The Ruling on Excessive Use of Water

The questioner:
Your Eminence the Shaykh! If a person wants to take a full ritual bath, what is the best for him to do: put water in a basin and take it from there, or take the bath directly from the shower?

The Shaykh:
I command this, so it is obligatory. With a bucket. The command is like this, it is broad.

The questioner:
Water is a great blessing and a wealth whose value is not known except by one who has lost it. It is not hidden from us what we were in a few years ago regarding the scarcity of water, and we are now living in this great blessing. However, many people are heedless, and they commit excess in water, washing their cars with it, and luxury items, and the like. We ask Your Eminence the Shaykh to give advice and guidance to such people?

The Shaykh:
It is prescribed for the believer not to be extravagant with water, but to be economical. He should not be extravagant in wudu' (the ablution for prayer), nor in ghusl (the full ritual bath), nor in anything else. He performs wudu' as Allah has prescribed, and he performs ghusl as Allah has prescribed. If there is a need to wash vessels or other things, he washes them, but with economy and without extravagance in water. This is because water has a great status, and extravagance with it may cause major problems. The Sunnah is to avoid extravagance in everything; one should seek the middle path, which is the balance that involves neither deficiency nor excess. It is the middle way. He said, Glorified and Exalted is He: and do not be hard on yourself . The word "spread" (or "be moderate") indicates that the middle path is what is required, and that is the intention. So, one does not be extravagant in using water, nor does he fall short in purifying himself. Yes.