Do I need to wash inside my ears in wudu?
No, you don't wash inside your ears in wudu; you wipe them. After wiping your head with wet hands, you wipe the inside of the ears with your index fingers and the back of the ears with your thumbs. Pouring water into the ear canal isn't required and isn't the sunnah.
How the Prophet ﷺ wiped his ears
The Quran tells us to wipe the head in wudu:
The ears are wiped together with the head. Ibn Abbas described the Prophet ﷺ wiping his head and his ears: the inside of the ears with his index fingers and the outside with his thumbs (Sunan an-Nasa'i 102). It's a light wipe with damp fingers, not a wash.
Step by step
- Wet your hands and wipe your head from front to back and back to front.
- Put your index fingers into the folds of your ears and run them around the inner curves.
- At the same time, run your thumbs along the back of your ears.
- Move on to washing your feet.
You don't need to push your fingers deep into the ear canal. The folds you can easily reach are enough. To see where this fits in the whole wudu, see How do I make wudu?
Is wiping the ears required?
Scholars differ a little:
- Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i: wiping the ears is a sunnah. Your wudu is valid if you forget it, though you miss a reward.
- Hanbali: the ears count as part of the head, so wiping them is part of the required wiping of the head.
- Some use the water left on the hands from the head; others, especially the Shafi'is, take fresh water for the ears.
Either way, wiping them every time is the safest and easiest habit. For the other recommended acts, see What are the sunnahs of wudu?
Hijab, earrings and hearing aids
Sisters in hijab can slip a finger under the scarf to reach the ears, or wipe over the scarf where scholars allow it. See Can I wipe over my hijab in wudu? Earrings don't need removing. Hearing aids can be taken out for a moment; if that's difficult, wiping what you can reach is enough, and follow your audiologist's advice about keeping them dry.
- Ears are wiped in wudu, not washed.
- Index fingers inside the folds, thumbs behind the ears.
- Most schools call it sunnah; the Hanbalis count it as part of the head.
- No need to put water into the ear canal.
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