Taharah: Purification According to the Sunnah

The chapter on taharah in Al-Wajiz fi Fiqh as-Sunnah presents the rulings on ritual purification with direct reference to the Quran and the authenticated Sunnah, offering students a clear evidential foundation for each major ruling. Taharah is not merely a ritual formality in Islamic understanding — it is a state of readiness and attentiveness before God, and the Prophet described it as 'half of faith' (Sahih Muslim).

The Quran establishes the basic framework in Surah al-Ma'idah (5:6): 'O you who believe, when you stand for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles.' This verse specifies the four obligatory acts of wudu with the clarity of direct divine command. The Sunnah then fills in the details: the sequence, the recommended number of repetitions, the supplications, and the rulings for unusual cases.

Authentic hadiths establish that wudu begins with the intention (niyyah) and the basmala. The Prophet said: 'There is no wudu for one who does not mention the name of Allah over it' (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi — with debate about the strength of this narration). He performed each washed act three times in the standard wudu, though performing each once or twice is also authentically reported and sufficient for validity. He wiped his entire head — from the hairline to the nape — in a single forward and backward motion, as shown by authentic hadiths in al-Bukhari and Muslim.

The acts that invalidate wudu are established by the Sunnah: anything emitted from the front or back passage (by prophetic statement and scholarly consensus), sleep (with detail on whether light drowsing invalidates it — the majority hold that sleep breaks wudu due to the loss of conscious control, while those in the upright sitting position are debated), loss of consciousness, and flowing blood in quantities scholars debate. The Prophet's saying 'The eye is the string of the anus (i.e., keeps watch over it during sleep) — whoever sleeps should perform wudu' (Ahmad, Abu Dawud) is among the texts cited.

Ghusl (full body washing) is obligatory after sexual intercourse, ejaculation from sexual arousal, menstruation, and postnatal bleeding. The Quran commands: 'If you are in a state of janabah, purify yourselves' (al-Ma'idah 5:6). Authentic hadiths show the Prophet beginning ghusl by washing the hands, then performing wudu (without washing the feet, which are washed at the end of ghusl), then pouring water over the right side, then the left, then over the head three times while running fingers through the hair to reach the roots. The minimum obligation is reaching every part of the skin and hair root with water.

Tayammum is established by both the Quran and the Sunnah as the purification of necessity. The Prophet demonstrated it by striking the earth once with both hands, blowing off excess dust, and wiping the face and then the backs of the hands. There is disagreement among scholars about whether one or two strikes are needed — Al-Wajiz notes both positions with their evidential basis and inclines toward one strike as the stronger narration.

The chapter also covers the purity of water sources, the ruling on wells into which impurities fall (the Prophet commanded pouring out large quantities to purify a well into which a dead dog had fallen), and the ruling on small bodies of water versus large ones. The overall approach — following the authenticated Sunnah and noting scholarly differences transparently — makes this chapter an excellent introduction to taharah for those coming to fiqh with an evidential orientation.