Surah Al-Maaida (5) — Ayah 6

6. O you who believe! When you rise to perform prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles. And if you are in a state of major impurity, then purify yourselves by bathing. [26] But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes from relieving himself, or you have touched women, and you do not find water, then perform tayammum with clean earth, and wipe your faces and hands with it. Allah does not wish to make life difficult [27] for you, but He wishes to purify you and complete His favor upon you [28] so that you may be grateful.

[26] The purpose of the commands regarding what is lawful and unlawful was the purification of the soul. Now, the commands regarding the purification of the body are being mentioned. In this verse, wudu (ablution), tayammum (dry ablution), and ghusl janabah (ritual bath after major impurity) are mentioned. The hadiths regarding tayammum and ghusl janabah have already been recorded under verses 3 and 4 of Surah Nisa; they may be referred to there. The hadiths regarding wudu and purification are being recorded here:

Commands regarding wudu:
Once, Sayyiduna Uthman ؓ called for a vessel of water. Then, first, he poured water on his palms three times and washed them, then put his right hand into the vessel, then rinsed his mouth, then cleaned his nose, then washed his face three times, then washed both hands up to the elbows three times, then wiped his head once, then washed both feet up to the ankles three times, then said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever performs wudu like this of mine, then performs two rak'ahs (of the greeting of wudu) in such a way that no worldly thought enters his heart, his previous sins will be forgiven."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء۔ باب الوضوء ثلثا]

2. Sayyiduna Anas ؓ says that when you ﷺ would enter the toilet, you would say:
«اللّٰهُمَّ اِنِّي اَعُوْذُبِكَ مِنَ الْخُبُثِ وَالْخَبَائِثِ»
"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from male and female devils."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوئ۔ باب مایقول عند الخلاء]

3. Abu Ayyub Ansari ؓ says that the Prophet ﷺ said: "When any of you goes to relieve himself, he should neither face the qiblah nor turn his back to it, but rather face east or west."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء باب۔ استقبال القبلۃ لغائط او بول]

4. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas ؓ says that you ﷺ passed by a garden in Madinah and heard the voices of two men who were being punished in their graves. You ﷺ said: "They are not being punished for a major sin." Then you ﷺ said: "One of them did not protect himself from his urine, and the other used to go about spreading slander." Then you ﷺ called for a fresh twig, broke it into two pieces, and placed one piece on each grave. The companions asked: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Why did you do this?" You ﷺ said: "As long as these do not dry, perhaps their punishment will be lessened."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء۔ باب من الکبائر ان لایستترمن بولہ]

5. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that you ﷺ said: "None of you should urinate in standing water that does not flow, then bathe in it."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضو۔ باب البول فی الماء الدائم]

6. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that I heard you ﷺ say that the prayer of a person who is in a state of hadath is not accepted until he performs wudu. "A man from Hadramaut asked me: Abu Hurairah, what is hadath?" I said: "Passing wind or breaking wind."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء۔ باب لاتقبل الصلٰوۃ بغیر طہور]

7. Sayyiduna Anas ؓ says that you ﷺ used to perform ghusl with one sa' of water, up to five mudd, and used to perform wudu with one mudd of water.
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء۔ باب الوضوء بالمد]

8. Sayyiduna Ali ؓ says that I used to have a lot of madhi (pre-seminal fluid) discharge. I felt shy to ask you ﷺ about this issue, so I asked Miqdad bin Aswad to ask. Miqdad asked you ﷺ, and you ﷺ said: "In this case, wudu is required."
[بخاری کتاب الوضوء۔ باب من لم یرالوضوء الا من المخرجین القبل والدبر۔ نیز کتاب العلم۔ باب من استحیا۔۔]

9. Sayyiduna Umar ؓ says that a man performed wudu and left a spot the size of a fingernail (dry) on his foot. You saw it and said to him: "Go back and perform wudu properly." So the man went back, then (after performing wudu) prayed.
[مسلم۔ کتاب الطہارۃ۔ باب وجوب استیعاب جمیع اجزاء محل الطہارۃ]

10. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar ؓ says that we lagged behind the Prophet ﷺ on a journey. You ﷺ found us at a time when the prayer was due and we were performing wudu and wiping over our feet. You ﷺ called out three times in a loud voice: "Woe to the heels from the Fire!" That is, destruction is for those dry heels. And in another narration: "Complete the wudu."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء۔ باب غسل الرجلین ولا یمسح علی القدمین]

11. Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari ؓ says that I came to you ﷺ and saw that you ﷺ were using a miswak in your hand, making a sound of 'aah aah', and the miswak was in your mouth as if you were about to vomit.
[بخاری کتاب الوضوء۔ باب السواک]

12. Urwah bin Mughirah narrates from his father that I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey (the expedition of Tabuk). (You ﷺ were performing wudu.) I bent down to remove your leather socks. You ﷺ said: "Leave them! I put them on while in a state of purity." Then you ﷺ wiped over them.
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء۔ باب اذا ادخل رجلیہ و ہما طاہرتان]

13. Abdullah bin Abbas ؓ says that you ﷺ drank milk and then rinsed your mouth and said: "Milk has fat in it."
[بخاری۔ کتاب الوضوء باب ھل یمضمض من اللبن]

It should be noted that in this verse, the limbs that are mentioned to be washed, washing them is obligatory, or in other words, they are the obligatory acts of wudu, without which wudu remains incomplete, and they are:
(1) Washing one's face; (2) Washing one's hands up to the elbows, and the elbows are included; (3) Wiping one's head; and (4) Washing both feet up to the ankles, and the ankles are included. The Quran mentions the general manner of washing these limbs or wiping the head, the details of which are found in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ or in the hadiths. Some such hadiths have been mentioned above, from which the sunnahs of wudu are known, i.e., such acts that are known only from the Sunnah. Some of these acts have been mentioned in the above hadiths. The rest of the acts or further clarification of the mentioned acts are given below:

1. At the beginning of wudu, first wash the hands up to the wrists, then rinse the mouth, then put water into the nose and clean it, and use the miswak either before wudu or while rinsing the mouth after washing the hands. When washing the hands and feet, interlace the fingers. When washing the face, if the beard is thick, run the fingers through the hair, and if it is thin, wash up to the roots. The method of wiping the head, and along with it, wiping the ears and neck, are all known from the Sunnah.

2. The limbs mentioned in the Quran, washing them once is sufficient for fulfilling the obligation, and the Sunnah is to wash them two or three times. Washing three times is best. Similarly, rinsing the mouth and putting water into the nose three times is best, and washing more than three times is disliked.

3. First wash the right hand, then the left. The same order should be observed for the feet. Starting with the right and giving it preference is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

4. It is not obligatory to perform a new wudu for every prayer; rather, with one wudu (i.e., if no hadath has occurred), multiple prayers can be performed.

5. While traveling, after performing wudu and putting on leather socks or socks, one can wipe over them for three days, and in residence, the duration is only one day.

6. If any limb is wounded and washing it may cause harm, then a bandage can be tied over it and wiped over.

The Difference of the Shia Regarding Washing the Feet:

The Shia have differed regarding the washing of the feet, and the reason for this difference is a difference in recitation. The words of the verse are:
﴿ وَامْسَحُوْا بِرُءُوْسِكُمْ وَاَرْجُلَكُمْ اِلَي الْكَعْبَيْنِ﴾
(That is, the harm in not washing the heels is that they will be touched by the punishment of the Fire. Therefore, in ﴿اَرْجُلَكُمْ﴾, the recitation with a fathah on the lam can be considered the preferred one. The second answer is that even if in ﴿اَرْجُلَكُمْ﴾ the recitation with a kasrah on the lam is considered correct, it does not necessarily mean that ﴿اَرْجُلَكُمْ﴾ should be considered as being joined by ﴿بِرءُ وُسِكُمْ﴾, because the kasrah on the lam is not due to conjunction, but rather as a grammatical proximity, and there are many such examples in the Noble Quran, such as in Surah Hud:
﴿عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ مُّحِيْطٍ﴾ [11: 44]
and in Surah Waqi'ah:
﴿وَحُوْرٌ عِيْنٌ﴾ [56: 22]
The meaning is that according to Arabic grammar, sometimes the vowel marks come according to the nearby word. In this respect, ﴿اَرْجُلَكُمْ كا برءُ وُسْكُمْ ﴾ is not joined, but due to its proximity to ﴿بِرَوُسِكُمْ﴾, it shares in the kasrah or grammatical case, not in the act of wiping. And the third answer is rational, which is that since the head is the highest part of the body, it is usually protected from impurity and filth, and sometimes it is even covered, so wiping it is considered sufficient instead of washing. Whereas the feet are the lowest part of the body, which are often affected by impurity and filth, so greater caution is in washing the feet rather than wiping over them.
[27]

Ease in Religion:

That is, taking into account your difficulties, He grants you concessions. For example, a sick person who fears harm or worsening of his condition by using water, whether he is in a state of minor impurity (such as passing wind, etc.) or major impurity (i.e., in a state of janabah, whether due to a wet dream or intercourse), he can perform tayammum instead of wudu or ghusl. Or a traveler who cannot find water for wudu or ghusl, the same concession applies to him.
[28]

What is the Completion of Blessing?

That is, the completion of blessing can only be in such a way that along with the commands for the purification of the soul, the commands for the purification of the body are also given. For a Muslim, bodily cleanliness is just as necessary as the purification and cleanliness of the soul. Thus, you have said that physical cleanliness is a part of faith or half of faith.
[مسلم۔ کتاب الطہارۃ باب فضل الوضوء]