Explanation of the author's statement: "And if it is used in a recommended act of purification, such as renewing wudu, the Friday bath, or a second or third washing, it is disliked."

The Shaykh :"If it is used in a recommended act of purification" The pronoun in his statement "if it is used" refers to pure water. To use it in a recommended act of purification means to pass the water over the limb and let it run off. The used water is not the water from which one draws; the used water is what runs off after washing. Do you understand? If you wash your face, the water that comes off the face is the used water. If you wash your hands, the water that runs off the hands is the used water. As for the water taken from the source, that is not used water. Some students may make a mistake and think that the used water is the water drawn from the source, but that is not the case, because the used water is what runs off the limbs after being used. Understood? "Used in a recommended act of purification, such as renewing wudu" Renewing wudu is a recommended practice (sunnah). If a person prays with his first wudu and then the time for another prayer enters, it is recommended that he renew his wudu, even if he is already in a state of purity. If he uses water that has already been used to renew his wudu, is it pure or is it a purifier? The answer is that it is a purifier, but it is disliked. It is a purifier because nothing has befallen it that would remove its status as a purifier. It is disliked because of the scholarly disagreement regarding whether it loses its status as a purifier, because some scholars say that if it is used in a purification, even a recommended one, it becomes pure but no longer a purifier. Because of this disagreement, it became disliked. We mentioned before this evening that reasoning based on disagreement is flawed, and that the correct approach regarding disagreement is: if the evidence is ambiguous, then caution is preferable. Why? Because of the ambiguity of the evidence, it falls under the category of . But if the evidence is clear, then the disagreement is irrelevant and does not change the ruling, because the evidence—namely the Book, the Sunnah, consensus, and analogical reasoning—this disagreement is not among the sources of Islamic law. "Such as renewing wudu and the Friday bath" The Friday bath is a recommended act of purification, and this is the view of the majority of scholars. We will come to it, if Allah wills, that the stronger view regarding the Friday bath is that it is obligatory, but according to the well-known view of the school of thought and the opinion of the majority of scholars, the Friday bath is a recommended bath. If water is used for the Friday bath, it becomes a purifier, but it is disliked. The used water in the bath is what runs off the body after bathing, not the water drawn from the source. "And a second or third washing" The second washing is not obligatory. What is the evidence? The evidence is the statement of the Exalted: . And the term "washing" is satisfied by a single washing, or is it not satisfied by a single washing? And because it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed wudu with a single washing. Therefore, the second and third washings are a recommended act of purification. So whatever is used in the second and third washings becomes a purifier, but it is disliked. The reason is the disagreement regarding whether it loses its status as a purifier. It is disliked. The correct view in all these matters, my brothers, is that it is not disliked. It is not disliked, because dislike is a legal ruling, and a legal ruling requires evidence. How can we tell the servants of Allah that it is disliked for them to use this water, when we have no evidence from the Shari'ah? This is difficult. Therefore, we must know that preventing people from what the Shari'ah has not indicated should be prevented is like permitting them what the Shari'ah has indicated should be prevented, because Allah has equated the two. In fact, one might say that forbidding what is lawful is more severe than permitting what is forbidden, because the original state is permissibility, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic loves to make things easy for His servants.