The virtue of performing wudu thoroughly and the virtue of wudu

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Performing ablution perfectly despite disagreeable circumstances and hardship, taking many steps towards the mosques, and waiting (eagerly) for the next prayer after a prayer wash away sins." Imam Ishaq, Abd bin Humayd and Abu Ya'la recorded this narration through Safwan bin Isa. Also, al-Darawardi and Abu Damrah narrated it from al-Harith, from Abu al-Ayyas, from Sa'id bin al-Musayyib, from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). A supporting narration (shahid) with this meaning is also reported in the Sahih from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and in the Sunan from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Masjid al-Khayf when two men came to him, one of them from the Ansar and the other from Thaqif. Then the narrator mentioned the complete incident, (saying) that the man from Thaqif said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me (about the virtue of ablution and prayer)! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have come to ask me about prayer. So (know that) when you wash your face, sins fall away from the edges of your eyelids; when you wash your hands, sins fall away from the nails of your hands; when you wipe your head, sins fall away from your head; and when you wash your feet, sins fall away from the nails of your feet." Also, the hadiths narrated by Sayyiduna Thawban and Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with them both) about performing ablution perfectly in disagreeable and difficult circumstances are mentioned in the tafsir of Surah Sad; the hadith of Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) about performing ablution in the best manner will come, if Allah Almighty wills, in the chapter on the Duha prayer; and the hadith that "the first thing for which a servant will be held to account is his purification (ablution)" will be presented, if Allah Almighty wills, in the opening chapters on prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that it was submitted in the court of Prophethood: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), by what sign will you recognise your Ummah on the Day of Resurrection?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Because of the traces of ablution, their foreheads, hands and feet will be ghurran muhajjalin (brilliantly white and shining)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, when a single good habit and fine trait is found in a person, Allah Almighty, by virtue of it, sets right and reforms all his deeds. And when a man properly performs ablution and purification for his prayer, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, wipes out his sins in return for that purification, and then the prayer he offers remains for him as an extra reward and a voluntary (nafl) merit."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The likeness of a person is that of a river in which he bathes five times a day; is it then possible that any dirt would remain on his body? When the servant gets up for ablution and washes his two hands, all the sins committed by his hands fall away; when he rinses his mouth, every sin his tongue has spoken falls away; then when he washes his face, every sin his eyes have looked at falls away; then when he wipes his head, every sin his ears have heard falls away; and finally when he washes his feet, all the sins towards which his feet have walked fall away."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), in marfu' form, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And you will be (on the Day of Resurrection, by virtue of the lights of ablution) the ones with radiant, shining foreheads and gleaming hands and feet."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O my dear son, hold firmly to performing all the parts of ablution perfectly with all their etiquettes, that is, isbagh al-wudu'; by its blessing your two guardian angels who record your deeds will come to love you, and your life will be lengthened. And O Anas, be thorough in drawing water into the nose in the bath for janabah; for when you bathe in this way, you will come out of your bathing place in a state where no sin or fault remains upon you." I said: O Messenger of Allah, how is one to be thorough? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That you moisten the roots of the hair well and clean your skin thoroughly. O my dear son, if you are able to spend every moment in a state of ablution, then do so, for the one to whom death comes while he is in a state of ablution is granted the rank of martyrdom."