What does it mean that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) washed his hands with earth in the ghusl for janabah?
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Question:
The questioner says: It is known that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ghusl for janabah, he would wash his private parts, then wash his hands with earth, then perform wudu' as for prayer. The question is: What does it mean that he (peace and blessings be upon him) washed his hands with earth?
Answer:
It is to remove the smell, the smell of the residue of what came out, because it sticks to his hand when he cleans his private parts, so a smell from what came out remains in it. He wipes it with earth so that the smell goes away, because earth is purifying, and earth is also a cleanser. This is the wisdom. And if he washed it with soap, would washing his hand with soap or a cleanser suffice instead of earth? Yes.
The questioner says: It is known that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ghusl for janabah, he would wash his private parts, then wash his hands with earth, then perform wudu' as for prayer. The question is: What does it mean that he (peace and blessings be upon him) washed his hands with earth?
Answer:
It is to remove the smell, the smell of the residue of what came out, because it sticks to his hand when he cleans his private parts, so a smell from what came out remains in it. He wipes it with earth so that the smell goes away, because earth is purifying, and earth is also a cleanser. This is the wisdom. And if he washed it with soap, would washing his hand with soap or a cleanser suffice instead of earth? Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ماذا يعني غسل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يديه بالتراب في غسل الجنابة؟ #فتاوى الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.