What should I do if I am unsure whether my wudu was broken?
Short answer
If you are certain that you had wudu and then become unsure whether it was invalidated, the original state of purity remains. Do not act on mere doubt until you are certain that something invalidating wudu occurred.
Evidence and explanation
The source cites the Prophetic guidance not to leave the prayer merely because of uncertainty, establishing the principle that certainty is not removed by doubt.
Scholar referenced
This editorial summary is based on the original source linked below and is not presented as a verbatim quotation from the scholar.
From the text of the answer (Arabic, with an English translation)
Original answer — Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz
حكم صلاة من شك في خروج الريح — فتوى ٢٠٧٤٨- Question
«عند دخولي في الصلاة يخيل إلي أنه يخرج مني ريح ولا أشعر بصوت ولا برائحة، ولكني عندما أحس بهذا فإني أتحكم وأضغط على نفسي حتى تنتهي الصلاة فماذا علي؟»
English translation (unreviewed): When I enter the prayer I imagine that wind is leaving me, though I feel no sound and no smell, but when I feel this I control myself and press myself until the prayer ends. What is required of me?
- From the text of the answer
«سئل النبي ﷺ عن الرجل يجد الشيء في الصلاة، فقال النبي ﷺ: لا ينصرف حتى يسمع صوتًا أو يجد ريحًا ، وفي لفظ آخر: إذا وجد أحدكم في بطنه شيئًا فأشكل عليه أخرج منه شيء أم لا؟ فلا يخرجن من المسجد حتى يسمع صوتًا أو يجد ريحًا [١] فالذي يخيل إليه أنه خرج منه شيء لا يبطل وضوؤه وصلاته بل هو على حاله من صحة الوضوء، وصلاته صحيحة.»
English translation (unreviewed): The Prophet ﷺ was asked about the man who feels something in the prayer, and the Prophet ﷺ said: “He should not leave until he hears a sound or smells an odour”; and in another wording: “If one of you feels something in his belly and is unsure whether anything came out of him or not, let him not leave the mosque until he hears a sound or smells an odour” [1]. So the one who merely imagines that something came out of him does not break his wudu' or his prayer; rather he remains in his state of valid wudu', and his prayer is valid.
The Arabic excerpts matched the original page word for word by an automated check and have not had human scholarly review. The English translations are unreviewed translations made for this site; they are not an approved Shari‘ah translation. Rely on the Arabic original.
Source
Ruling on the prayer of someone who doubts whether wind passed
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz, may Allah have mercy on him