Short answer
No. Wudu, or ghusl when it is due, is a condition of salah, so a prayer without it is not valid and must be prayed again. If you have no water or cannot use it, you make tayammum instead. The four schools agree on this.
Purity from minor and major hadath is a condition (shart) for every salah, including janazah and the prostration of recitation. A prayer prayed without wudu, even by mistake, must be repeated. Praying without wudu on purpose is a grave sin, and Hanafi jurists warned that doing it out of contempt for the prayer can amount to disbelief.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Allah commands wudu (ablution) before prayer in Quran 5:6, and the Prophet ﷺ said that the prayer of someone who has broken his wudu is not accepted until he makes wudu again. So purity is a condition of salah, like facing the qiblah. The four schools agree on this.
Common situations:
- You realise after the prayer that you had no wudu: make wudu and pray it again, even if its time has passed.
- You were in janabah (needing ghusl): wudu is not enough. Do ghusl, then repeat any prayer you prayed in that state.
- Your wudu breaks during the prayer: leave, make wudu and pray again. See wudu breaking during salah.
- You are unsure whether you have wudu: if you are sure you made it and only doubt whether it broke, you still have it.
If water is too far away, or using it would harm you, make tayammum and pray. Hanafi scholars say that someone who has neither water nor clean earth, such as a patient who cannot be moved, goes through the movements of prayer out of respect for its time and repeats it once purity is possible.
Do not let a prayer pass because you feel too tired for wudu: missing salah is far worse than the effort. And never pray without wudu to avoid embarrassment in a group. Slip away and make wudu, or pray when you can, because scholars count deliberate prayer without purity among the gravest sins.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:6
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًۭا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌۭ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءًۭ فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًۭا طَيِّبًۭا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍۢ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٦﴾
O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.
Makes wudu the way to prepare for prayer.
Sahih al-Bukhari 135
Sahih... لا تقبل صلاة من أحدث حتى يتوضأ ...
"The prayer of someone who has broken his wudu is not accepted until he makes wudu."
Wudu is a condition for the prayer to count.
Sahih Muslim 224
Sahih... لا تقبل صلاة بغير طهور ...
"No prayer is accepted without purification."
Purity is a condition of every prayer.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Kitab al-Salah, chapter on the conditions of prayer. Purity from hadath and najasah is a condition of prayer.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on tayammum. The ruling for one who finds neither water nor earth, and the warning about praying without purity on purpose.
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.