What is the ruling on wudu' if a person discovers a bandage on his hand that prevents water from reaching it after performing wudu'?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, if a person performs wudu' and then finds a bandage on his leg or hand the size of a fingernail, such that he is certain the water did not reach it, whether before or after the prayer, what is the ruling?
The Shaykh : Yes, if he is certain that this bandage was there before the wudu', then his wudu' is not valid, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:6] And what is under this bandage was not washed, so the wudu' is not valid. However, if it is unclear to him whether this happened before or after the wudu', then his wudu' is valid and he is not required to repeat it, because the original state is that it was not there. Yes.
The questioner : Does he repeat the prayer?
The Shaykh : If he is certain that it was before the wudu', then he removes it, performs wudu', and repeats the prayer. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, if he is certain that this bandage was there before the wudu', then his wudu' is not valid, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles
يا أيّها الذين آمنوا إذا قمتم إلى الصّلاة فاغسلوا وجوهكم وأيديكم إلى المرافق وامسحوا برؤوسكم وأرجلكم إلى الكعبينThe questioner : Does he repeat the prayer?
The Shaykh : If he is certain that it was before the wudu', then he removes it, performs wudu', and repeats the prayer. Yes.