Short answer
Your wudu or ghusl is not complete until that spot is washed. In the Hanafi school you only need to wash the dry spot, not repeat everything, because order and continuity are sunnah. If you already prayed, wash the spot and repeat the prayer. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools may require redoing more.
Every part of a fard limb must be reached by flowing water. If a spot is missed, washing that spot completes the wudu or ghusl, even after a gap. A prayer prayed with the spot dry is invalid and must be repeated.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Since order is fard, wash the missed spot and then redo the limbs that come after it in wudu.
- Maliki
- Continuity is fard when you remember and are able: a spot left on purpose and noticed after a long gap means redoing the whole wudu, while a spot missed by forgetting is washed whenever you remember.
- Hanbali
- Order and continuity are fard, so after a long gap the whole wudu is repeated.
Explanation
A man made wudu and left a spot the size of a fingernail dry on his foot. The Prophet ﷺ saw it and told him to go back and make his wudu well. He also warned of the Fire for heels left dry. A dry spot in a fard limb leaves wudu (ablution) incomplete, and the same applies to the whole body in ghusl.
What to do in the Hanafi school:
- You notice before praying: wash the dry spot. You do not need to repeat the whole wudu or the limbs after it.
- You notice after praying: wash the spot, then repeat the prayer, since it was prayed without full wudu.
- Ghusl: if you forgot to rinse your mouth or nose, or left part of the body dry, do that part. Prayers prayed before it are repeated.
- Not sure, and it is only a doubt: ignore it after finishing wudu. See doubts about wudu.
The places most often missed:
- the heels and the backs of the ankles
- between the toes, and under a tight ring or watch strap
- the elbows, especially when pushing sleeves up
- the strip of the face by the ears and under the chin
- in ghusl, the navel, behind the ears and the roots of the hair
Move a tight ring so water gets under it, and run your little finger between your toes. A coating that blocks water, such as paint or nail polish, also leaves the skin unwashed. Following the sunnah order every time keeps your wudu valid in all four schools. See the fard of wudu.
The evidence
Sahih Muslim 243
Sahih... ارجع فاحسن وضوءك ...
"Go back and make your wudu well."
Said to a man who left a dry spot on his foot: wudu is not complete until it is washed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 60
Sahih... ويل للاعقاب من النار ...
"Woe to the heels from the Fire."
Warns against leaving any part of the foot unwashed.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, sunnahs of wudu. Order and continuity are sunnah, so a missed part can be washed on its own.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, fard of wudu. Moving a tight ring so water reaches under it.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Taharah, continuity in wudu. The Hanbali view on a long gap.
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.