Taharah in At-Tahdhib: Maliki Purity Law Organized

At-Tahdhib's treatment of taharah reorganizes the Maliki positions from Al-Mudawwanah into a more systematic presentation, making the chapter on purity law accessible for teaching and reference. The work preserves the substance of the Maliki positions while presenting them in a format that students can navigate more easily than the question-and-answer structure of the original.

On water, at-Tahdhib presents the Maliki classification in an organized way: water that purifies (tahur), water that is pure but does not purify (tahir), and water that is impure (najis). The Maliki school's approach to water quantity — distinguishing between large and small amounts by practical assessment rather than a fixed two-qullah threshold — is presented clearly. Al-Baradii organizes the various cases discussed in Al-Mudawwanah (wells, pools, rivers, cisterns) according to the principles that determine their purity status.

The chapter on wudu in at-Tahdhib presents the Maliki obligations systematically: the six obligatory elements (intention, washing the face, the arms to and including the elbows, wiping the entire head, washing the feet, and continuity in the performance) with their conditions. The Maliki school's requirement of wiping the entire head — the most-discussed distinction from other schools — is stated clearly as the obligatory standard, with the evidential basis noted.

Al-Baradii's organization of the wudu chapter includes the conditions for each obligatory element: the face must be washed completely, with the definition of the face's boundaries; the arms must be washed including the elbows, not just up to them; the entire head must be wiped, including the ears, which the Maliki school includes within the head; the feet must be washed including the ankles. These conditions are stated in the organized format that makes at-Tahdhib more useful for teaching than Al-Mudawwanah.

On ghusl, at-Tahdhib confirms the Maliki requirement of rubbing (dalk) as an obligatory element of the valid ghusl, a distinctive Maliki position. The work organizes the obligating causes, the minimum valid ghusl (intention, rubbing, and water covering the entire body), and the recommended complete form in the systematic way that makes the conditions clear.

The section on najasah and its removal follows the Maliki positions on the types of impurity, the substances that are najis, the exceptions (including the Maliki position on the purity of the dead bodies of fish and locusts without slaughter), and the methods of removing najasah from the body and clothing.