ABLUTION SECTION · 49 – DIPPING YOUR HAND INTO A VESSEL OF WATER WITHOUT WASHING
103 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let none of you dip his hand into a vessel without washing it three times." For he knows not where his hand has spent the night.
[106]
Explanation: If one rises at night to perform ablution and takes water from a container like a bucket, and does not have a handled basin to draw water with, then he should tilt the bucket and pour water onto his hand, wash his hand three times, and then take the water with his hand to perform his ablution. He should not put his hand into the bucket without washing it. If a soiled hand is dipped into the water, it renders the little water impure, but if the impurity on the hand is not certainly known, dipping the hand in the water does not render it impure.
104 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: From the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) – (referring to the hadith just mentioned). According to this narration, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Wash your hands two or three times." This chain of transmission does not mention ʾAmish Abū Ruzayn.
Explanation: In Abū Hurayrah’s (may Allah be pleased with him) hadith, unlike the previous narration, there is the wording “wash them two or three times.”
Washing the hands once in ablution is obligatory, washing them twice is sunnah (recommended practice), and washing them three times is the completion of the sunnah.
105 – Abū Maryam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
Abū Maryam narrated from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say:
“Let none of you put his hand into a vessel without washing it three times, for one of you does not know where his hand has spent the night or what his hand has touched.” [107]