Question # 120: Does smoking break wudu’?

bismi-llahi r-raḥmani r-raḥīm,

Assalamu ‘laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

All praise and thanks are due to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

Dear questioner,

First of all, we implore Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.

Shorter Answer:  Smoking is a harmful act and is therefore, considered haraam according to scholars. However, it does not invalidate wudu. One should  brush his teeth  before praying, especially when praying in congregation as having bad breath out of smoking bothers angels and people as well.

Long Answer: [One does] not have to repeat… wudu’ after smoking, but… should remove the offensive odour from your mouth with something that will take it away. It is also obligatory to hasten to repent to Allah from that. (Fataawaa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah)

It is confirmed from Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) that he said: “Whoever ate garlic or onions, then let him stay away from our place of prayer and sit in his house. For verily, the angels are bothered by that which bothers the children of Adam” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

The ahadith concerning this are numerous. It is confirmed from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) that he ordered that whoever is found to have the smell of garlic or onion, then he should be put out of the Masjid. The reason for this is that the people who are offering prayer and those who are reciting (the Qur’an) and the angels are all bothered by the foul odor. Therefore, everything that has a foul odor, like cigarette smoke, is considered together (in its ruling) with garlic and onions and similar things, by preventing them (i.e., these people) from the Masjid until they use something that will remove the bad smell. Included in this is whoever has a bothersome odor coming from his armpits and other similar places. This is a generalization due to the reason specified by the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) in this statement. (Fatawa Islamiyah, Shaykh `Abdul-`Azeez Bin Baaz)

Allahu A’lam (Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) knows best) and all Perfections belong to Allah, and all mistakes belong to me alone. May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) forgive me, Ameen.

Wassalaam