Abu Dawud

Benefits and Issues:
➊ In this case, whether ejaculation occurs or not, ritual bath (ghusl) will be obligatory.
➋ The jurists (fuqaha) and hadith scholars (muhaddithin) take the meaning of «اتصال ختان» to be that the glans (hasafah) becomes concealed. [ابن ماجه، باب ماجاء فى وجوب الغسل اذاالتقى الختانان، حديث : 611وجامع الترمذى، حديث : 108]

Explanation:
«قال النووي ”معنى الحديث ان ايجاب الغسل لايتوقف على الانزال بل متي غابت الحشفة فى الفرج وجب الغسل عليها و لاخلاف فيه اليوم.“»
Imam Nawawi rahimahullah says that the meaning of the hadith is that ritual bath (ghusl) is not conditional upon the emission of semen (mani). Rather, whenever penetration (dukhul) occurs, ritual bath becomes obligatory upon both parties. And now there is no difference of opinion regarding this.

This Method is Not Appropriate:
In the jurisprudential schools (fiqhi madhahib), if any school coincides with a particular hadith in a specific issue, it is acceptable, because the original authority to be followed is the Qur’an and hadith. That is why Imam Abu Hanifah rahimahullah has stated that «اذا صح الحديث فهومذهبي.» “Whatever is established by a sound hadith, that is my school.” Up to this point, this is correct and praiseworthy. However, what is being observed is that when the followers (muqallideen) find their school in accordance with a hadith, they present their school as being given precedence, and the hadith as being deferred, and they express such joy over the correctness and superiority of their school as if the foremost position belongs to their supposed school, and the position of the ahadith comes after that. For confirmation of our statement, one can look at the current translations of ahadith, especially the translations of Bukhari, which are nowadays being published by our Hanafi brothers.

In view of the greatness of the Qur’an and hadith, this method is in no way appropriate. While it cannot be denied by any fair-minded person that our prevalent schools (madhahib) are a much later development, which have no connection to the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Qurūn Rashidah). Rather, according to Shah Waliullah rahimahullah, for a full four hundred years, Muslims were simply Muslims. The imitative schools (taqlidi madhahib) arose after four centuries. This is their reality. The greatest calamity for the Ummah is that these jurisprudential schools have been given the status of separate religions and shari’ahs. As a result, such division and discord have arisen that Islam has been split into different parties and many sects, and national unity has been lost. And this is the situation to this day, over which no amount of regret is sufficient.

The summary of the call of Ahl al-Hadith is precisely this: that this division should be ended and Muslims should be united solely under the name of Islam. There is strong hope that this call will certainly bear fruit, and it is already doing so, as most enlightened Muslims have become aware of the reality of these self-imposed restrictions.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
The chapter headings presented by Imam Bukhari rahimahullah are often very subtle and solid; it is not easy to understand Imam Bukhari’s intended meaning from them.
He has not stated any ruling in the aforementioned heading.
Its determination will be made after reflecting upon the presented hadith.
Thus, in the hadith it is mentioned that when a man sits between the four limbs of his wife and initiates the act, then a ritual bath (ghusl) becomes obligatory.
In this hadith, ejaculation is not mentioned; rather, it is about the attempt (effort).
It is as if even mere sitting does not make the ritual bath obligatory, but its dependence is on the effort, which is a euphemism for penetration (dukhul).
After penetration, the ritual bath becomes obligatory, whether ejaculation occurs or not.
With this clarification, the determination of Imam Bukhari’s heading is established, because the meeting of the man’s circumcision with the woman’s circumcision is not possible without the glans being concealed, since circumcision is the name of the place where the cutting occurs, and the location of the woman’s circumcision is slightly lower.
The circumcision of a woman is called khifad.
Among us, this is not customary; in Arabia, women are circumcised, and before marriage, at least two or three times circumcision has to be performed. If this is not done, then merely the friction of cloth at that place causes an overwhelming of sexual desire.
In some remote and backward areas of Africa, instead of circumcision, stitches are placed at that location, so that the woman’s honor and chastity remain protected until marriage. This is called “forced chastity.” At the time of marriage, the stitches are opened and the woman is handed over to her husband.
Hazrat Aisha Siddiqa radi Allahu anha further clarifies this issue.
The words of the narration she has reported are: When the man’s circumcision enters the place of the woman’s circumcision, then a ritual bath becomes obligatory.
(Sunan Abi Dawud, al-Taharah, Hadith: 216)
In the narration of Tirmidhi, it is mentioned: I and the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam fulfilled the marital duty, then both of us performed the ritual bath.
(Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi, al-Taharah, Hadith: 108)
Hazrat Abu Musa Ash‘ari radi Allahu anhu says that there was a difference of opinion between the Muhajirun and the Ansar regarding the ritual bath of janabah, so I went to Hazrat Aisha radi Allahu anha and said:
Mother! I want to ask a question, but I feel shy. She said:
Ask! I am like your real mother. I asked: When does the ritual bath become obligatory? Hazrat Aisha radi Allahu anha narrated the statement of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that when the husband sits between the four limbs of his wife and the man’s circumcision meets the woman’s circumcision, then the ritual bath becomes obligatory.
(Sahih Muslim, al-Hayd, Hadith: 785.
(349))
A man came to the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and said:
O Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam! A man lies with his wife, but does not ejaculate; in such a state, is the ritual bath obligatory for both husband and wife? Hazrat Aisha radi Allahu anha was also sitting with you. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“I and she both do this, then we both perform the ritual bath.”
(Sahih Muslim, al-Hayd, Hadith: 786.
(350))
From these ahadith, it is understood that ejaculation is not a condition for the ritual bath of janabah; rather, penetration alone is sufficient.
Primarily, this is also the position of Imam Bukhari rahimahullah; we will further clarify this in the next chapter.
➋
It is the habit of Imam Bukhari rahimahullah that sometimes he places the words of a hadith in the chapter heading, but since they do not meet his conditions, he alludes to this in such a manner.
The words of the aforementioned heading have been narrated by Imam Bayhaqi that when the circumcised parts of the husband and wife meet, then the ritual bath becomes obligatory.
Imam Shafi‘i rahimahullah has also narrated these words from Hazrat Aisha radi Allahu anha, but in the narration he has reported, one of the narrators, Ali ibn Zayd, is weak.
However, the narrators of the hadith mentioned in Ibn Majah are trustworthy.
(Fath al-Bari: 1/513)
➌
‘Amr ibn Marzuq has followed Hisham in narrating from Shu‘bah, which has been reported with a connected chain in Fawa’id ‘Uthman ibn Ahmad al-Sammak.
Then, the suspended narration of Musa has been mentioned because although Qatadah is a trustworthy narrator, he is accused of tadlis, and he has narrated the aforementioned narration with “an” (from), and the narration of a mudallis narrator with “an” is not considered reliable.
Therefore, Imam Bukhari rahimahullah had to explicitly mention the hearing (tahdith) in this follow-up.
(Fath al-Bari: 1/513)

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
(1)
Shu'ab:
The plural of shu'bah.
(2)
Julus bayna al-shu'ab:
The meaning is: the man’s sexual organ entering the woman’s vagina.
And (3)
Jahadaha:
The meaning is: the husband and wife initiating marital relations.

191. Commentary: «إِذَا جَلَسَ……… الخ» These words are a euphemism for sexual intercourse (jima‘), meaning that when a man initiates intercourse and penetration (dukhul) occurs, whether it is little or much, then ritual bath (ghusl) becomes obligatory upon both husband and wife, whether ejaculation (the emission of semen) takes place or not. This is because intercourse (jima‘) refers to penetration (dukhul), not ejaculation (inzal). The legal penalty (hadd) is also connected to penetration, not ejaculation. Ejaculation is something hidden.

192. Commentary: In the previous hadith narrated from Khalid, Hasan al-Basri is the intermediary, whereas in this hadith, instead of him, Ibn Sirin is mentioned. Imam al-Nasa'i rahimahullah is drawing attention to the fact that the mention of Ibn Sirin in this hadith is not correct; here it should be "Hasan" because it is corroborated by narration 191.

Commentary:
By "sitting between the four branches" is meant approaching the woman, and by "effort" is meant the act of penetration (dukhul), i.e., ejaculation is not a condition for the obligation of ritual bath (ghusl).

Lexical Explanation:
«إِذَا جَلَسَ» means when the man sits.
«بَيْنَ شُعَبِهَا» in the branches of the woman.
«شُعَب» is the plural of «شُعْبَةٌ». The “sheen” has a dammah and the “ain” has a fathah. It is used for the branch of a tree, or it can also refer to a part of something. The four branches of a woman refer to her two arms and two legs. It is also said that it refers to the woman’s feet and thighs. Another opinion is that it refers to the woman’s two shins and two thighs. Whatever is meant, the intention is to use a euphemism for sexual intercourse. And in one narration of Abu Dawud, «وَأَلْزَقَ الْخِتَانُ الْخِتَانَ» is also reported: “When the private part meets the private part of the woman, ritual bath (ghusl) becomes obligatory.” [سنن أبى داود، الطهارة، باب فى الإكسال، حديث : 21]
«ثُمَّ جَهَدَهَا» is a euphemism for the entry of the man’s private part into the woman’s private part.

Benefits and Issues:
➊ When the man’s private part enters the woman’s private part, even if only the glans disappears, in such a case ritual bath (ghusl) becomes obligatory.
➋ This is also the view of most of the noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum) and the great Followers (tabi‘in, rahimahullah), besides the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and the four Imams.