When any of you performs ablution, let him sniff water in his nose and then blow it out. Whoever cleans his private parts with stones, let him do so with an odd number of stones

Arabic text

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «إِذَا تَوَضَّأَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَجْعَلْ فِي أَنْفِهِ ثُمَّ لِيَنْثُرْ، وَمَنِ اسْتَجْمَرَ فَلْيُوتِرْ، وَإِذَا اسْتَيْقَظَ أَحَدُكُمْ مِنْ نَوْمِهِ فَلْيَغْسِلْ يَدَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهَا فِي وَضُوئِهِ، فَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لاَ يَدْرِي أَيْنَ بَاتَتْ يَدُهُ». ولفظ مسلم: «إِذَا اسْتَيْقَظَ أَحَدُكُمْ مِنْ نَوْمِهِ فَلَا يَغْمِسْ يَدَهُ فِي الْإِنَاءِ حَتَّى يَغْسِلَهَا ثَلَاثًا، فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَدْرِي أَيْنَ بَاتَتْ يَدُهُ».

Translation

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any of you performs ablution, let him sniff water in his nose and then blow it out. Whoever cleans his private parts with stones, let him do so with an odd number of stones. Whoever wakes up from his sleep, let him wash his hand before putting it in the water container of ablution, for none of you knows where his hand was during his sleep." The wording of Muslim reads: "Whoever wakes up from his sleep, let him not put his hand in the water container until he washes it three times, for he does not know where his hand was during his sleep."

Explanation

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.

Benefits

• 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.
• It is recommended to make Istijmār (clean the private parts from impurities using stones or so) with an odd number of stones.
• It is prescribed to wash the hands three times after waking up from night sleep.

Topics

• Jurisprudence and Juristic Principles
• Virtues and Manners
• Jurisprudence of Acts of Worship
• Purification
• Shariah-approved Manners
• Manners of Sleeping and Waking Up
• Toilet Manners
• Ablution