All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
Touching wife is amongst the famous matters on which scholars of the four juristic schools have differed since apparently there is some conflicting evidence stated in this regard. Each school held on to the view it arrived at from the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Prophet (PBUH) and all of them have done their Ijtihad (Logical reasoning) and we pray that Allah rewards them for that.
Shafiee's scholars said that if a man touches his wife or a non-Mahram woman, his Wudoo` is invalidated, even if this took place without a desire toward the woman. They have based their opinion on the following verse; whereas, Allah The Almighty Says (What means): "If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands" [Al-Ma`idah/6].
Al-Imam Al-Shaafie interpreted the phrase "Lamstum An-Nisaa`" as touching the skin of women, even without an intercourse, for many reasons. Some of these are:
First: Allah, The Almighty, Has Mentioned the word (Janabah: Being in a state of impurity) at the beginning of the verse, then mentioned Lams An-Nisaa` (contacting women) after (J`aahadukum min Al-Gha`it: coming from the offices of nature). This indicated that touching women is similar to the minor impurity as regards making ablution (Al-Gha`it) and that differs from Janabah. Therefore, the intended meaning is touching women with the hand and not having intercourse with them.
Second: In the Arabic language, the apparent meaning is that (Laamasa) is from (Lamas) meaning-touched, as mentioned in another style of Quranic recitation. Both verbs mean skin touching skin. Allah, The Almighty, Said (What means): "they could touch it with their hands" [Al-An`am/7].
Third: The following Hadith: "Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim Ibn Abdullah that his father Abdullah Ibn Umar (May Allah Be Pleased with them) used to say: "A man's kissing his wife and fondling her with his hands are part of intercourse. Someone who kisses his wife or fondles her with his hand must do Wudoo'." [Muwatta` Malik].
However, Hanafiee's scholars have disagreed with this view by saying that touching someone's wife, Mahram or non-Mahram-never invalidates Wudoo`, whether he touched her with or without desire.
Al-Sarkhasi, a Hanafi scholar, said: "It isn`t imperative to make Wudoo` after kissing or touching a woman." [Al-Mabsoot, vol.1/pp.121]. Hanafi scholars have based their view on the following evidence:
First: In principle, A Muslim is to pure save proven otherwise through a plain evidence.
Second: There are many authentic Hadiths indicating that the Prophet (PBUH) haven`t done Wudoo` after he touched Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her). Where the latter narrated: "I used to sleep in front of Allah's Messenger (PBUH) with my legs opposite his Qibla (facing him); and whenever he prostrated, he pushed my feet and I withdrew them and whenever he stood, I stretched them." `Aisha added: "In those days there were no lamps in the houses." [Agreed upon]. As well as, She (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: "One night I missed the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). I searched for him. When I found him he was in bowing or prostrating posture and was reciting Subhanakawa bi Hamdika. La Ilahailla Anta (You are free from imperfection and I begin praising You. There is no true god except You)." [Moslim Hadith No.486]. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.