Taharah in Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat

Al-Buhuti's treatment of taharah in Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat is closely related to but not identical with his coverage in Kashshaf al-Qina. The different base text (Muntaha al-Iradat vs. Al-Iqna) means that Sharh Muntaha sometimes presents topics in a different order or with different emphases, and occasional additional discussions appear that do not have counterparts in the other commentary.

On water, Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat presents the Hanbali school's two-qullah threshold with its evidential basis and practical applications. Al-Buhuti addresses the precise measurement of two qullahs — approximately five hundred ritls by weight, or a pool measuring roughly one square cubit in area by one cubit in depth (scholars varied on the exact conversion) — and the practical implications for wells, cisterns, and containers of various sizes commonly used in his time.

The discussion of naturally impure substances (a'yan najisah) in Sharh Muntaha presents the Hanbali school's classification of substances that are intrinsically impure — including dogs, pigs, carrion (with the exception of fish and locusts), blood, urine, and human waste — with attention to the evidential basis for each category. Al-Buhuti engages with the question of animal saliva and blood: the saliva of permissible animals is pure (including horses, cats, and most domestic animals), while the Hanbali school classifies the saliva of dogs and pigs as impure and requiring the sevenfold washing for containers they have licked.

The wudu' sections of Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat address the Hanbali obligatory elements with particular attention to the boundaries of the face and the requirement to wash the mouth and nostrils as part of washing the face. Al-Buhuti discusses the treatment of a man with a thick beard: the Hanbali school requires the water to reach the skin beneath the beard (unlike the Maliki school, which holds that washing the visible surface of the beard suffices), while permitting the beard itself to be wetted by water flowing from the face-washing without specific additional attention.

Ghusl in Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat addresses the question of people with skin conditions that prevent normal washing. Al-Buhuti discusses the Hanbali approach to cases where washing would cause harm: the person may use tayammum instead, even if water is available, when its use would cause significant harm. He also addresses the question of a person who completes ghusl but discovers a spot on the body that was not reached by water — the Hanbali school requires washing that spot, and if sufficient time has passed, whether a new ghusl is required for the entire body.

The najasah sections of Sharh Muntaha engage with the question of the ground and earth contaminated by impurity. The Hanbali school holds that ground contaminated by liquid impurity is purified by washing with water — the impure liquid is displaced and the ground is purified — without requiring the removal of the soil itself. Al-Buhuti addresses how much water must be used and how thoroughly the washing must be done for ground purification to be complete.

Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat's taharah coverage, when read alongside Kashshaf al-Qina, provides students and scholars with the most comprehensive available reference for Hanbali purification law — each text illuminating aspects that the other presents more briefly.