Does touching a woman break wudu'?
Short answer
The preponderant view of the Shaykh is that mere touching of a woman does not break wudu' as long as nothing comes out; as for touching the private part without barrier, it has another ruling.
Evidence and explanation
The Shaykh interpreted 'touching' in the verse as intercourse, and mentioned that the emission of madhi requires wudu' and the emission of semen requires ghusl.
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
من مس أمرأة هل ينتقض وضوؤه؟ — فتوى ١٤٤٥١- Question
«هل لمس الرجل ليد الزوجة أو ليد المرأة الأجنبية عنه بغير قصد ناقض للوضوء؟»
English translation (unreviewed): Does a man's touching his wife's hand, or the hand of a foreign woman, unintentionally break wudu'?
- From the text of the answer
«لا ينقض الوضوء، مس المرأة لا ينقض الوضوء، زوجته أو محرمه أو غيرهما لا ينقض الوضوء، إلا إذا خرج منه مني، أو خرج منه مذي، إذا خرج مذي يتوضأ، يغسل ذكره ويتوضأ، ذكره وأنثييه ويتوضأ، أو خرج مني بشهوة يغتسل -عليه غسل الجنابة-، أما إذا مسها، أو قبّل (زوجها) أو مسها، ولم يحصل شيء ما ينتقض وضوؤه.»
English translation (unreviewed): It does not break wudu'. Touching a woman does not break wudu', whether his wife or his mahram or others, unless semen comes out or madhi comes out. If madhi comes out he performs wudu': he washes his organ and performs wudu', his organ and his testicles, and performs wudu'; or if semen comes out with desire he performs ghusl — ghusl of janabah is upon him. But if he touched her or kissed his wife or touched her and nothing came out, his wudu' is not broken.
- Evidence as the shaykh cited it
«أما قوله تعالى: أَوْ لامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ [النساء:٤٣] فالمراد به الجماع، جامعتم يعني، كنى به الرب عن الجماع، هذا الصواب، لمس المرأة لا ينقض الوضوء مطلقًا، هذا الصواب، سواءً عن شهوة، أو عن غير شهوة، هذا هو القول الحق.»
English translation (unreviewed): As for the saying of the Most High: “or you have touched women” [al-Nisa': 43], what is meant by it is sexual intercourse — 'you have had intercourse' — the Lord used it as a euphemism for intercourse. This is the correct view: touching a woman does not break wudu' at all, whether with desire or without desire; this is the true view.
«لكن لو لمسها، قبّل زوجته، أو لمسها، فخرج منه مذي، هذا يوجب الوضوء، يغسل ذكره وأنثييه ويتوضأ، أما إن أمنى -خرج مني، يعني: سبقته الشهوة- فهذا عليه غسل جنابة، والنبي ﷺ كان يقبل نساءه ويصلي ولا يتوضأ، كان يباشرهم ويقبلهم ويصلي ولا يتوضأ -عليه الصلاة والسلام-، نعم.»
English translation (unreviewed): But if he touched her, kissed his wife or touched her and madhi came out, this requires wudu': he washes his organ and testicles and performs wudu'; but if he ejaculated — semen came out, meaning desire preceded him — then he must perform ghusl of janabah. And the Prophet ﷺ used to kiss his wives and pray without performing wudu'; he used to touch them and kiss them and pray without performing wudu', peace be upon him. Yes.
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
Whoever touched a woman, is his wudu' broken?
Title of the original page (Arabic): من مس امرأة هل ينتقض وضوؤه؟
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz, may Allah have mercy on him