Short answer
Yes. Drying your face and limbs with a towel after wudu or ghusl is allowed in the Hanafi school, and many Hanafi books list it among the good manners of wudu. The Shafi'i school prefers leaving the water to dry, but agrees that using a towel is allowed.
Wiping the limbs with a towel or cloth after wudu or ghusl is permitted without dislike, and Hanafi texts mention it among the adab of wudu. It is better not to overdo it, and to use a clean towel.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- It is preferred not to dry the limbs, following the hadith of Maymunah, though drying is allowed.
Explanation
Maymunah described the Prophet's ﷺ ghusl: after he finished, she handed him a cloth, and he did not take it but shook the water off with his hands. Some scholars took from this that leaving the water is better. Others noted that declining a cloth once does not make using one disliked: he may have had a reason that day, and other reports mention Companions drying themselves. No report forbids it.
The Hanafi position is that drying is allowed, and several Hanafi books list wiping the limbs with a cloth among the adab (manners) of wudu (ablution), so that water does not drip onto clothes or the floor of the masjid. In cold weather, drying also protects your health, which the sharia values.
Some practical points:
- A towel does not affect validity. Your wudu or ghusl is complete once water has flowed over every fard part. Drying afterwards takes nothing away.
- Make sure the washing happened first. Dabbing a damp towel over a limb is not washing it. Water must flow over the skin.
- Use a clean towel. A towel with impurity on it can make your wet skin impure.
- Wet hair after wiping the head: no need to dry it.
- Hand dryers and paper towels in public toilets are fine too.
If you prefer to let the water dry on its own, that is good too, and there is a hadith that sins leave the body with the drops of wudu water. Either way, you are following an accepted view. See how to make wudu and what is makruh in wudu.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 266
Sahih... فناولته خرقة فقال بيده هكذا ولم يردها ...
"I handed him a cloth, but he gestured with his hand like this and did not take it."
Shows that drying was not required; the schools differ on whether leaving it is better.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Kitab al-Taharah, adab of wudu. Wiping the limbs with a cloth after wudu is listed among the manners.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Taharah, adab of wudu. There is no harm in drying with a towel after wudu.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, description of wudu. The Shafi'i preference for not drying, with drying allowed.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.