Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 3433
حَدَّثَنَا وَاصِلُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الأَعْلَى، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ فُضَيْلٍ، عَنْ لَيْثٍ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَامِرٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ مَرَرْنَا عَلَى بِرْكَةٍ فَجَعَلْنَا نَكْرَعُ فِيهَا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لاَ تَكْرَعُوا وَلَكِنِ اغْسِلُوا أَيْدِيَكُمْ ثُمَّ اشْرَبُوا فِيهَا فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ إِنَاءٌ أَطْيَبَ مِنَ الْيَدِ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ʿUmar reported: We passed by a pool and began drinking directly from it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Do not drink directly from it. Rather, wash your hands, then drink from them, for no vessel is purer than the hand.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report contrasts drinking directly from the pool with washing the hands and using them to drink.
The closing expression literally says that no vessel is purer than the hand; the report does not elaborate on this comparison.
قَالَ مَرَرْنَا عَلَى بِرْكَةٍ فَجَعَلْنَا نَكْرَعُ فِيهَا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لاَ تَكْرَعُوا وَلَكِنِ اغْسِلُوا أَيْدِيَكُمْ ثُمَّ اشْرَبُوا فِيهَا فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ إِنَاءٌ أَطْيَبَ مِنَ الْيَدِ " .
The pronoun in ‘then drink from them’ appears to refer to the hands, and the closing line calls the hand a better or purer vessel.
Does the instruction mean to drink water from cupped hands after washing them?