Does Accidentaly Consuming Alcohol Invalidate Ritual Ablution (wudu’)?

Answered according to Hanafi Fiqh by

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: Assalam ‘aleykum,

What happens if you accidentally consume alcohol? Do you have to renew your wudu?

Answer: walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,


Consuming the haram–such as alcoholic beverages–does not invalidate one’s ritual ablution (wudu’). If done deliberately or in negligence, remorse and repentance is needed. One must rinse out one’s mouth, though, as wine is filthy (najis).

[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; Ala’ al-Din Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya]

Please see also: Reader on Repentance (tawba) and: Could You Please List All the Nullifiers of Ablution According to the Hanafi school?

And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.

Walaikum assalam,

Faraz Rabbani