Purification (Kitab Al-Taharah)

Bakkar ibn Yahya said that his grandmother narrated to him: I entered upon Umm Salamah. A woman from the Quraysh asked her about praying with the clothes which a woman wore while she menstruated.

Umm Salamah said: We would menstruate in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Then each one of us refrained (from prayer) during menstrual period. When she was purified, she would look at the clothe in which she menstruated. If it were smeared with blood, we would wash it and pray with it; if there were nothing in it, we would leave it and that would not prevent us from praying with it (the same clothe).

As regards the woman who had plaited hair - sometimes each of us had plaited hair - when she washed, she would not undo the hair. She would instead pour three handfuls of water upon her head. When she felt moisture in the roots of her hair, she would rub them. Then she would pour water upon her whole body.

One of us would have a shirt in which she would menstruate and in it she became sexually defiled. Then if she ever saw any drop of blood in it, she would rub it off by applying her saliva.

Messenger of Allah, I have only one clothe and I menstruate in it, how should I do ? He said: When you are purified, wash it and pray in it. She asked: If the blood is not removed, (then what) ? He said: It is enough for you to wash the blood, its mark will not do any harm to you.

Mu'awiyah ibn AbuSufyan asked his sister Umm Habibah, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ): Would the apostle of Allah (ﷺ) pray in the clothe in which he had an intercourse? She said: Yes, when he would not see any impurity in it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would not pray in our wrappers or in our quilts.

Ubaydullah said: My father (Mu'adh) doubted this.

I used to serve the Prophet (ﷺ). Whenever he intended to wash himself, he would say: Turn your back towards me, So I would turn my back and hide him. (Once) Hasan or Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them) was brought to him and he passed water on his chest. I came to wash it. He said: It is only the urine of a female which should be washed; the urine of a male should be sprinkled over.

'Abbas (a narrator) said: Yahya b. al-Walid narrated the tradition to us. Abu Dawud said: He (Yahya) is Abu al-Za'ra'. Harun b. Tamim said on the authority of al-Hasan: All sorts of urine are equal.

Al-Hasan reported on the authority of his mother that she was Umm Salamah pouring water on the urine of the male child until the age when he did not eat food. When he began to eat food, she would wash (his urine). And she would wash the urine of the female child.

A bedouin entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was sitting. He offered two rak'ahs of prayer, according to the version of Ibn 'Abdah. He then said: O Allah, have mercy on me and on Muhammad and do not have mercy on anyone along with us. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: You have narrowed down (a thing) that was broader. After a short while he passed a water in the corner of the mosque. The people rushed towards him. The Prophet (ﷺ) prevented them and said: You have been sent to facilitate and not create difficulties. Pour a bucket of water upon it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When any one of you treads with his sandal upon an unclean place, the earth will render it purified.

Fatimah daughter of AbuHubaysh came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and narrated what happened with her. He said: Then take a bath and then perform ablution for every prayer and pray.

She should abandon prayer during her menstrual period, then wash and pray ; then she should wash during her menstrual period.

Abu Dawud said: This is the view held by Malik b. Anas.

The name of Umm al-Hudhail is Hafsah daughter os Sirin. The name of her son was Hudhail and his husband 'Abd al-Rahman.

Asma' entered upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, how should one of us take bath when she is purified from her menses ? He said: She should take water mixed with the leaves of lote-tree; then should perform ablution and wash her head and rub it so much so that water reaches the roots of the hair; she should then our water upon her body. Then she should take a piece of cloth (or cotton or wool) and purify with it. She asked: Messenger of Allah, how should I purify with it ? 'Aishah said: I understood what he (the Prophet) said metaphorically. I, therefore, said to her: Remove the marks of blood.

Asma' asked the Prophet (ﷺ) and then narrated the rest of the tradition to the same effect. He (the Prophet) said: "a musk-scented piece of cloth." She (Asma') said: How should I purify with it ? He said: By glory of Allah ! Purify with it, and he covered his face with the cloth. This version also adds: "She asked about the washing because of sexual defilement." He said: Take your water and purify yourself as best as possible. Then pour water over yourself. 'Aishah said: The best of the women are the women of the Ansar. Shyness would not prevent them from inquiring about religion and from acquiring deep understanding in it.

They (the Companions of the Prophet) wiped with pure earth (their hands and face) to offer the dawn prayer in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). They struck the ground with their palms and wiped their faces once. Then they repeated and struck the ground with their palms once again and wiped their arms completely up to the shoulders and up to the armpits with the inner side of their hands.

This would have been enough for you, and the Prophet (ﷺ) struck the ground with his hand. He then blew it and wiped with it his face and hands. Being doubtful Salamah said: I do not know (whether he wiped) up to the elbows or the wrists.

The version of Musaddad has: "the goats (were collected) from the alms," and the tradition reported by 'Amr is complete.

We set out on a journey. One of our people was hurt by a stone, that injured his head. He then had a sexual dream. He asked his fellow travelers: Do you find a concession for me to perform tayammum? They said: We do not find any concession for you while you can use water. He took a bath and died. When we came to the Prophet (ﷺ), the incident was reported to him. He said: They killed him, may Allah kill them! Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for ignorance is inquiry. It was enough for him to perform tayammum and to pour some drops of water or bind a bandage over the wound (the narrator Musa was doubtful); then he should have wiped over it and washed the rest of his body.

While 'Umar b. al-Khattab was making a speech on Friday (in the mosque), a man came in. 'Umar said: Are you detained from prayer ? The man said: As soon as I heard the call for prayer, I perfumed ablution. Then 'Umar said: Only ablution ? Did you not hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: When any one of you comes for Friday (prayer) he should take a bath.