Explanation of the Book of Ablution, Ghusl, Menstruation, and Tayammum-02b
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reciter: And from Ibrahim, he said: Salih ibn Kaysan said: Ibn Shihab said: But Urwah narrates from Hamran: . Urwah said: The verse is: [Al-Baqarah 2:159].
The Shaykh : The point of this hadith is the statement: "He washed his face three times, and his hands to the elbows three times, and then he washed his feet three times to the ankles". This is the wudu performed three times. So, is it more perfect to continue with the wudu three times because it is more thorough in purification and involves more effort? In that case, there are two benefits: the increase in effort, and that it is more thorough in purification. Or is it better to follow the Sunnah, doing it once, or twice, or three times? Which is it?
The second is better: that a person sometimes performs wudu once, sometimes twice, and sometimes three times, because conforming to the Sunnah is better than increasing the effort. Pay attention to this.
Conforming to the Sunnah is better than increasing the effort, because conforming to the Sunnah makes a person feel that he is following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and this increases his faith and perfects his following. For this reason, if two men prayed the Sunnah of Fajr, one of them lengthened the recitation, lengthened the bowing and prostration, and made much du'a and tasbih, while the other limited his recitation to only two verses, one verse in the first rak'ah and one verse in the second rak'ah[Al-Baqarah 2:136] and , and lightened the bowing, prostration, standing, and sitting, which of them is better?
The second is better, even though the first did more work, but this one is more in accordance with the Sunnah and more following of it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the two men who performed tayammum due to the lack of water, then prayed, and then found water, where one of them performed wudu and repeated the prayer, and the other did not perform wudu. He said to the one who did not repeat: And he said to the second: Which of them is better?
The first, because hitting the Sunnah is not a trivial matter. And his statement to the first: implies that the second did not hit the Sunnah, but because he performed an act in which he exerted effort and believed it to be obligatory upon him, he was rewarded for that.
Now, if a person says, "I want, when I perform tayammum due to the lack of water and then find water, to repeat the wudu and the prayer so that I obtain the reward twice," what do we say to him?
We say: No, you do not get the reward twice now, because there is no room for ijtihad now. Now the Sunnah has become clear and evident, so you do not get the reward twice. Rather, we may say that you are sinful in repeating it, because this is not from the Sunnah.
So, the conclusion is that the best in wudu is for a person to sometimes perform it once, sometimes twice, and sometimes three times. And Allah knows best.
When Uthman performed wudu, he said: "Shall I not relate to you a hadith which, were it not for a verse, I would not have related to you? I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'No man who performs wudu well and prays a prayer is forgiven for what is between him and that prayer until he prays the next one.'"
فلما توضأ عثمان قال : ألا أحدثكم حديثا لولا آية ما حدثتكموه ؟ سمعت النبي صلّى الله عليه وسلم يقول : لا يتوضأ رجل يحسن وضوءه ويصلي الصلاة إلا غفر له ما بينه وبين الصلاة حتى يصليهاIndeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs
إن الذين يكتمون ما أنزلنا من البيناتThe Shaykh : The point of this hadith is the statement: "He washed his face three times, and his hands to the elbows three times, and then he washed his feet three times to the ankles". This is the wudu performed three times. So, is it more perfect to continue with the wudu three times because it is more thorough in purification and involves more effort? In that case, there are two benefits: the increase in effort, and that it is more thorough in purification. Or is it better to follow the Sunnah, doing it once, or twice, or three times? Which is it?
The second is better: that a person sometimes performs wudu once, sometimes twice, and sometimes three times, because conforming to the Sunnah is better than increasing the effort. Pay attention to this.
Conforming to the Sunnah is better than increasing the effort, because conforming to the Sunnah makes a person feel that he is following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and this increases his faith and perfects his following. For this reason, if two men prayed the Sunnah of Fajr, one of them lengthened the recitation, lengthened the bowing and prostration, and made much du'a and tasbih, while the other limited his recitation to only two verses, one verse in the first rak'ah and one verse in the second rak'ah
Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allah
قل قولوا آمنا باللهSay: "O People of the Book"
قل يا أهل الكتابThe second is better, even though the first did more work, but this one is more in accordance with the Sunnah and more following of it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the two men who performed tayammum due to the lack of water, then prayed, and then found water, where one of them performed wudu and repeated the prayer, and the other did not perform wudu. He said to the one who did not repeat:
You hit the Sunnah
أصبت السنةYou have two rewards
لك الأجر مرتينThe first, because hitting the Sunnah is not a trivial matter. And his statement to the first:
You hit the Sunnah
أصبت السنةNow, if a person says, "I want, when I perform tayammum due to the lack of water and then find water, to repeat the wudu and the prayer so that I obtain the reward twice," what do we say to him?
We say: No, you do not get the reward twice now, because there is no room for ijtihad now. Now the Sunnah has become clear and evident, so you do not get the reward twice. Rather, we may say that you are sinful in repeating it, because this is not from the Sunnah.
So, the conclusion is that the best in wudu is for a person to sometimes perform it once, sometimes twice, and sometimes three times. And Allah knows best.