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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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The meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "So wash your faces."

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The Shaykh :
wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows فاغسلوا وجوهكم وأيديكم إلى المرافق
[Al-Ma'idah 5:6]
The face: from ear to ear in width, and from the curve of the forehead to the bottom of the chin in length. This is the face; wash your faces. Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not mention gargling or sniffing water into the nose, but the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified them. When he performed ablution, he would gargle and sniff water into his nose. His gargling and sniffing were in a place inside the face, which indicates that gargling and sniffing are obligatory, because they are inside the face, and the ruling of the face covers them. Just as washing the face is obligatory in ablution, so too are gargling and sniffing, because they are two parts of what? Of the face. But does one gargle and sniff before washing the outer surface of the face? The answer is: Yes, this is how the Sunnah came. If one reverses the order and washes his face first, then gargles and sniffs, there is no harm. Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not mention washing the two hands before washing the face. What do you say? It is valid. However, the Sunnah clarified that washing the two hands comes before the face. But washing the two hands is not obligatory; that is, if a person washes his face directly, his ablution is sufficient, because Allah did not mention it in the Qur'an. So it is a recommended practice, and washing them is in the category of washing the tool. It is like when a person washes a vessel if he wants to drink from it; he washes his hands before washing his face to perfect the cleaning of the tool with which he washes his face.
Now, Allah the Exalted did not mention washing the private parts, did He? Because washing the private parts is not part of ablution. Washing the private parts is purifying them from what comes out of them. Are you with me now? Washing the private parts is purifying them from what comes out of them. So if you have purified them, there is no need to wash them again during ablution. Therefore, if a person urinates or defecates at the beginning of the day when the sun rises, and he performs istinja' or istijmar in a manner prescribed by the Shari'ah, then when the call to the midday prayer is made, he performs ablution without washing his private parts. Is this permissible or not? It is permissible, because it has absolutely no place in ablution. Because the purpose of istinja' or prescribed istijmar is only to purify the place. So if it was purified the first time, its impurity does not return except due to a new cause.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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