Short answer
It does not in the Hanafi school, nor in the Maliki and Shafi'i schools. Only the Hanbali school holds that eating camel meat breaks wudu, based on a sound hadith in Sahih Muslim. The majority read that hadith as early or as washing the hands and mouth.
Eating camel meat, or any food, does not break wudu. Rinsing the mouth and washing the hands after fatty meat is good manners.
Other madhhabs
- Hanbali
- Eating camel meat breaks wudu, cooked or raw, and whether or not you knew. The reason is the Prophet's command, which the school does not explain by a cause.
Explanation
A man asked the Prophet ﷺ whether he should make wudu after eating mutton. He said, if you wish. He asked about camel meat, and was told yes, make wudu after camel meat. Imam Ahmad took this as it stands, and the Hanbali school counts eating camel meat among the breakers of wudu.
The Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i schools do not. Their reasons:
- Early on, Muslims were told to make wudu after eating anything cooked on fire. Jabir reported that the last of the two practices of the Prophet ﷺ was leaving that wudu. They see the camel meat hadith as part of the earlier rule.
- The word wudu in Arabic can also mean simply washing the hands and mouth, which suits fatty, strong-smelling meat.
- The Rightly Guided Caliphs are not reported to have made wudu after eating camel meat.
Imam al-Nawawi, a Shafi'i, admitted that the Hanbali view is strong in evidence, which is why this is a respected difference, not a mistake. Some scholars suggest that people who want to be careful, or who lead Hanbali worshippers, renew wudu after eating camel. For a Hanafi, eating camel meat at a wedding or on hajj does not affect your wudu.
Camel meat itself is halal for all Muslims.
The evidence
Sahih Muslim 360
Sahih... نعم فتوضا من لحوم الابل ...
"Yes, make wudu after camel meat."
The hadith the Hanbali school relies on.
Sunan Abi Dawud 192
Graded sahih... ترك الوضوء مما غيرت النار ...
"The last of the two practices of the Messenger of Allah was leaving wudu after food cooked on fire."
The majority use this to show that wudu after cooked food, including meat, was later dropped.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Bada'i al-Sana'i, Kitab al-Taharah, nawaqid al-wudu. Eating does not break wudu.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on what breaks wudu. Discusses the camel meat hadith and the strength of the Hanbali view.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on what breaks wudu. The Hanbali view that camel meat 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.