According to the Shaf'ie school of thought, any touch or physical contact between a man and a woman he is eligible to marry, including his wife, invalidates ablution when their skins get into touch. If either has a cover over the place where the contact is made, then this ruling does not apply. Other schools of thought do not agree. The Hanafi school does not consider such contact as enough to invalidate any ablution. There are further details in other schools of thought distinguishing one sort of contact from another. When the touch is an accidental or a normal touch, then there is no question that the ablution remains valid. If the touch is accompanied by sexual thoughts or arouse feelings of a certain type, then it does invalidate ablution. It is certainly better to follow a middle course. I am, therefore, more inclined to say that normal everyday contact between a man and his wife does not invalidate ablution. [Added: There should be no physical contact between a man and a woman he is eligible to marry, other than his wife, in any case - ablution or no ablution. (Source: Arab News) Classified in Ablution and physical contact >