Mishkat al-Masabih

Ya'la told of God's messenger seeing a man washing in a public place, so he mounted the pulpit, and when he had praised and extolled God he said, “God is characterised by modesty and concealment and loves modesty and concealment, so when any of you washes he should conceal himself.” Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it, but in Nasa’i's version he said, “God is characterised by concealment, so when any of you intends to wash, he should hide behind something.”

Ubayy b. Ka'b said that “Water is necessary only when there is an emission” was a licence granted in the early days of Islam, but that afterwards it was renounced. Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Darimi transmitted it.

‘Ali reported that a man came to the Prophet and said, “I washed because of sexual defilement, then prayed the dawn prayer but noticed a spot about the size of a nail which had not been touched by the water.” God’s messenger replied, “If you had rubbed your hand over it, it would have been enough for you.” Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said that the original requirement was fifty times of prayer, seven washings to remove sexual defilement, and seven washings when urine fell on a garment. God’s messenger therefore kept on making requests till five times of prayer were appointed, one washing for sexual defilement, and one washing of a garment because of urine. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

God’s messenger met me when I was sexually defiled, took my hand and I walked with him. When he sat down I withdrew, and after I had gone home and washed I came back and found the Prophet still seated. He asked, “Where have you been, Abu Huraira?” I told him, and he said, “Glory be to God! The believer does not become impure.” This is Bukhari's wording and Muslim has something to the same effect, but after “I told him” he adds: I said to him, “You met me when I was sexually defiled, and I did not like to sit with you till I had washed.” Bukhari has the same in another version.

Ibn ‘Umar told how ‘Umar b. al-Khattab mentioned to God’s messenger that he was affected by seminal defilement during the night, and was told to perform ablution, wash his penis, and go back to sleep. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Aisha said that when the Prophet was defiled and wanted to eat or sleep, he performed the ablution prescribed for prayer. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported God’s messenger as saying, “When any of you has intercourse with his wife and wishes to repeat it, he must perform ablution between the two acts.” Muslim transmitted it.

Anas said that the Prophet used to have intercourse with his wives, with only a single washing. Muslim transmitted it.

‘A'isha said that the Prophet used to mention God’s name on all occasions. Muslim transmitted it.

We shall mention the tradition of Ibn ‘Abbas in the book on Foods* if God most High wills *Book XX , Chap. I, section II, 8th tradition; but one would have expected a tradition in section I.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that a wife of the Prophet washed in a bowl, and when God’s messenger wanted to perform ablution from it she said, “I was defiled, messenger of God.” He replied, “Water does not become defiled.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Darimi has something similar. In Sharh as-sunna it is given from him from Maimuna with the wording in al-Masabih.

‘A'isha said, “God’s messenger used to wash because of sexual defilement, then warm himself against me before I washed.” Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Tirmidhi transmitted something similar. In Sharh as-sunna it is given with the wording in al-Masabih.

‘Ali said, “The Prophet used to come out of the privy, recite the Qur’an to us and eat meat with us, nothing restraining him from the Qur’an but seminal defilement.” Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted something similar.

Ibn ‘Umar reported God’s messenger as saying, “The woman who is menstruating and the one who is seminally defiled must not recite any of the Qur’an.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

‘A'isha reported God’s messenger as saying, “Turn these houses so as not to face the mosque, for I do not make the mosque lawful for a menstruating woman or one who is seminally defiled.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Ali reported God’s messenger as saying, “The angels do not enter a house in which there is a picture, a dog, or one who is defiled.” Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

‘Ammar b. Yasir reported God’s messenger as saying, “There are three whom the angels do not approach, the dead body of an infidel, one who is smeared with khaluq,* and one who is sexually defiled unless he performs ablution.” *A liquid, yellow perfume mainly composed of saffron. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Abdallah b. Abu Bakr b. Muhammad b. ‘Amr b. Hazm said that the letter sent by God's messenger to ‘Amr b. Hazm contained the words, “Only one who is pure must touch the Qur’an.” Malik and Daraqutni transmitted it.

I accompanied Ibn ‘Umar who wanted to relieve himself. After doing so, in the course of his talk that day he said that a man going along a street met God’s messenger when he came out of the privy, or had passed water, and saluted him without receiving any response. Then when the man was almost going out of sight in the street God’s messenger struck his hands on a wall, wiped his face with them, struck once more and wiped his forearms, then responded to the man’s salutation, saying, “The only thing which prevented me from responding to your salutation was that I was not in a state of purity.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Al-Muhajir b. Qunfudh said that he came upon the Prophet when he was passing water and saluted him, but he did not respond to the salutation till he had performed ablution. He then made his excuse to him saying, “I dislike mentioning God's name except when I am in a state of purity.” Abu Dawud transmitted it. Nasa’i transmitted it up to “till he had performed ablution” and said, “then when he had performed ablution he responded to it.”

Umm Salama said that God’s messenger would become defiled, then go to sleep, then awake, then go to sleep again. Ahmad transmitted it.

Shu'ba said that when Ibn ‘Abbas washed because of seminal defilement he emptied water seven times from his right hand over his left hand, then washed his private parts. Once he forgot how often he had emptied it, so he asked Shu'ba, but he replied that he did not know, so he said, “You should be ashamed of yourself. What prevents you from knowing?” Then he would perform his ablution for prayer, then pour water over his body and say, “Thus was God’s messenger accustomed to purify himself.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

One day God’s messenger visited his wives, washing after intercourse with each, so I asked, “Messenger of God, why do you not simply wash once at the end?” He replied, “This is purer, better and cleaner. Ahmad and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Al-Hakam b. ‘Amr said that God’s messenger forbade that a man should perform ablution with the water left over by his wife after purifying herself. Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and Tirmidhi transmitted it. Tirmidhi adding “Or he said, “With her leavings’.” He said that this is a hasan sahih tradition.

Humaid al-Himyari said, “I met a man who was a companion of the Prophet for four years, as was Abu Huraira. He said that God’s messenger forbade that a woman should wash in water left over by a man, or that a man should wash in water left over by a woman.” Musaddad added that they should use it together. Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it, and Ahmad added at the beginning, “He forbade any of us to use a comb every day, or pass water in a bathing place.” Ibn Majah transmitted it from ‘Abdallah b. Sarjis.

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “None of you must pass water into standing water that is not flowing, then wash in it.” (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim he said, “None of you must wash in standing water when he is sexually defiled.” Abu Huraira was asked how it was to be done, and said that it was to be taken out in handfuls.

Jabir said that God’s messenger forbade passing water in motionless water. Muslim transmitted it.

My maternal aunt took me to the Prophet and said, “My nephew is ill.” So he wiped my head, invoked a blessing on me, then performed ablution, and I drank some of the water he had used. Then I stood up behind his back and looked at the seal of prophecy between his shoulders, like the button on a bride’s pavilion. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn ‘Umar said that when God’s messenger was asked about water in desert country and what is frequented by animals and wild beasts, he replied, “When there is enough water to fill two pitchers it bears no impurity.” Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Darimi and Ibn Majah transmitted it. Another version by Abu Dawud has, “It does not become unclean.”

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said that some people asked God’s messenger whether they might perform ablution out of the well of Buda‘a, which was a well into which menstrual cloths, dead dogs and stinking things were thrown, and he replied, “Water is pure and is not defiled by anything.” Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

Abu Huraira said that a man told God’s messenger that he sailed on the sea taking a small quantity of water with him. As he would suffer from thirst if he used this for ablution, he asked whether he might use sea water for that purpose, and received the reply, “Its water is pure, and what dies a natural death in it is lawful food.” Malik, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

Abu Zaid quoted ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud as saying that on the night when the jinn listened to the Qur’an* the Prophet asked him what was in his skin vessel, and when he replied that he had some nabidh, he said, “It consists of fresh dates and pure water.” *Lit "the night of the jinn" After Abu Talib’s death the Prophet went to at-Ta’if to proclaim his message, but was driven out. Returning to Mecca, he spent a night in the valley of Nakhla and we are told that a company of the jinn listened to him reciting the Qur’an See sura lxxii. Abu Dawud transmitted it, and Ahmad and Tirmidhi added that he performed ablution from it. Tirmidhi said that Abu Zaid is unknown, and there is a sound tradition in which ‘Alqama quotes ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud as saying, “I was not with God’s messenger on the night when the jinn listened.” Muslim transmitted it.

Kabsha daughter of Ka‘b b. Malik and wife of Ibn Abu Qatada said that Abu Qatada visited her and she poured out water for him for ablution. A cat came and drank some of it, and he tilted the vessel for it till it had had a drink. Kabsha said that when he saw her looking at him he asked, “Are you surprised, my niece?” When she replied that she was, he declared that God’s messenger said, “It is not unclean; it is one of those who go round among you.” Malik, Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

Dawud b. Salih b. Dinar quoted his mother as saying that her mistress sent her to ‘A'isha with some hari a. She said that she found her praying and that she signed to her to lay it down. A cat came and ate some of it, but when ‘A'isha finished praying she ate from the place where the cat had eaten, stating that God’s messenger had said, “It is not unclean; it is one of those who go round among you adding that she had seen God’s messenger using water it had left to perform his ablution. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Jabir said that when God’s messenger was asked whether ablution might be performed with water which asses had left, he replied, “Yes, and with what all beasts of prey leave.” Baghawi transmitted it in Sharh as-sunna.

Umm Hani’ said that God’s messenger and Maimuna washed in a bowl containing traces of dough. Nasa’i and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Yahya b. Abd ar-Rahman said that ‘Umar went out with a party of riders among whom was ‘Amr b al-‘As. When they came to a cistern and ‘Amr asked its owner whether beasts of prey came down to it, ‘Umar said, “Don't tell us, owner of the cistern, for we go down to what beasts of prey leave, and they go down to what we leave.” Malik transmitted it and Razin made an addition saying that some transmitters add to ‘Umar’s words that he said he had heard God’s messenger say, “They have in their bellies what they have taken, and what remains is pure for us and drinkable.”

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said that God's messenger was asked about the purity of the cisterns between Mecca and Medina to which beasts of prey, dogs and asses go down, and replied, “They have what they carry in their bellies, and we have what is left as pure water.” Ibn Majah transmitted it.

‘Umar b. al-Khattab said, “Do not wash in water which has been exposed to the sun, for it produces leprosy.” Daraqutni transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a dog drinks out of a vessel belonging to any of you, he must wash it seven times,” (Bukhari and Muslim) In a version by Muslim he said, “When a dog laps the water in a vessel belonging to any of you, he must wash it seven times, using earth the first time.”

He also said that when a desert Arab got up and passed water in the mosque the people took hold of him, but the Prophet said to them, “Leave him alone, and pour a bucket* of water over what he has passed, for you have been sent only to make things easy and not to make things difficult.” *The text has sajl au dhanub, the transmitter not being sure which word was used. Both mean a bucket. Bukhari transmitted it.

While we were in the mosque with God’s messenger a desert Arab came and began to pass water in the mosque. The companions of God's messenger said, “Stop! Stop!” but God’s messenger said, “Don’t interrupt him; leave him alone.” They left him alone, and when he had finished God’s messenger called him and said to him, “These mosques are not suitable places for urine and filth, but are only for remembrance of God, prayer and recitation of the Qur’an,” or however God’s messenger expressed it.* Anas said that he then grave orders to one of the people who brought a bucket and poured water over it. *Indicating that the transmitter is not sure of the exact words. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Asma’ daughter of Abu Bakr said that a woman asked God's messenger to tell her what one should do when blood from her menses dropped on her garment. He replied, “When blood from her menses drops on the garment of any of you, she should rub it with her fingers and sprinkle water on it, then she may pray in it.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Sulaiman b. Yasir said that he asked ‘A’isha about the prostatic fluid which gets on to a garment, and she replied, “I used to wash it from the garment at God's messenger, and he would go out to prayer with the mark of the washing on his garment." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Al-Aswad and Hammam reported ‘A'isha as saying, “I used to rub the prostatic fluid from the garment of God's messenger." Muslim transmitted it. A version of ‘Alqama and al-Aswad quotes ‘A'isha to the same effect, with the addition that he then prayed in it.

Umm Qais daughter of Mihsan told how she brought a young son of hers who was not yet weaned to God’s messenger. He set him on his lap, and the child passed water on his garment; so he called for water and sprinkled it, but did not wash it. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Abdallah b. ‘Abbas said that he heard God’s messenger say, “When a skin is tanned it is pure." Muslim transmitted it.

He also said that a sheep was given in alms to a female client of Maimuna, but it died. God’s messenger came along and asked, “Why did you not take its skin and tan it and get some good out of it?" They replied, "It died a natural death." He said, “It is only the eating of it that is prohibited. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Sauda the Prophet’s wife said, "A sheep of ours died and we tanned its freshly flayed skin, then continued to steep dates in it till it was worn out." Bukhari transmitted it.