Question: Are artificial nails or nail polish allowed during prayer and wuḍūʾ?
Answer:
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْـحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.
One of the conditions for the validity of wuḍūʾ is that water must reach all parts of the limbs that are obligatory to wash. This is based on the verse:
﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ ﴾
“O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your arms…” (Sūrat al-Māʾidah: 6)
According to all four madhāhib—Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī—it is necessary that water touches the actual surface of the skin and nails during wuḍūʾ. If there is any barrier preventing this, such as substances that form a coat or seal over the nail, then wuḍūʾ is not valid.
Nail polish and artificial nails that do not allow water to pass through act as a barrier. Therefore, performing wuḍūʾ with such substances on the nails is not valid according to any of the schools of law. If a woman wears such polish or nails, she must remove them prior to performing wuḍūʾ for it to be valid.
Thus, if artificial nails or polish prevent water from reaching the natural nail, they must be removed prior to wuḍūʾ. Otherwise, the wuḍūʾ and any prayer performed with it would not be valid.
وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.