Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
With regard to this new auto wudu machine, since it is claimed to be helpful in sparing wasted water during wudu and correspond to all parts of wudu, there will be nothing wrong with it, provided that a Muslim performs wudu in the right order and as reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him).
In his answer to your question, Sheikh Amr Elsamny, Imam of the Tempe Masjid, Arizona, the US and Member of AMJA and NAIF states:
This new auto wudu machine helps a Muslim make wudu without wasting water, as it is apparent that it is designed to limit the time of wudu and reduce the amount of water used in it.
Based on the description of this machine, I think that there is nothing wrong with using it in wudu, since it is helpful in performing the ritual of wudu’while saving water, which had been emphasized by the Prophet (peace be upon him).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “There will be people from my nation who will transgress in making supplications and in purifying themselves” (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and An-Nasa’i).
He himself (peace be upon him) used to make his wudu with a mudd (a quantity that fills the two hands together), as reported in the authentic hadith narrated in Sahih Muslim.
Al-Bukhari said, “Scholars do not approve using water beyond what the Prophet (peace be upon him) would use for wudu.”
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to perform ghusl (ritual bathing) with a sa` (around 4 mudds) of water, and he used to make wudu with one mudd of water” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
`Ubaydullah ibn Abu Yazid narrated that a man asked Ibn `Abbas, “How much water is sufficient for wudu?” He answered, “One mudd.” The man asked, “And how much is sufficient for ghusl?” Ibn `Abbas said, “One sa`.” The man said, “That is not sufficient for me.” Ibn `Abbas said, “No! It was sufficient for someone better than you, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) (Ahmad, Al-Bazzar, and At-Tabarani).
Finally, after watching the video or demo of the new machine and realizing how it helps in performing all pillars and sunnahs of wudu, including the rubbing of the organs and everything, I came to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong in using this machine to perform one’s wudu.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.