There are twelve prohibitions in performing an ablution. Doing them is either haram ^[1] or makruh ^[2]; they are as follows:

1- When relieving oneself or urinating in the toilet or out-doors, one should not turn one's front or back towards the qibla ^[3].

2- It is haram to open one's private parts near someone in order to make taharat (to clean oneself).

3- One should not make taharat with one's right hand.

4- When there is no water, it is makruh to make taharat with food products, manure, bones, animals' food, coal, someone else's property, a piece of flowerpot or tile, reeds, leaves, a piece of cloth or paper.

5- One must not spit or throw mucus into the pool where one makes an ablution.

6- One should not wash one's limbs of ablution much more or less than the prescribed limit, nor wash them more or less than three times.

7- One must not wipe one's limbs of ablution with the same cloth used for taharat.

8- While washing the face, one must not splash the water on one's face, but pour it from the upper forehead downwards.

9- One must not blow on or over the surface of the water.

10- One must not close one's mouth and eyes tightly. If even a tiny part of the outward part of the lips or the eyelids is left dry, the ablution will not be acceptable.

11- One must not expell mucus from one's nose with one's right hand.

12- One must not make masah ^[4] on one's head, ears or neck more than once after moistening the hands each time.

[1] haram: an action, word or thought prohibited by Allahu ta'ala. [2] makruh: (act, thing) improper, disliked and abstained by the Prophet ('alaihi 's-salam); makruh tahrima: prohibited with much stress. [3] qibla: direction towards the Ka'ba. The direction turned towards during worshipping (in Islam, toward the Ka'ba). [4] masah: rubbing one's wet hands (on his mests, which are soft, soleless, waterproof shoes, worn in winter, covering the feet's surface washed) while performing ablution.