Taharah in Bidayat al-Mubtadi: Hanafi Purification Principles

Bidayat al-Mubtadi opens with the law of taharah (purification), as is standard in classical fiqh organization. Al-Marghinani presents the Hanafi school's purification law in its compressed form, covering water, ablution, ghusl, tayammum, and ritual impurity in a manner that students could memorize as the foundation for all further study.

The Hanafi school's approach to water differs in several notable ways from the Shafi'i and Maliki schools. The Hanafi school divides water primarily into two categories: tahir mutahhir (pure and purifying) and najis (impure). Water in its natural state — rain, spring, well, or river water — is pure and purifying. Water becomes impure only when physical filth falls into it and is perceptible by one of the three qualities: color, taste, or smell. Crucially, the Hanafi school does not recognize 'used' (musta'mal) water as categorically different from unused pure water: water that has been used to lift a ritual state of impurity may, according to many Hanafi positions, still be used for further purification if its qualities remain unchanged. Bidayat al-Mubtadi presents this permissive Hanafi approach without extensive argumentation, leaving the evidential basis to be explained by Al-Hidayah.

The obligatory elements (fara'id) of wudu' in the Hanafi school are four: washing the face, washing the arms to and including the elbows, wiping part of the head (at least one quarter), and washing the feet to and including the ankles. The Hanafi school notably does not include intention (niyyah) among the fara'id of wudu' — the intention is strongly recommended (sunnah) but the wudu' is valid without it. This contrasts with the Shafi'i and Maliki schools, which require intention as an obligatory element. The Hanafi school also does not require tartib (sequence) as an obligatory element of wudu' — the ablution is valid even if performed out of the Quranic order, though observing the sequence is sunnah.

The Hanafi school permits wiping (mash) over leather socks (khuffayn) for both travelers and residents, for one day and night (residents) or three days and nights (travelers). The conditions are that the socks must cover the ankle, must be made of material that holds its shape, must have been put on in a state of purity, and must not have a hole large enough to expose a significant portion of the foot. Bidayat al-Mubtadi presents these conditions concisely.

Ghusl (major ritual bath) is obligatory following sexual intercourse, ejaculation, and the end of menstruation or postpartum bleeding. The Hanafi school's obligatory elements of ghusl are three: rinsing the mouth (madmadah), sniffing water into the nostrils (istinshaq), and washing the entire body. The inclusion of rinsing the mouth and nostrils as obligatory elements is distinctive to the Hanafi school — the other schools treat these acts as recommended, not obligatory, in ghusl.

Tayammum (dry ablution) is permitted in the Hanafi school when water is unavailable or when its use would cause harm. The Hanafi school requires two strikes of clean earth — one for the face, one for the hands to and including the elbows. This extends the wiping to the elbows in tayammum, which differs from the Shafi'i and Maliki schools' practice of wiping only to the wrists. Bidayat al-Mubtadi presents these elements concisely, leaving the elaboration of evidential disputes to Al-Hidayah.

The law of impurity (najasah) in Bidayat al-Mubtadi covers the standard categories with Hanafi specificity: the classification of substances as pure, impure, and excused (ma'fu 'anh) in small amounts. The Hanafi school's doctrine of the excused small amount (miqdar al-'afw) — that impurities smaller than a coin's diameter on clothing are excused for prayer — is a practically important ruling that the text conveys concisely.