Hadith 1

Footnotes

1. 1

   [1] Note that for many of the headings, the author did not say: “Chapter.” In this translation, we placed the word “chapter” prior to each of his headings in either case.

2. 2

   [2] Al-Mā'idah 5:6.

3. 1

   1. Imâm An-Nasâ'î introduced the Book of Purification with this Ĥadîth in order to make it clear that one should begin one's ablution by washing one's hands, a point that is explicitly mentioned in various Ĥadîth narrations [Ṣaḥîḥ Al-Bukhârî: Ablution, Ĥadîth: 185, 186 and Ṣaḥîḥ Muslim: Purification Ĥadîth: 225] (Ṣaḥîḥ)

4. 2

   2. This Ĥadîth contains the ruling of washing one's hands after waking up from sleep; however, the ruling is general, in that it applies to any occasion upon which one performs ablution. The basis for this ruling is doubt: From one ablution to the next, one does not know what impurities one's hands might have come into contact with inadvertently. Since hands touch various objects throughout the course of a day - such as various body parts and other objects that may or may not be pure - one should wash one's hands before performing ablution. It is essential to wash one's hands upon waking up from sleep; and, although not essential, at other times it is desirable to wash one's hands prior to performing ablution. The purpose of ablution is not merely to achieve ritual purity, but bodily cleanliness as well.

5. 3

   3. There are two kinds of impurities. The first is the impurity that is visible or somehow palpable; this kind of impurity must be removed. The second kind of impurity is neither visible nor perceptible through any of the senses, such as urine that becomes dry, say, on dark fabric - urine that can then neither be seen nor perceived through the sense of smell. If there is doubt - or in other words, if one suspects that such impurities are present on one's body or clothing - one should certainly take the trouble of washing the potentially sullied area on one's skin or clothing three times.