory, he would have taught him to do it. It was something that is not usually seen by others, especially in the case of this man who was not sure how to do the prayers that he could have seen people doing, so how about wudu which is not usually done in front of others? End quote.

According to them [the Shafa`is], the Sunnah of washing the mouth is achieved by washing part of it.

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

As for rinsing the mouth, our companion said that the proper way is to take water into the mouth, then move it around in the mouth, then spit it out. The minimum of that is to take water into the mouth, and it is not stipulated that one should move it around, according to the well-known view which is that of the majority.

End quote from Sharh an-Nawawi `ala Muslim, 3/105.

According to the view that rinsing the mouth is obligatory – which is the view that we regard as more correct on our website, as we have discussed the evidence for it in the answer to question no. 153791 – it is also not obligatory to remove these things from the mouth when rinsing it, because it is not obligatory to make the water reach every part of the mouth when rinsing it.

Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is not obligatory to move water around the entire mouth or to make the water reach all parts inside the nose.

End quote from Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah, 1/169.

Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

To do what is obligatory it is sufficient to do the minimum of moving water around in the mouth and to take up water into the nose until it reaches inside the nostrils.

End quote from Ash-Sharh al-Mumti`, 1/172.

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

I have full dentures. Is it sufficient to do one wudu without them, or do I have to take them out every time I do wudu?

He replied: There is no need to take them out; you can rinse your mouth when doing the first wudu, so long as the dentures are pure [free of any impure substances], and you can pray with that wudu. And if you want to do wudu again, you can rinse your mouth with the false teeth in your mouth, and there is no need to take them out.

End quote from Fatawa Nur `ala ad-Darb, 5/101.

Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a person who has partial dentures, which he is able to take out, because they are not implants. However, it is difficult for him to do that, so is there anything wrong with that when it comes to wudu, i.e., when rinsing the mouth?

He replied:

He does not have to take them out when rinsing his mouth, because they are small, and because it is sufficient to move water around in the mouth, and because usually the water reaches where they are, since water, as you know, is a liquid that can go between these dentures and the gum. But if he takes them out, especially when purifying himself from janabah, that is better.

End quote from Liqa’ al-Bab al-Maftuh, 158/20.

Based on the above, you do not have to remove the diamond or crystal that are attached to the tooth, whether we say that rinsing the mouth is obligatory or recommended.

For more information, please see the answers to questions no. 153791 and 241164.

And Allah knows best.

Ablution Before Prayer