Ablution

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarified some of the Tahārah (ritual purity) rulings including the following: First: Whoever performs ablution must sniff water into the nose by inhaling and then blow it out by exhaling. Second: Whoever wants to clean his private parts from impurities with something other than water, like stones and the like, should do so with an odd number of stones; the least of which is three, and the most of which is what is necessary to fully cleanse the impurities off his body. Third: Whoever wakes up from night sleep should not put his hand in the water vessel to perform ablution until he washes it three times outside the vessel, for he does not know where his hand was during his sleep. It might have been affected by some impurity or the devil might have been meddling with it carrying to it what could either be harmful to man or what could make the water impure.

1. In Wudū’ (ablution), one must make Istinshāq, which is sniffing water into the nose by inhaling, and one must also make Istinthār, which is blowing water out from the nose by exhaling.
2. It is recommended to make Istijmār (clean the private parts from impurities using stones or so) with an odd number of stones.
3. It is prescribed to wash the hands three times after waking up from night sleep.

صحيح البخاري (1/ 43) (162). صحيح مسلم (1/ 233) (278). تيسير العلام شرح عمدة الأحكام، للبسام (ص19). الإلمام بشرح عمدة الأحكام، لإسماعيل الأنصاري (1/ 11).

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that when a Muslim or a believer performs ablution and washes his face during the ablution, every minor sin he looked at with his eyes comes out of his face with the water falling after washing or with the last drop of water. When he washes his hands, every minor sin he committed with his hands comes out of his hands with the water or with the last drop of water. When he washes his feet, every minor sin his feet walked towards comes out with the water or with the last drop of water, until he comes out cleansed of minor sins by the end of ablution.

1. The merit of observing ablution and how it expiates sins.
2. It was the Prophet's practice to encourage people toward acts of obedience and worship by mentioning the recompense and reward associated with them.
3. Every part of a person's body is involved in certain sins; thus, each sin is attributed to the specific organ that committed it, and is washed away from each organ he has repented from.
4. Ablution involves physical purification by washing the body parts included in ablution, as well as spiritual purification of the sins committed by those body parts.

صحيح مسلم (1/ 215) (244). كنوز رياض الصالحين، لمجموعة من الباحثين (3/ 108). شرح رياض الصالحين، لابن عثيمين (2/ 181). بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين، لسليم الهلالي (1/ 208). نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين، لمجموعة من الباحثين (1/ 157).

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that Tahārah (ritual purity) is one of the conditions for the validity of prayer. Hence, whoever wants to pray must make Wudū’ (ablution) if he has already nullified his Wudū’ by defecating, urinating, sleeping, etc.

1. The prayer offered by one who is in the state of ritual impurity is not accepted unless he purifies himself by making Ghusl (ritual bath) in case of major impurity and by performing Wudū’ in case of minor impurity.
2. Wudū’ means rinsing the mouth with water and spitting it out, then sniffing water into the nose and blowing it out, then washing the face three times, then washing the hands along with the elbows three times, then wiping over the whole head once, and finally washing the feet along with the ankles three times.

صحيح البخاري (9/ 23) (6954). صحيح مسلم (1/ 204) (225). تيسير العلام شرح عمدة الأحكام، للبسام (ص17). تنبيه الأفهام شرح عمدة الأحكام، لابن عثيمين (1/ 11).

It is well-known that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform the voluntary night prayer during Ramadan and outside Ramadan. Hence, Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked about the voluntary night prayer to be offered in Ramadan; he wondered whether the prayer of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) during the nights of Ramadan was like his prayer outside it, in terms of the number of Rak‘ahs, or it was different. ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) replied that there was no difference between his prayers during Ramadan or otherwise, since throughout the whole year he used to perform eleven Rak‘ahs and no more. Then, she clarified for him the manner in which they were performed, saying: "He would pray four", meaning: he would perform two Rak‘ahs and make Taslīm, then two more Rak‘ahs and make Taslīm, as ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) clarified and explained in detail the summary of this Hadīth in another narration attributed to her in Sahīh Muslim, where she said: "In the time between the ‘Ishā' prayer and the Fajr prayer, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform eleven Rak‘ahs of prayer, making Taslīm after every two Rak‘ahs, and concluding them with one Rak‘ah, i.e. the Witr prayer." This is in addition to his statement: "The voluntary night prayer is performed in pairs of Rak‘ahs." [Al-Bukhāri and Muslim] "And do not ask about their beauty and length", meaning: do not ask about their manner (of performance), because they were the epitome of beauty and perfection, in terms of the quality of recitation and the length of standing, bowing, and prostrating. Likewise, the last four Rak‘ahs that were performed two by two; do not ask about their beauty and perfection, in terms of the quality of recitation and the length of standing, bowing, and prostrating. "Then he would pray three", meaning: what is apparently understood is that he would perform them altogether without separation. Then he would make Taslīm in the last Rak‘ah. However, another narration attributed to ‘Ā'ishah clarifies that he would make Taslīm after two Rak‘ahs, followed by a single Rak‘ah which is Witr. This is explicitly stated through her words: "He would make Taslīm after every two Rak‘ahs, followed by one Rak‘ah." This indicates that he would separate the (last) three Rak‘ahs by the Taslīm, which he made after the first two Rak‘ahs thereof. "O Messenger of Allah, do you sleep before performing the Witr prayer?" meaning: how do you sleep before performing the Witr prayer? "He said: 'O ‘Ā'ishah, indeed my eyes sleep but my heart does not sleep'", meaning: his heart is never inattentive although his eyes are sleeping. Rather, his heart is aware and feels everything, such as consideration of time and precise determination of it. That is why the visions of the prophets are considered part of the revelation.

صحيح البخاري، تأليف: محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري، تحقيق: محمد زهير الناصر، الناشر: دار طوق النجاة الطبعة: الأولى، 1422هـ صحيح مسلم ، تأليف: مسلم بن الحجاج النيسابوري، تحقيق: محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي الناشر: دار إحياء التراث العربي – بيروت. سبل السلام شرح بلوغ المرام، تأليف : محمد بن إسماعيل بن صلاح الصنعاني، الناشر: دار الحديث الطبعة: بدون طبعة وبدون تاريخ توضيح الأحكام مِن بلوغ المرام، تأليف: عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن بن صالح البسام، الناشر: مكتبة الأسدي، مكة المكرّمة الطبعة: الخامِسَة، 1423 هـ - 2003 م تسهيل الإلمام بفقه الأحاديث من بلوغ المرام، تأليف: صالح بن فوزان بن عبد الله الفوزان، الطبعة: الأولى، 1427 ه _ 2006 م فتح ذي الجلال والإكرام، شرح بلوغ المرام، تأليف: محمد بن صالح بن محمد العثيمين، الناشر: المكتبة الإسلامية، تحقيق: صبحي بن محمد رمضان، وأُم إسراء بنت عرفة.