Short answer
Yes. Passing wind from the back passage breaks wudu, with or without sound or smell. Rumbling or bubbling in the stomach that does not come out does not break it, and in the Hanafi school wind from the front passage does not break it either. The four schools agree on the main ruling.
Any wind that leaves the back passage breaks wudu, however quiet. Wind from the front passage of a man or a woman (vaginal wind) does not break wudu. Doubt alone does not break it.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The four schools agree that passing wind breaks wudu (ablution). When Abu Hurayrah was asked what "hadath" (ritual impurity) meant in the hadith about prayer and wudu, he named two kinds of wind: silent and audible.
The questions people ask most:
- A silent fart with no smell: breaks wudu if you know it came out.
- A "bubble" or gurgling feeling: movement inside the stomach or intestines does not break wudu unless wind actually leaves the body.
- Unsure whether anything came out: your wudu stands. The Prophet ﷺ told a man with this doubt not to leave his prayer until he heard a sound or noticed a smell, meaning until he was certain.
- Vaginal wind (queef): does not break wudu in the Hanafi school, because it does not come from the place of impurity. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools count it as a breaker.
- Constant wind from a medical condition: special rules apply; see praying with a continuous condition.
If wind breaks your wudu during salah, the prayer is broken too. Leave quietly, make wudu, and pray again. If you get stuck on doubts again and again, read waswasa about wudu.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 135
Sahih... لا تقبل صلاة من احدث حتى يتوضا ...
"The prayer of someone who has broken his wudu is not accepted until he makes wudu."
The narrator, Abu Hurayrah, explained the breaking of wudu here as passing wind.
Sahih al-Bukhari 137
Sahih... لا ينصرف حتى يسمع صوتا او يجد ريحا ...
"He should not leave until he hears a sound or notices a smell."
Wudu is only broken by wind you are certain of, not by a vague feeling.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on what breaks wudu. What leaves the two passages breaks wudu; wind from the front passage does not.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, nawaqid al-wudu. Wind from the front passage of a man or woman.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on what breaks wudu. The Shafi'i view that anything from either passage breaks wudu.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. 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.