Short answer
In the Hanafi school, blood or pus that flows out of the ear breaks wudu, and so does fluid that comes out because of an infection or pain. Ear wax, cleaning with a cotton bud, and putting in ear drops do not break wudu. The Shafi'i and Maliki schools hold that none of these break wudu.
Impure fluid that flows from inside the ear to its outer part breaks wudu: blood, pus, and watery discharge caused by illness or pain. Ear wax is pure and does not break wudu. Drops going into the ear do not affect wudu.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Nothing from the ear breaks wudu, since only what leaves the front or back passage does.
- Maliki
- Nothing from the ear breaks wudu.
- Hanbali
- A large amount of blood or pus breaks wudu; a small amount does not.
Explanation
The Hanafi school counts impure fluid leaving the body from anywhere as a breaker of wudu (ablution), if it flows. The reasoning is the same as for bleeding. With the ear, the question is whether the fluid comes out of the canal to the part of the ear you would wash in ghusl.
Common cases:
- Ear wax: pure, and does not break wudu, whether it falls out or you clean it out.
- Cotton bud: no effect. If the bud shows a spot of blood or pus that would not have flowed out by itself, wudu is not broken.
- Blood from the ear: breaks wudu if it flows out of the canal.
- Discharge from an ear infection: pus or watery fluid that comes out with pain or illness breaks wudu.
- Ear drops: putting them in does not break wudu. Whether they affect a fast is a separate question.
- Ear piercing: breaks wudu only if blood runs from the hole.
- Itching, popping or an earache: no effect on wudu.
If an ear keeps discharging through a whole prayer time, so that you cannot keep wudu long enough to pray, the rules of an excused person (ma'dhur) apply: make wudu once in each prayer time and pray with it. See the ma'dhur rules.
Because the schools differ, someone who follows the Shafi'i or Maliki school does not renew wudu for any of these. A Hanafi does, for flowing blood and infected discharge.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 228
Sahih... إنما ذلك عرق وليس بحيض ...
"That is only a vein, it is not menstruation."
The Hanafi school reads this, with the order to make wudu for each prayer, as showing that flowing blood from the body breaks wudu.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, nawaqid al-wudu. Fluid from the ear, navel or eye that comes out because of illness breaks wudu.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on what breaks wudu. Pus and fluid from the ear.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on what breaks wudu. The Shafi'i view that only the two passages matter.
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.