The Ruling on Washing the Hands Before Ablution
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Your Eminence the Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), Abu Hurayrah’s hadith indicates that washing the hands is specific to sleeping at night, where he says: “For one of you does not know where his hand spent the night.”
The Shaykh:
Yes, the obligation is specific to that, but the recommended practice is general. Washing the hands, yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wash his hands before ablution, even during the day, and not only after sleeping. When he intended to perform ablution, he would wash his palms three times before the ablution (peace and blessings be upon him). This is a supporting recommended practice.
The questioner:
Is there a known cause, Your Eminence the Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
It involves cleanliness, clear cleanliness, or rather great cleanliness. The hands are a place used for this, or that, or that. So washing them entails cleanliness and care. Yes.
Your Eminence the Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), Abu Hurayrah’s hadith indicates that washing the hands is specific to sleeping at night, where he says: “For one of you does not know where his hand spent the night.”
The Shaykh:
Yes, the obligation is specific to that, but the recommended practice is general. Washing the hands, yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wash his hands before ablution, even during the day, and not only after sleeping. When he intended to perform ablution, he would wash his palms three times before the ablution (peace and blessings be upon him). This is a supporting recommended practice.
The questioner:
Is there a known cause, Your Eminence the Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
It involves cleanliness, clear cleanliness, or rather great cleanliness. The hands are a place used for this, or that, or that. So washing them entails cleanliness and care. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم [ برنامج إذاعي ]، بداية من باب الإطلاء بالنورة — islamhouse.com (20:13)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.