PURIFICATION SECTION · 53 – WASHING EACH LIMB ONCE DURING ABLUTION
138 – It is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: Shall I inform you about the ablution of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him)? Then he performed ablution, washing each limb once.
EXPLANATION
This hadith is a part of the previous hadith numbered 137. The differences in narration that we have seen in the hadiths transmitted so far have taught us the various sunnahs practiced by the Pride of the Universe, our Master, during ablution. Performing ablution by washing each limb once is the obligatory act (farḍ), performing it by washing each limb twice is a sunnah, and washing each limb three times describes the perfection of the sunnah. One should not think that the differences in narration found in the hadiths contradict one another. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sometimes performed ablution by fulfilling only the obligatory acts, and at other times, he performed it by demonstrating the sunnahs. Very often, he continued with the maximum limit of the sunnah, which is washing each limb three times. The noble Companions (ṣaḥāba) witnessed all of these, and each narrated according to what he had seen.