Taharah in the Hanbali School

The Hanbali school's approach to taharah reflects its general methodology: close adherence to the prophetic practice as transmitted through authenticated hadiths, caution about speculative legal constructions, and a preference for the apparent meaning of prophetic texts over abstract rational refinements.

The Hanbali school classifies water into four categories for purification purposes: absolutely pure and purifying (tahur mutlaq); pure but not purifying — specifically water that has been used for an obligatory purification (musta'mal) or that has been mixed with a pure substance that has altered its description; impure (najis) — water that has changed in color, smell, or taste due to impurity; and the disputed category of well water that has been in contact with impurity.

The Hanbali school follows the hadith of the two qullahs (less than two qullahs of water does not carry filth when any impurity touches it) similarly to the Shafi'i school, though the exact volume of the qullah and the precise application of the rule are subject to some internal disagreement. The school generally holds that a large body of water that has not changed in any characteristic remains pure even if impurity has entered it — a position based on the hadith that the Prophet allowed the use of well water even after a dog had drowned in it, provided the water was drawn out in sufficient quantity.

On wudu, the Hanbali school specifies six obligatory acts: washing the face (including the mouth and nose by rinsing — a distinctive Hanbali position that makes rinsing the mouth and nose obligatory in wudu, not merely recommended); washing the arms to the elbows; wiping the entire head (also a distinctive position — the Hanbali school requires wiping the full head, not merely a portion as in the Shafi'i school); washing the feet to the ankles; performing the acts in order; and performing them continuously without unreasonable interruption (muwalat).

The requirement to wipe the entire head in wudu is a specifically Hanbali position based on the hadith showing the Prophet wiping from the front of his head to the nape and back — taking this as the obligatory method, not merely sunnah as the Shafi'i school holds. The Hanbali school also requires wiping the ears as part of the head wiping, the insides with the index fingers and the outsides with the thumbs.

The Hanbali school has its own approach to the acts that invalidate wudu. In addition to the standard invalidators (discharge from front or back, loss of consciousness, sleep), the Hanbali school holds that touching the private parts with the hand (without a barrier) invalidates wudu — based on the hadith 'Whoever touches his private parts should perform wudu' (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi). The Hanbali school also holds that eating camel meat invalidates wudu — a distinctive position based on the authentic hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet commanded wudu after eating camel meat, in contrast to other meat.

Ghusl in the Hanbali school has two obligatory elements: the intention and washing the entire body including the roots of the hair. The rinsing of the mouth and nose (madmadah and istinshaq) is obligatory in ghusl as well, following the same reasoning as in wudu. This makes the Hanbali school's ghusl obligation more extensive than the Shafi'i school's, which does not require these rinsings in ghusl.