Shaikh Saalih al-Fawzaan was asked:

Question:

A man makes wudu and prayed. Then it became clear to him afterwards that before he made wudu, he had wrapped a small piece of plastic [a bandage] around his finger which had a wound that afflicted him. So what is the ruling on his wudu and his prayer in this situation?

Answer:

“If it is upon a limb that needs to be washed in wudu and it [the bandage] prevents the water from reaching it, if he needs this barrier to remain over the wound then he wipes over it when he washes the limb. It suffices that he wipes it instead of washing what is underneath it. If he does not need it to remain, then it is obligatory upon him to remove it and wash what is underneath it. If he left it in this situation and prayed, then it is obligatory upon him to remove it and repeat the wudu and prayer because his wudu is not complete in this situation”.

[ad-Da’wah no. 1505-Rabi’ al-Awwal 1416 H.]

Translated by

Faisal Ibn Abdul Qaadir Ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan