Step 6 of 11
Washing the Hands and Private Parts, Then Wudu
Begin as the Prophet ﷺ did: wash your hands two or three times before putting them into the water. Then pour water with your right hand onto your left and wash your private parts and anything on the body from the janabah.
Clean your left hand well afterward. Maymunah saw him rub it on the ground or against a wall; today soap does the same job.
Then make a full wudu, as for the prayer, including rinsing the mouth and nose. 'A'ishah describes him completing the wudu at this point. Maymunah describes him leaving the feet and washing them at the very end, after moving from the spot where he bathed; both ways are sunnah.
All four schools agree on this step.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 248 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 249 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 265 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 274 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 316Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 317Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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