Taharah in Al-Muharrar: Hanbali Purity Law

Al-Muharrar's chapter on taharah presents Hanbali purity law in a compact, authoritative format that reflects Majd al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah's mastery of the school's transmitted positions. The Hanbali approach to purity law, while sharing much with the other schools, has distinctive features that Al-Muharrar states with characteristic precision.

On the classification of water, Al-Muharrar follows the standard three-way division found across the schools. The Hanbali school accepts the two-qullah threshold for standing water, below which contact with najasah renders the water impure regardless of visible alteration, and above which impurity only affects water that undergoes visible change in color, taste, or smell. Majd al-Din states this clearly without extended argumentation, as befits a text aimed at those who already know the evidential basis.

The distinctive Hanbali position on the nullifiers of wudu receives careful statement in Al-Muharrar. In addition to the standard nullifiers accepted across the schools — urination, defecation, passing of gas, and the major ritual impurity (janabah) — the Hanbali school adds several that are specific or more emphatic: touching the penis directly (not through a barrier), eating camel meat, washing the dead (according to one Hanbali opinion), and apostasy. Majd al-Din states the Hanbali positions without comparative discussion, leaving the student to learn the school's evidential bases through other means.

The camel meat issue is one of the most frequently noted Hanbali distinctives in taharah law. The Hanbali school holds, based on a hadith of the Prophet, that eating camel meat breaks wudu, requiring renewal of ablution before prayer. This position is not accepted by the other three major schools, who regard the relevant hadith as abrogated or interpret it differently. Al-Muharrar states the Hanbali position plainly as part of the school's transmitted doctrine.

On ghusl, Al-Muharrar covers the obligating causes and the minimum and complete forms. The Hanbali school's approach to the minimum ghusl is similar to the other schools: intention plus water reaching all external body surfaces. The recommended form adds the washing of the hands first, rinsing the mouth and nose, performing wudu, beginning with the right side, and rubbing (dalk) to ensure water reaches all surfaces — a point on which schools differ as to whether rubbing is obligatory or merely recommended.

Majd al-Din's treatment of tayammum is concise but complete: its conditions, its performance (striking the clean earth once and then wiping the face and both hands to the wrists, according to one Hanbali opinion, or including the forearms, according to another), and its relationship to water availability. He identifies the Hanbali positions without extended argument, trusting the advanced student to consult the evidential literature separately.